Update on my BP

Hi all, and thanks again to everyone who's helped me! :gj: I think we finally came up with a name for the baby - Delilah (aka "Lilah"). Whaddya think?? She is doing great so far, except for the fact that she won't eat... we offered her a F/T rat pup two days in a row, trying ALL the tricks I could think of, and she's just not interested. When I went to check on her after leaving the food, she was actually "cuddled" in her hide with the darned rat. :weirdface

I called the vivarium where I got her, and they said I can bring her in to be fed there (and they'll hopefully figure out the problem too). I'm thinking it's one of three things, however - it's possible she is getting ready for a shed, since I noticed her head looks a little blue-tinted. Other possibility is that she's simply not hungry yet, as I believe she was fed last Thursday... and finally, she might not like the prey we're offering. I'll give her a day off and maybe try again on Friday, but I'm fairly convinced it's about time for a shed. Does that sound logical? Everything else with the viv seems fine, so I can't think of another good reason. Any input would be appreciated!

P.S. I've read about the product "Mouse Maker" on a few threads, and thought that might be an option if she continues to refuse. Is it worth trying?

If she refuses food your meant to wait a week until feeding again. Otherwise you can stress them out more. Maybe that will help :)

Also I wouldn't suggest taking her out of her current environment to be fed because that will only stress her more. Good luck though and make sure to monitor weight.

Cute name ;)

If she refused a meal, I would wait a week before trying again. Is she on a 7 day feeding schedule? If so, try once every 7 days - this way you won't stress her out by trying every night. Also, BP's can go weeks/months with out eating. As long as she is not losing weight I would not be too concerned.

Curious, did you give her a week to get acclimated before attempting to feed? That could be another stress related issue. I would also refrain from handling her until she has gotten on a regular feeding schedule.

Patience is the key :D

refusing food could be:
1. temperatures
2. humidity
3. mites
4. ready to shed soon
5. too big of prey
6. not the right type of prey
7. its that time of year winter/breeding season
8. stress
etc. . . . .

i stick to a firm feedin schedule which is:
yearlings/babies - offer food every 5-7 days
1 year and older - offer food every 7-10 days

if they eat they eat if they dont then i stick to the schedule and offer them food the next time they are scheduled for a feed, i also weigh my snakes before everytime they are offered food this helps to keep track of growth rate and to determine if they are not eating that they are not losing any weight.

ball pythons are finicky eaters it is not uncommon for a ball python to go off eating for upto a year there have even been cases where a ball python has gone off eating for upto 22 months which is almost 2 years however im pretty sure they were adults, i have a breeder male who didnt eat from november 12th - march 3rd(two days ago) and my too big females (1600 grams and 2200 grams) havent eaten since november but i still offer them food and keep track of their weight . . . but as long as you snakes are not losing weight i wouldnt be too worried, hope this helped!

Thanks for the replies! We did try feeding her in a separate place at first, but the viv guy said that wasn't necessary - last night we tried in her vivarium, but that didn't make a difference. I got her last Friday, so maybe it was just too soon? Guess we'll leave her alone until next week, and hopefully she will be hungry enough to take it then.

As for the handling, we kept our hands off for the first 4 days... but then she invited herself onto my roommate's arm when she was checking the temps, and now does the same to me quite often. So while I am trying to limit her handling to a few minutes a day, she definitely doesn't seem to mind! I would even go so far as to say she likes being held, but I've already been informed that they merely tolerate it. ;) We'll be patient, though, and keep away until she eats if you think that will help. Thanks again!

Btw, what would be the appropriate weight for her? She's around 6 months old, and looks to be at a perfectly healthy weight now. I do have a small digital scale, but I'm not sure she would fit on it!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lolo76

Thanks for the replies! We did try feeding her in a separate place at first, but the viv guy said that wasn't necessary - last night we tried in her vivarium, but that didn't make a difference. I got her last Friday, so maybe it was just too soon? Guess we'll leave her alone until next week, and hopefully she will be hungry enough to take it then.

As for the handling, we kept our hands off for the first 4 days... but then she invited herself onto my roommate's arm when she was checking the temps, and now does the same to me quite often. So while I am trying to limit her handling to a few minutes a day, she definitely doesn't seem to mind! I would even go so far as to say she likes being held, but I've already been informed that they merely tolerate it. ;) We'll be patient, though, and keep away until she eats if you think that will help. Thanks again!

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I would leave her alone for the week...no handling, etc., only tank maintenance (fresh water/spot cleaning).

And there really is no reason to feed in a separate enclosure IMO - moving her around only causes stress, especially after feeding when you have to put her back in her enclosure. Plus, you risk the chance of her regurging....YUCK!

i tend to feed my more aggresive snakes in seperate feedin bins they are usually good eaters so they dont care where they eat they just see food and their eyes light up . . . i do this to avoid gettin bit and i think thats why alot of people feed in seperate bins, if you feed your snake in their tank then you risk getttin bit when puttin ur hand in sometimes snakes dont know better especially if they are hungry and used to a little rodent dangling from the top of the enclosure, after awhile they get used to eatin in their "kitchen" as i call it . . . i keep my snakes in rubbermaids with newspaper and their "kitchen" is a tank with aspen shavings

also when i get a new snake i usually leave it alone to get used to its new home for 1-2 weeks before handling, but i also quarantine them for about a month away from my other snakes before introducing them to the rack

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lolo76

Btw, what would be the appropriate weight for her? She's around 6 months old, and looks to be at a perfectly healthy weight now. I do have a small digital scale, but I'm not sure she would fit on it!

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It depends, all snakes grow at different rates. For reference, my 6 month old girl just broke 300grams.
If you scale has a tare button you can put a bowl on top of it and then press the tare button and then put your BP in.