I Feel Horrible...

You can get a scale at Walmart for less than $20, hind sight is always 20/20.

How old is your snake or how long have you had him?
I personally would find a new vet............................

I have a male spider that eats a couple medium rats a year, he has a +/- 200 gram fluctuation.

Thank you to everyone taking their time to share with me.

I will definitely not be doing another force feeding. How can I modify my method of searching for another vet? I keep seeing this Avian and Exotic Animal Care place pop up and it looks like everyone else does dogs and cats with the occasional horse thrown in.

I have had this snake for 12-13 years, and when I got him he was already matured. The girl I got him from had him since middle school I think and was moving either because she had finished college or finished her graduate degree. She was unsure how old he was when she got him (as a present).

I see a lot of how wrong I was in this thread (and please keep telling me that I don't ever want to forget it) and how my choice quite possibly will cause harm to my snake and will likely prolong his going off feed.
Without raising any false hope or anything like that, is there a chance that my Pythagoras will sort of take this in stride and bounce back from a bad visit to the doctor? Or is it a virtual certainty that I have done more harm than good and physically and mentally harmed my snake both now and in the future as a result of my choice?

Obviously a regurge is a very serious issue, but I also think you shouldn't beat yourself up too much about it. The vet - the EXOTIC vet - told you to do something, and you did what they instructed. Normally, health care providers should be giving sound advice. That is their job. Unfortunately, and especially with exotic pets, this isn't always the case. It happens, as unfortunate as it is.
I think next time you'll have to go with your gut instincts, since they seem to be more well adjusted than that vet's advice.

See if you can find some Nutribac, and a regurge protocol on this forum somewhere (if not there is a very well written one on cornsnakes.com).

Everyone is giving you good advice here, but some of it is kind of just redundant at this point. Do the regurge protocol, let your snake rest for awhile (a long while...), give yourself a break - however you need to do that - be patient, and relax.
You can only do so much.

Best of luck. :)

I actually have the regurge protocol from cornsnakes.com saved and uploaded :)
http://www.sugardoodle.com/snakes/regurg-protocol.html

This is written for corn snakes, but works well for any species. Instead of going down to pinkies, just go like 1-2 sizes down on the prey you're currently feeding.
I don't think regurges are nearly as big of a deal for adults BP as they are for baby corn snakes, buy I'm sure you don't want it to happen again.

Dovah is on a strike right now. I'm not too worried, he's his same old goofy self so I'm just offering food every 1-1/2 weeks until he finally decides to take it :)

You need a new Vet. Force feeding an adult BP is a zero sum gain. And while all that hooey about restarting the GI tract sounds like science, it actually reeks of the odor produced when the GI tract is in full effect...

Again, thank you to everyone for your contributions.

Assuming I can't get Pythagoras to start eating on his own again, it looks to me like the next step would be to go back to the vet for blood work and/or x-rays to determine whether there is something wrong with him.

Would there be any intermediate steps that you might suggest before I go back for tests/diagnostics such as these?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Havalian

Again, thank you to everyone for your contributions.

Assuming I can't get Pythagoras to start eating on his own again, it looks to me like the next step would be to go back to the vet for blood work and/or x-rays to determine whether there is something wrong with him.

Would there be any intermediate steps that you might suggest before I go back for tests/diagnostics such as these?

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I don't know why you'd want to do any of that. That vet gave you bad advice; why would you want to go back? I certainly wouldn't. What, exactly, are you thinking is wrong? He stopped eating and then regurged because he was force-fed then stressed from traveling in a vehicle. That seems pretty straight-forward to me (of course it could be something more, but I'd go with the simplest and most logical assumption myself).

Personally I'd hold off on any more stress, like vet trips unless absolutely necessary. Mind you I don't have experience with illnesses and whatnot, but I personally would just do the regurge protocol and leave it alone to see what happens.

I agree with NH, why would you want to take him back to the vet? Let alone the vet that gave you horrible advice, and may have caused more harm than good.

Its been roughly 6 months since he hasn't eaten. But you don't have a scale or anything to actually measure his weight loss. Without really knowing how much weight he has lost, you really do not know if he is sick.

Ball Pythons often go on a hunger strike this time of year as it is known as their breeding season.

I really, really would not take him back to the vet. Especially THAT vet, not at least until you can start recording just how much weight he is losing. Personally I would just leave him alone, and try feeding him once a week, or once every other week.

I wouldn't feel too bad about the situation. I can see why you'd believe that the vet had the best idea.

A lot of snakes will go on hunger strikes. My gtp is on one right now. It's just the time of the year.

The best idea is to monitor their weight. As long as your snake is not losing weight substantially, it is fine. A few grams a month is really nothing to be worried about.

Since he has regurged, I suggest leaving him alone for a few weeks. No handling, no offered feedings. Just keep his house clean and his water dish fresh. After a few weeks you can offer a smaller meal and see if he takes it. If you offer him food right away, he will most likely throw it up due to his stomach being all wonky.

When my snakes are on a hunger strike, I don't offer as much as I would if they were regularly eating. Instead of every week, maybe offer every 2 weeks. You can usually tell when they're hungry, because they'll be a lot more active and moving around.


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My male YB went on strike beginning of December. I kept trying every week and weighed him every week so I knew how much he lost. He only lost about 40gr but for a yearling that weighed 470 gr when I got him I was starting to get a little concerned. I finally got him to eat a live weanling rat. It was small but it was something. Don't beat yourself up for listening to the vet. This vet probably isn't well versed in handling snakes and food strikes. If it was me I would have done the same thing. I wish I could wave a magic wand and get yours to eat. I wish you all the luck to get him to eat after he recovers from a vets mishandling.