BP Not eating, afraid of food?

My enclosure lights turn on at 7:00 am and go off at 7:00 pm. My ball will only eat after 10:00 pm, about three hours after lights out. She never misses a meal after 10:00 pm. She never eats before then. I would try turning out the lights for a few hours before feeding, and feeding f/t or pre-killed. Leave the dead rodent in the cage and walk away. Remove after an hour if not eaten. Do not check to see if prey is eaten for at least an hour. Also, try a dead mouse instead of a rat. Some pythons dislike rats.

David

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

Once a week is a good schedule, but I'd hold off a couple of weeks and offer her food again at that point. They tend to spend most of their time in a dark environment, so yes, a darker environment would likely do her some good. In regards to the cigarette smoke, is second-hand smoke safe or stress-free for anything?

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Okay so if I were put drapes up in my room would that be okay? Minimal sunlight, but not complete darkness or should I just put her in the closet?

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Originally Posted by nightrainfalls

My enclosure lights turn on at 7:00 am and go off at 7:00 pm. My ball will only eat after 10:00 pm, about three hours after lights out. She never misses a meal after 10:00 pm. She never eats before then. I would try turning out the lights for a few hours before feeding, and feeding f/t or pre-killed. Leave the dead rodent in the cage and walk away. Remove after an hour if not eaten. Do not check to see if prey is eaten for at least an hour. Also, try a dead mouse instead of a rat. Some pythons dislike rats.

David

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Yeah I turn her lights on when I get up at 7:30 and they're off by 7:30 or dark if that's earlier. I did actually take her out of her separate enclosure and put her back in her living enclosure for a bit before killing the rat and giving it to her quite a while later when she'd settled down and resumed her roaming instead of being all coiled up and watchful. The pet store I received her from has always fed her rats in one form or another alternatively (fresh kill, live, frozen, etc), should I really switch to mice? would they be big enough for her to eat and stay fed for up to a week?

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Originally Posted by RiverDragon459

Yeah I turn her lights on when I get up at 7:30 and they're off by 7:30 or dark if that's earlier. I did actually take her out of her separate enclosure and put her back in her living enclosure for a bit before killing the rat and giving it to her quite a while later when she'd settled down and resumed her roaming instead of being all coiled up and watchful. The pet store I received her from has always fed her rats in one form or another alternatively (fresh kill, live, frozen, etc), should I really switch to mice? would they be big enough for her to eat and stay fed for up to a week?

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I have had good success feeding two large mice to picky eaters. Sometimes if a snake won't feed on rats, it will take mice. I am not advocating a permanent switch, just making a suggestion that may help get your snake eating again. I would second the earlier remarks o not handle your snake before feeding. It causes stress.

David

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Originally Posted by RiverDragon459

Okay so if I were put drapes up in my room would that be okay? Minimal sunlight, but not complete darkness or should I just put her in the closet?

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Honestly, I'd be focused more on what's inside of her enclosure than outside of it to begin with. Temperatures, humidity, decorations, substrate, etc...

the enclosure itself can cause stress. from what i gather, yours is a transparent display cage? try to temporarily cover all sides with paper, until she has settled down, there is no absolute timeframe for this, she will let you know by calming down and eating. or if you can live with it, use an opaque tub to house it permanently.

does she have a hide? this is very important, especially in display cages. i find that shy eaters can benefit from a hide. wait until you notice her in ambush mode (in the hide, with only her head at the hide's entrance). if you see this, gently dangle the food in front of the hide. i do not suggest you let it go, because if the prey checks out your snakes face before it decides to strike, you are not gonna get any results. starting with small/helpless rat babies also build up her confidence until she is brave enough to tackle larger rats, i like using those that just opened their eyes. these crawl slowly and encourage a feeding response.

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

Honestly, I'd be focused more on what's inside of her enclosure than outside of it to begin with. Temperatures, humidity, decorations, substrate, etc...

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Temp and humidity are perfect from what information I have gathered and she has a hide big enough to hold most of her body if she really wanted to fit in it. She always has fresh water to bathe in or drink

GM to all. RiverDragon459, make sure to include a hide for your bp, one that is of an appropriate size to make the animal feel secure. That would mean a hide where the bp can feel the sides of the hide when coiled inside. This is very important especially for problem feeders. Another tactic is to fill a container of appropriate size with warm water [88- 90 degrees], make the water deep enough so the bp will have to swim. Cover the container for security and safety for the bp and make sure you have adequate holes in the container for air and oxygen exchange. A Styrofoam container is a good choice. Let the bp swim for 35 to 40 minutes. Periodically check on him or her. The results are threefold, appetite stimulation, rehydration through the respiratory tract , rehydration through the cloaca. Good Luck! Switch from trying to feed from weekly to every 10 days. Be patient, as long as the bp is getting fluid the greater the chance the appetite will return. A.C.

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

GM to all. RiverDragon459, make sure to include a hide for your bp, one that is of an appropriate size to make the animal feel secure. That would mean a hide where the bp can feel the sides of the hide when coiled inside. This is very important especially for problem feeders. Another tactic is to fill a container of appropriate size with warm water [88- 90 degrees], make the water deep enough so the bp will have to swim. Cover the container for security and safety for the bp and make sure you have adequate holes in the container for air and oxygen exchange. A Styrofoam container is a good choice. Let the bp swim for 35 to 40 minutes. Periodically check on him or her. The results are threefold, appetite stimulation, rehydration through the respiratory tract , rehydration through the cloaca. Good Luck! Switch from trying to feed from weekly to every 10 days. Be patient, as long as the bp is getting fluid the greater the chance the appetite will return. A.C.

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I have never heard of, nor seen, forcing a BP to swim for 35 to 40 mins as a way to get them eating again. I don't think it'll do anything but stress them out even more.

A forced swim? What?