Please, need help on how to proceed with feeding

It may make no difference at all, but I would try recovering the cage and replacing the hides. It is my experience (limited, certainly, in comparison to some of our members like Kara and Adam) that ball pythons in general, and particularly those already showing signs of significant stress, like their hides to be snug, secure, and have some heft to them. I have no idea why those half-log hides are even still available as I've never seen a bp happy with one.

Here are some ideas you might consider: appropriately-sized (snug!) terra cotta pot bottoms with an entry chipped out with a hammer and filed or sanded so it's not sharp enough to cut, a homemade hide of appropriate size made from polymer clay and glazed with food-grade glaze, a hide constructed of (oven-baked for germ-killing) bricks and/or walkway tiles or stones, a stoneware bowl chipped like the pot bottom, a wooden salad bowl with an entry hole created by a dremel (I think that's the right tool) and weight added with either something resting securely on top or a layer of clay baked on, or something similar. The key things seem to be a good fit, only one entrance/exit (and that just big enough), and enough weight that the snake can't easily move the hide.

If you do give up, I am sure someone would be willing to give it a try to rescue her.

Adam, that sounds like great advice! I have the flower pot bottoms now and will go and cut the holes asap. Cypress mulch, again, being in Fl. it`s all around me :-) I have tried the scenting with the gerbil, actually had the mouse and gerbil living together, and also tried scenting a small rat with gerbil scent, but I didn`t try it for 10 months! (only three, during which time she lost a lot of weight) Iv`e even tried the gerbils. Im willing to try anything, and will do all the above again, but what happens after so many months of not eating and she goes down to skin and bones again? Im not sure what assisted feeding is, and at what point should it be considered? Also, your idea about blood work makes sense, i`ll make another appointment with the vet to have that done (no, surprizingly neither vet ever suggested it). Wish us luck, this poor girl has been through the wringer!

Marla, Yes, both you and Adam are thinking on the same lines :-) Im going out now to get the mulch and fix the pot bottoms, and am going to take Adams advice about another try to get her to feed. I hate to part with her and would only do so as a last resort, for her sake, lets just hope that this won`t be it! Thanks

Great! Definitely let us know how she's coming along. I've struggled with a wc non-feeder, too, and I have an idea how frustrating it can be.

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Originally Posted by lizzynfriends

I have tried the scenting with the gerbil, actually had the mouse and gerbil living together, and also tried scenting a small rat with gerbil scent, but I didn`t try it for 10 months!

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Ahhh .... don't forget the closet thing ... dark and away form scarey people! I think it's more the alone in the dark thing that turns them than the scenting ... the scenting is just a bonus (like when i put cinnamon sugar on my sons french toast).

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Originally Posted by lizzynfriends

(only three, during which time she lost a lot of weight)

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Start keeping track of her actuall weight loss. Most of the time "eyeballing it" doesn't hold true. I think you'd be surprised to see an actual weight loss of less than 10-15% of her body weight (which will be fine). Any more than that, and I would go back to the parasite theory.

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Originally Posted by lizzynfriends

Im willing to try anything, and will do all the above again, but what happens after so many months of not eating and she goes down to skin and bones again? Im not sure what assisted feeding is, and at what point should it be considered?

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Assist feeding is just putting the head of a small PK rodent into your snakes mouth and letting her constrict and eat it naturally. It's far better than force feeding, but still not recommended unless necessary.

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Originally Posted by lizzynfriends

Also, your idea about blood work makes sense, i`ll make another appointment with the vet to have that done (no, surprizingly neither vet ever suggested it).

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Well, many vets aren't real current on modern herp care. Most of them are still going off what they were taught in school a long time ago. When looking for a herp vet, check to see if they are a member of the American Association of Reptile and Amphibian Veterinarians (AARAV). It doesn't mean they are an "expert" in herps, but at least a little better than their peers that are not members.

Have them run the blood work to look for problems with the kidneys. Kidney disfuntion or infection can be a factor in man non-feeders and is commonly overlooked by keepers and vets.

Also, talk to your vet about tube feeding. Whenever I have heard the diagnosis "severly emanciated" it is almost always followed with instructions about tube feeding. I am curious as to why this was never mentioned.

You're in Florida? How close to UFL? Dr. Elliot Jacobson teaches/works there and is really an authority on modern herp care. Don't know if that helps, but I thought I'd mention it.

Good luck, be patient, and remember DARK, WARM, and OUT OF SIGHT. She'll turn around, I'm pulling for you!

-adam