poll: has your bp ever refused a meal?

My largest male just started feeding again a couple weeks ago after he decided he wasn't going to eat over the winter.

Aleesha, we have some that will skip here or there. Most of the younger ones (the 06 group) never skip, maybe during the active part of shedding but that's about it and it's rare with them. Our fully mature adults all went off feed during breeding season and Saoirse, our WC adult, always winter fasts no matter how we tweak her husbandry - Adam warned me way back when we rescued her that this was a very real possibility for Saoirse.

If Dex is a rat eater you may want to try a nice live rat fuzzie. They seem to be pretty yummo to the ball pythons and that's what we use to kickstart Saoirse back into a good feeding pattern each spring. A couple of those once a week and in no time Saoirse's digestion is back in high gear and she's ready for a more appropriately sized rat.

As always though doublecheck his husbandry and so forth (you know the drill by now). :)

Let me tell you.

Lucille would fast in the winter time when we first got her but she was a rescue and they didn't have her set up properly. so it took her a while to adjust. But she as a terrific eater now! Well...she is gravid :carrot: so she hasn't ate in about a month.

Also when I got Trax he wouldn't eat and got very dehydrated and thin so I *assist fed* him and he eats like a monsta now!

and I have these 2 lil pita's (pain in the azz's) that I got from a rep show back in feb and they have not ate yet!!! They both have quite the attitude too. I offered them all types of prey in every condition poss but still...nothing. :(

However...When I was cleaning tubs and tanks this morning I found one of them in full blue! This will be the first time either of them has shed since I have had them. So I am pretty excited. I have been dying to them after a nice clean shed!

Their health is fine other than being a little thin. I am not sure of their hatch dates but one is 418 grams and the other is 614 grams.

I am going to offer the one not in shed (the 418 gram) something today but the other I will try next week after she sheds. I have my fingers crossed!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MarkS

It really depends on the snake, I've got a female who has never refused a meal even when gravid. In fact she just gave me 8 eggs about a week since her last meal. And I've got some that will eat less then a dozen times in a year.

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I'm in the same boat. I've got some that would eat every day and a male that has eaten three times in the last year or so and hasn't lost much weight.

Well, I couldn't really answer the poll--Auryn refused every time (but one) that I tried to feed him a rat pup--That's about 7 or 8 feeding attempts, I think. However, before that he ate his mice every time and when I decided that he's going to be a Mouser-For-Life and offered him a couple of mice, he gobbled them down right away. So, he did refuse, but it was entirely my fault and not really his.

i don't know about any of you... but just hearing that others are facing this issue as well... on a yearly basis (not just a "oh it's only happening now and never before" basis) really helps me through this time with dexter.

the only 'change' in his husbandry is... well... nothing. i was going to say it's been a very cool spring but it was a cool winter as well so really that's not a change. :P

i'm going to try jo's suggestion and offer him a rattie pup... those little fat sausages are an appetizer no snake could refuse!

I think anyone who own's a BP or more then one has theirs skip feed at least once. My male has perfect husbandry and he eats some times and doesn't others. But he hasn't lost any weight. I think that it isn't a issue of wether or not they eat but wether or not they are healthy/loosing weight.

Some will every once in a while, some never had.

Only once, but I don't think it was due to Max's fault, as there are several factors about that meal:

#1 He was in FULL shed, although he did eat in the middle of his last shed.
#2 The mouse was in the process of dieing, I know alot of animals can detect if other animals have an illness, are dieing, etc, so I don't know if that was the case or not.
#3 The mouse was brown, all the others have been white.
#4 Has never had a mouse that big before.

Yea My mojo female sometimes skips a meal but my bad one is my first Orpheus.

He goes off feed every year and this year was the longest he quit on dec 14 and just started two weeks ago. :D talk about stress