Please help BP not eating like usual

To anyone that can help. Here is my problem.

I have a female het pie. I got her as a baby in 2008 along with het pie male. I switched them over to F/T couple months later. As normal baby bp's they never missed their weekly meals. The male is always the one we don't have a problem with. Now the female is offered food every week either F/T or live after a month of her not eating. Last meal for her was on 5/17/10 live adult mouse. I tried feed her F/T every week when the male eats but she refuses. I bought live couple days ago. We used tongs like normal,even just put mouse with her she showed no interest.

Before I get all the normal Questions. I'm going to write this just so I'm not repeating myself. This isn't statement isn't meant to be a smart ass comment I'm just stuck and writing this so maybe someone can help because they might have come across same predicament.

1.Temperature is correct
2. humidity is correct
3. no mites
4. no mouth rot
4. no respiratory problems
5.clean cage once a week.
6. clean water all the time
7 I'm also aware about their change in feeding habits but this isn't normal


What I forgot to mention is the last months mouse still hasn't come out. She isn't under any stress. Last time years ago I had a non captive breed bp and he had trouble going so somebody recommended putting gatorade in bowl and raising humidity level and that worked. Butt i'm kind of worried about her not eating. She is losing weight. BTW I live 20 minutes west of Winston north Carolina and I can't find a herp vet anywhere. If anyone lives in NC and knows of one please let me know. Any suggestions? Please help i'm running out of ideas. thank you jeff

The best herp vet that I know of is in Raleigh...

http://www.avianandexotic.com/

Also, here is the site to the North Carolina Vet College in Raleigh with their clinics contact info on it. That's about the best I can come up with for you for herp vets...

http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/vth/clinical...aes/index.html

A few months without food is nothing to worry about. She is getting to be an adult now, and fasts are fairly common. Right now I've got a girl that hasn't eaten more than a couple of small mice in six months. However, weight loss is reason for concern. Parasites could explain both the weight loss and lack of feeding response. A general cat/dog vet can do a fecal float and check for parasites. But if it comes back negative for any bugs or worms, and you are positive she is still losing weight, it may be time to find a herp vet.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about her not defecating. If she's only got one mouse in her system, she may simply be taking her time in releasing it. Try giving her soaks in 85* water that is roughly 1/2" deep. Half an hour is enough time to loosen things up without the water cooling too much and stressing her. Try this twice a week until she goes.

thank you I'll definitely do that I forgot to mention we give her a good soak every other week or so she loves the water. Actually both don't mind it. thanks again

thanks vyp i'll put them in bookmarks and call them monday or Tuesday thanks again.

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Originally Posted by Crazy4Herps

A few months without food is nothing to worry about. She is getting to be an adult now, and fasts are fairly common. Right now I've got a girl that hasn't eaten more than a couple of small mice in six months. However, weight loss is reason for concern. Parasites could explain both the weight loss and lack of feeding response. A general cat/dog vet can do a fecal float and check for parasites. But if it comes back negative for any bugs or worms, and you are positive she is still losing weight, it may be time to find a herp vet.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about her not defecating. If she's only got one mouse in her system, she may simply be taking her time in releasing it. Try giving her soaks in 85* water that is roughly 1/2" deep. Half an hour is enough time to loosen things up without the water cooling too much and stressing her. Try this twice a week until she goes.

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I second this. I have a snake that only accepts food once every 2 to 3 months after she hit 900g, she's lost like 100g then put it back on. Its pretty crazy, but she's fine. It sometimes just depends on the snake.

i only had my bp for 3 weeks now, so i'm pretty sure im not that realiable to get advice from. but happened to my BP where he refuses to eat, what i did was to hit the back of his eyes with the f/t rodent and he get's pissed, and i'll do it for like 3 times and he'll be like, "WTH is that comming from, i wanna eat you noW!!!!!!" then strikes the f/t mice.

i hope that works for u too.. goodluck.

ps: specificially, that's like 2 to 3 inches from his eyes.

Hi,

Or it could scare him into not eating for even longer.

It's called tease feeding and is not always a good idea.

If you do want to tease them into striking it's probably best to do it on the back third of the snake as close to the tail as you can.

The idea is it makes the snake strike defensively and when it bites realizes it is food and coils and constricts.

I have used it to start some hatchlings that have never fed but this is a well grown on snake that has already eaten on its own we are talking about - I'm not sure it's even a good idea to try it if I'm honest.


dr del

no offense but "temps are right" is not very helpful. It would be more helpful to tell us what kind of enclosure she is in and how big it is. The exact temperatures that your thermometers are reading. Your heat source and what device is controlling it.


I did have the same thing happen to my '08 female a while back. She didn't eat for about a month and then just started eating again. If she is anywhere around the weight of my '08s then she is probably around 1000g which means she could go many months without eating and be perfectly fine. Also, if she is around 1000g she should be eating small rats, not adult mice.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

I did have the same thing happen to my '08 female a while back. She didn't eat for about a month and then just started eating again. If she is anywhere around the weight of my '08s then she is probably around 1000g which means she could go many months without eating and be perfectly fine. Also, if she is around 1000g she should be eating small rats, not adult mice.

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Not necessarily, mine is terrified of small rats. So I feed her weanlings.

I'm not trying to be a smartie-pants either, but in my time around, when someone says this:

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"1.Temperature is correct
2. Humidity is correct
3. No mites
4. No mouth rot
4. No respiratory problems
5.clean cage once a week.
6. Clean water all the time
7 I'm also aware about their change in feeding habits but this isn't normal "

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It is usually one, two, or even three of these things (or other environmental issues you dodn't touch on) that are the cause behind the no eating.
Keep in mind you are also dealing with a ball python, so they do stop eating. They're not corns.
You're worrying for nothing.
As for #7; you couldn't be more wrong.
Ball pythons are notorious for changing their feeding habit sof a dime.
It's what makes them all the same.
Just wait it out and DON'T waste your money on a vet visit because your ball python hasn't eaten in a month.

I use a vision cage.Not sure of the dimensions but it's will house a adult BP. I know its 12-14" high. Which you don't need height for a bp. Heat source is a under tank heater w/ hide on hot side. water bowl on cool bedding is news paper. She switches from hide which stays around 85 during day and goes to cool side when she warms up to under newspaper. I really don't know why i have hide in there if there is a paper hole in hide she'll gon= under newspaper anyway. She weighed 987g now only 935.I know i'm i'm just jumping the gun here but really wanted her over 1700 to breed this November -December but at this rate i'll be looking at the following season thanks again.

85* is your hot side? I would try bumping it up to 90 or 92 and see if that helps.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

85* is your hot side? I would try bumping it up to 90 or 92 and see if that helps.

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+1. I wouldn't do 85 unless she's breeding. Even then I usually don't go past 86.

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Originally Posted by BlckPhntm

+1. I wouldn't do 85 unless she's breeding. Even then I usually don't go past 86.

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I'll third this, I keep the heat tape on my rack just bellow 95, and it keeps it around 90 on that side of the tubs.

Just a thought here, if she's only lost 50g or so in the past month, it could be waterweight. I've had a BP gain weight over a week during which she hadn't eaten. The opposite is also possible. Waterweight can fluctuate based on drinking/urinating. Of course it's never good to dismiss weight loss, it's just something to consider.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

85* is your hot side? I would try bumping it up to 90 or 92 and see if that helps.

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Agreed.

yes it various between 85-87 I had it around 92 for a long time and she stayed on the cold side most of the time I thought the same thing when writing the 85 and stuck a heat lamp on top. I know bps go off feed like this. I was worried until I read different sites. The person that is really worried is my care giver. She thinks a month is to long. And no matter how much assurance i give her I get the same answer. "Why don't you write to a group your on and ask" WOMEN lolMy reply is the same It's normal don't worry about it. which I get yelled at write it anyways it won't hurt.

I'll try these recommendations and tell you all how it's going. Thanks for your patience and recommendations again.

Maybe I missed it, but what kind of thermostat, thermometers, and heating device are you using?

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"It is usually one, two, or even three of these things (or other environmental issues you didn't touch on) that are the cause behind the no eating."

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"She switches from hide which stays around 85 during day and goes to cool side when she warms up to under newspaper."

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That'll do it....

I wouldn't worry about it this early. For some reason I feel like females like to have their first fast right before they hit 1,000g. I just had a female off feed for quite a while and she lost a lot of weight. I started to get concerned so I assist fed her. By doing this, it put the taste of food back in her mouth and now she is pounding away on ASF's.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Maybe I missed it, but what kind of thermostat, thermometers, and heating device are you using?

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I'm using a under tank heating source for hot side with a heat lamp for the last week to raise the temps up to 90 during the day. Thermostat is a cheap one I got with my vision cage. The thermometer I'm using are some duel digital one's
I bought at pet smart which includes temperature and humidity, which is set on bottom of hot side. When hot side reaches 90-92 lamp goes off. Humidity stays between 60 & 77%. As soon as I raised temperature up she went to cool side immediately. Got up this morning and she coiled herself around some cocoanut husk we put in her hide that she got down. She seems very content now. Boy how I can't stand teen age girls, lol I'm glad I don't have girls I'd go insane. :)

I'm no expert, but if it's about getting your bp interested in the mice, have you tried pre-senting the room? I feed mine prekilled live, but let them make noise and scent the room around her cage for like 30 mins to an hour to get my bp interested. By then, she's really active and looking for the mice to eat. Before I started doing this, she was pretty much half asleep and not really expecting to be fed I guess...not that she's EVER had a problem with eating. She's really good about staying on schedule and hasn't ever skipped a meal.

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Originally Posted by tiny_tiger60978

I'm no expert, but if it's about getting your bp interested in the mice, have you tried pre-senting the room? I feed mine prekilled live, but let them make noise and scent the room around her cage for like 30 mins to an hour to get my bp interested. By then, she's really active and looking for the mice to eat. Before I started doing this, she was pretty much half asleep and not really expecting to be fed I guess...not that she's EVER had a problem with eating. She's really good about staying on schedule and hasn't ever skipped a meal.

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yes I thaw them out on top of cage all day or precent cage or room for about 1 hour. Thanks