Hasn't Eaten In One Year Should I Start Worrying Yet?

Last year I took in a rescue from some people that has no idea how to care for her. She was a fairly large female and they were feeding her small mice every couple of weeks. I switched her over to f/t rats and she had about 15 of them between the beginning of March 2010, but she hasn't eaten since last June.

I like to think that my husbandry is spot on as I avidly clean their tubs, use two thermostats (A Johnson Controls and a Helix) for UTH heating, provide hides, water daily, have them in a low traffic area, and generally don't disturb them necessarily. I use Sterilite tubs in a poor man's rack. I can put up pics if you'd like, but I really don't think this is where the problem is.

She is absolutely terrified of live prey, although that's what the previous owner gave her. I've never even seen her strike at live prey. She runs and balls up. She's a bit of a basket case like that.

Every three months or so I like to drop you guys a post for advice. So far the general consensus has been "Don't worry." So I haven't. She doesn't seem to be horribly emaciated and seems to be in good health when I have her out for cage cleanings and so on. But we are coming up on the One Year mark and I am getting concerned. Tonight I am trying a late feed with balled up newspaper in her tub.

Am I correct in thinking that she will eat when she is ready or will a BP simply lay around and starve itself to death? I am not a fan or force feeding or even the notion of the practice. Thanks for any advice you wish to offer.

If there is something wrong, snakes can and will starve themselves to death.

Can we get a picture of her and her setup.

Have you tried pre killed left in over night by her warm side hide.

So lets say that your husbandry is spot on and its totally NOT stress related (of course there would be some people who may dispute this and start asking things like how you measure temps and all those, but I trust people to be wiser). You should look at other signs such as weight, poop and urates, physical appearance, activity etc to determine whether it is sick or not.

Weight honestly puts my mind to ease quite a lot when it comes to a fasting BP, have you been weighing him? How much has he lost? If not then you should start, but for now does he look thinner and less round / muscular than last year? It'll be quite clear if he is starving himself to death honestly. I think that these are some of the best signs which would tell you if a ball is starving himself.

The nature of poop and urates also could give you a hint of whether or not he has anything wrong with him internally - I trust that you've checked him out for anything wrong physically from his mouth to tail. Also if he still roams around now and then, including when you pick him up, with frequent tongue flicking, its COULD BE another sign that he's fine but of course this is alot less reliable.

Regarding the fear of food, I have a ball that would draw back, turn around and run away from food when he isnt eating and not interested in it, be it live prey or P/K.

These signs cant be taken alone, and they aren't the best of indicators, but I honestly wouldnt be freaking out if weight appearance and poop/urates/shedding is all normal. If you were truly worried though the vet would be definitely the best bet and can give the most definite answer.

When offering live prey, is it a mouse or rat?


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Originally Posted by ptate

When offering live prey, is it a mouse or rat?

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I've tried both rats and mice. I also tried very small prey b/c my other girl likes smaller victims. I figured I should try what worked for the previous owners. No success though. She literally runs away from the smallest of mice.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...0/img_0878.jpg Here's their set up. She's on the bottom.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...0/img_0886.jpg Best I could get of her head by myself. She had that nasty burn scar when I got her.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...0/img_0880.jpg I've heard of "pyramid-ing" in malnourished snakes and this is the worst looking pic I could get.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...0/img_0885.jpg Side shot.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...0/img_0893.jpgBest shot I could get of her stretched out.

Hope these help. As i'm sure you know BP are the worst photography subjects and I am among the worst of photogs.

Have you tried f/t mice/rats in tuna Juice or braining?

She doesn't look that bad for not having eaten for a year. Personally I might try taking her to the vet to be de-wormed and possibly given a dose of Beytril just to knock out any possibility of parasites or underlying issues. Also, I would bump my temps up a bit (82/85 - 90/92) and make sure the are consistent day and night to see if I could get her out of her rut. Our male spider JUST ate last week after a 10 month fast. All we did was offer food once a week till he was ready to eat.

See if you can get a dose or 2 of Fagyl. Its a dewormer but is also good for appetite stimulant. Should help get her wanting to eat again.

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Originally Posted by AkHerps

Have you tried f/t mice/rats in tuna Juice or braining?

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I've heard that both of these don't really work/aren't necessary, but if this keeps up I may result to trying it.

I've heard the tuna trick works better than others, and have used it.

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Originally Posted by jsmorphs2

She doesn't look that bad for not having eaten for a year. Personally I might try taking her to the vet to be de-wormed and possibly given a dose of Beytril just to knock out any possibility of parasites or underlying issues. Also, I would bump my temps up a bit (82/85 - 90/92) and make sure the are consistent day and night to see if I could get her out of her rut. Our male spider JUST ate last week after a 10 month fast. All we did was offer food once a week till he was ready to eat.

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I agree that for not having taken nourishment for 11 months she looks and act pretty darned fine. I don't know if you can see them in the pics but my therms are set to 84 cool and 93 warm. That gives me a pretty constant 82/91 on the inside thermometers. I avidly watched my temps last winter b/c our house is drafty. I"m giving her a little while longer and then it's off to the vet.

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Originally Posted by AkHerps

I've heard the tuna trick works better than others, and have used it.

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Heck I'll try anything once...:D

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

See if you can get a dose or 2 of Fagyl. Its a dewormer but is also good for appetite stimulant. Should help get her wanting to eat again.

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How is it administered?

Flagyl can be IV or oral. I have used oral to stimulate a feeding response. One thing you can try is asf's.

99% of Flagyl meds are oral and you want the meds to get into the stomach and the intestines.
A vet can prescribe a bottle for a small fee or just few doses.

Have you tried an African Soft Fur? Its like candy to them. I have a couple of girls that will only eat those.


Richie

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Originally Posted by ScubaDiver007

Have you tried an African Soft Fur? Its like candy to them. I have a couple of girls that will only eat those.

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Originally Posted by kellysballs

Flagyl can be IV or oral. I have used oral to stimulate a feeding response. One thing you can try is asf's.

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Kicking myself for not thinking of asf on my own. I've often read of their legendary yumminess and have wanted to see it in action. I'll have to check to see when the next show is.

i second the ASF, i have a young BP 2-3 months, and the first 3 weeks he didt eat anything, no mice, no fuzzie, i thru in there a asf fuzzie, and within seconds he took it.

is there anybody out there that has actually seen a BP refuse a asf? from what i been reading and from what i heard, its never happened!

oh and that snake does look very healthy for not havent eaten in a year, when mine stopped eating for 3 weeks, it showed, but i guess its maybe cause hes so young.

I've had BPs refuse ASFs. When they don't want to eat they don't want to eat. However, you can always try it. A new food source may snap her out of her fast. Just be aware though, if she gets on ASFs she may not take other prey later on but if you have a good source for them or can breed them then its a great alternative to her not eating.

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Yes, a year is pretty extreme. The good news is, she doesn't look really thin yet, though she's starting to get triangular. Does her skin feel tight, or a bit flabby?

I find live hopper mice work the best for snakes that won't eat anything. Heather W. once told me that all the bouncing around makes the hoppers hard to resist, and so far that's really been true for all my animals. I've also--no joke-- had a snake that wasn't eating, but would stick her nose out when I was microwaving lunch. I finally got her to eat by dipping a mouse in my leftover curry tikka masala sauce. And she preferred curry mice to plain mice for a good three months after that. I AM NOT KIDDING.

Dr. Jarchow in Tucson gave my pied girl a vitamin B shot when she wasn't eating after a month of flagellate treatment. He said the vitamin B was to stimulate appetite. I have NO IDEA, but she did eat a few days after receiving the shot.

Also, is that tub in a room that sees daylight? It's moving towards summer now, and my ball pythons tend to pick up more appetite in mid and late summer. I'm not sure how much of that is warmer temps and how much is more daylight.

I have not read all the comments, I just wanted to add one of my experiences. I have a 2010 bp that is scared of f/t food (don't ask....). He ate it consistently with his breeder, but with me he became very nervous. His husbandry is the exact same as all my other bps who eat regularly and thrive, so I had no idea what was wrong with him. He ate for me in his 34 qt quarantine rack (with two hides) but stopped when I put him in my RBI rack (hides don't fit...). He refused for a few weeks before I decided to put him back into the 34 qt tub with his hides. He is a basket case and literally "ran" away from the f/t rat. He WILL NOT eat without a hide. All I do now is dangle it in front of the door, he strikes and brings it into his hide, and it's gone within 10 mins. Maybe it makes him feel more secure with it? I don't really know, but figured I'd throw that out there because mine is a paranoid bp too.

You may want to consider a smaller tub. She definitely looks big enough for a 41-qt., but a 34-qt. might make her feel more secure, which could encourage feeding.