I'm running out of ideas...

I purchased a baby female BP on 6/19/11 from my local reptile shop. I was TOLD that their ball pythons were already established and eating pretty well, so I didn't think I would have too many issues getting her to eat for me. Well, I've had her over a month and a half now and she STILL hasn't eaten :(

I am running out of things to try. I've tried both frozen and live. I've tried offering both rats and mice. I've tried braining. I've tried leaving the F/T mouse in her tub overnight. I just don't know what to do anymore, and she's really starting to worry me. I know snakes can go a while without eating, but she was only 45 grams to start with and she now looks a bit skinnier to me.

I have not been handling her at all this whole time and I've only been occasionally lifting the tub lid to check on her and change her water, etc. As far as husbandry, I'm keeping her exactly the same as my adult male and he never misses a meal. Please help! :confused:

Have you tried assist feeding? She's way too small to wait any longer for her to get food down.

Whoa... 45 grams to me doesn't sound like an established eater. That would have meant he was hatched at 25 grams or so which is highly unlikely.

I agree with spitzu, 6 weeks is too long to wait out a 45 grammer. I'd go and assist-feed. If you're not comfortable with that, try to find a breeder close to you who can help with this.

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Originally Posted by spitzu

Have you tried assist feeding? She's way too small to wait any longer for her to get food down.

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I haven't. I'm a little scared to try because I don't want to hurt the snake. But if that's what I need to do, I will most definitely do it. Can you give me some advice on assist feeding and/or point me in the right direction as far as where to find info on it? Thanks.

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Originally Posted by reptile65

I haven't. I'm a little scared to try because I don't want to hurt the snake. But if that's what I need to do, I will most definitely do it. Can you give me some advice on assist feeding and/or point me in the right direction as far as where to find info on it? Thanks.

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There are several youtube videos on it. Do a search on assist-feed on this forum, you should find a lot of info on it.

Assist-feeding is advanced husbandry. I suggest that you try to find a breeder close to you that can help first before you try doing it on your own. At least for the first time. You might have to assist-feed for a while before your snake "gets it".

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Originally Posted by anatess

Whoa... 45 grams to me doesn't sound like an established eater. That would have meant he was hatched at 25 grams or so which is highly unlikely.

I agree with spitzu, 6 weeks is too long to wait out a 45 grammer. I'd go and assist-feed. If you're not comfortable with that, try to find a breeder close to you who can help with this.

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x2....

You're in Colorado right? I hate to ask but where did you get it?

Either way, if you are in the Springs I could help you. Or just look up "assist feeding" in the Advanced Husbandry forum. It's fairly easy and as long as you are careful you shouldn't injure your snake. It's a good skill to learn when keeping BPs.

You need to assist feed asap. It ain't gonna be pleasant, but it needs to be done. Check out a bunch of videos and give it a shot.

Once you get her eating, go back to the shop you bought her at and give them a big thank you...or something like that...:mad:

Here are some keys

1# Forget F/T try live, having your animal to eat is YOUR priority switching is completely secondary. Offer live Hopper Mouse.

2# Security and Warmth, I would suggest you to have this animal setup in a 6 quarts tub (No larger than that), have some aspen as substrate, a 6 inch plastic flower pot saucer as an hide and proper gradient temps.

3# NO HANDLING until the animal eats at least 5 times for you.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Here are some keys

1# Forget F/T try live, having your animal to eat is YOUR priority switching is completely secondary. Offer live Hopper Mouse.

2# Security and Warmth, I would suggest you to have this animal setup in a 6 quarts tub (No larger than that), have some aspen as substrate, a 6 inch plastic flower pot saucer as an hide and proper gradient temps.

3# NO HANDLING until the animal eats at least 5 times for you.

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x2

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Originally Posted by jsmorphs2

x2....

You're in Colorado right? I hate to ask but where did you get it?

Either way, if you are in the Springs I could help you. Or just look up "assist feeding" in the Advanced Husbandry forum. It's fairly easy and as long as you are careful you shouldn't injure your snake. It's a good skill to learn when keeping BPs.

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Yes, I'm in CO. I got her from Scales n' Tails. I now realize this was a terrible idea, but I never thought it would take THIS long to get her to eat. I'm about an hour and a half away from the Springs, so that probably won't work. I'll just read up on it like crazy and try it.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Here are some keys

1# Forget F/T try live, having your animal to eat is YOUR priority switching is completely secondary. Offer live Hopper Mouse.

2# Security and Warmth, I would suggest you to have this animal setup in a 6 quarts tub (No larger than that), have some aspen as substrate, a 6 inch plastic flower pot saucer as an hide and proper gradient temps.

3# NO HANDLING until the animal eats at least 5 times for you.

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Originally Posted by tcutting

x2

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As stated in my original post, I have tried offering live. Both times I tried live she showed little to no interest and just tried to hide from the mouse. Also, I already stated that I have not handled her at all.

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Originally Posted by reptile65

As stated in my original post, I have tried offering live. Both times I tried live she showed little to no interest and just tried to hide from the mouse. Also, I already stated that I have not handled her at all.

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Do you have the animal in a 6 quart tub with aspen bedding too?

Just wondering, since you did get her from scales n tails, what is your husbandry looking like? Sometimes they give poor advice on caring for the animals. I know the one down here in the springs has killed their green tree monitor lizard with improper care, and they're keeping their frilled lizards on sand without climbing room. I know when I first started looking for frilled lizards I asked what they needed and scales n tails told me they had the same care requirements as beardies... >.> two TOTALLY different animals.

As far as assist feeding goes it's pretty simple, you just have to grab her behind the head and rub the mouse or rat on her nose, once she opens her mouth just place the nose of the mouse or rat in her mouth (pretty far back) and she SHOULD start to swallow. Like others have said, youtube will help a lot! Good luck!

As much as you want to rag on me on the other forum for the blunt way I speak to people reptile65- fact is you weren't very informed and went to one of the worst sources for a baby ball python possible. I can tell you for a fact they unbox them and put them up for sale within the hour. On top of that, WC snakes are picky eaters- period, no doubt they where force fed to be kept "looking decent" for sale in the shop.

Just assist feed the animal as stated above, if it still refuses, force feed it. Don't take it back to the shop and ask for their help, because when it comes to 99% of reptiles, they have 0 idea what they are doing.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Do you have the animal in a 6 quart tub with aspen bedding too?

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I do have her in a 6 qt tub but I'm using paper towels right now to reduce the risk of her ingesting substrate. Also, I've found that here in CO it's very hard to keep humidity at decent levels with aspen bedding.

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Originally Posted by AliCat37

Just wondering, since you did get her from scales n tails, what is your husbandry looking like? Sometimes they give poor advice on caring for the animals. I know the one down here in the springs has killed their green tree monitor lizard with improper care, and they're keeping their frilled lizards on sand without climbing room. I know when I first started looking for frilled lizards I asked what they needed and scales n tails told me they had the same care requirements as beardies... >.> two TOTALLY different animals.

As far as assist feeding goes it's pretty simple, you just have to grab her behind the head and rub the mouse or rat on her nose, once she opens her mouth just place the nose of the mouse or rat in her mouth (pretty far back) and she SHOULD start to swallow. Like others have said, youtube will help a lot! Good luck!

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Thanks for the advice. Don't worry, I didn't ask the people at Scales N Tails for advice. I know that they give out terrible advice. I researched ball python husbandry extensively through the internet (including this forum) before I got my first BP. Since I had owned my first BP for a while and felt comfortable with my husbandry, I decided to get a new one.

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Originally Posted by MMReptiles

As much as you want to rag on me on the other forum for the blunt way I speak to people reptile65- fact is you weren't very informed and went to one of the worst sources for a baby ball python possible. I can tell you for a fact they unbox them and put them up for sale within the hour. On top of that, WC snakes are picky eaters- period, no doubt they where force fed to be kept "looking decent" for sale in the shop.

Just assist feed the animal as stated above, if it still refuses, force feed it. Don't take it back to the shop and ask for their help, because when it comes to 99% of reptiles, they have 0 idea what they are doing.

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I appreciate the advice. I know I should have purchased from a breeder instead, and I had that thought in the back of my mind when I bought one from Scales n Tails. I guess I just thought I knew enough about BP's to be able to get her to eat on her own. I made an irresponsible decision even though I knew that wasn't the best place to buy a snake from. Oh well... Now that I have the animal I'm going to do my best to help her out, but I've definitely learned my lesson for next time.

UPDATE: I tried assist feeding and it was a success! Thanks to everyone for the advice. I have some peace of mind now that I at least know she has a nice meal in her belly.

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Originally Posted by reptile65

UPDATE: I tried assist feeding and it was a success! Thanks to everyone for the advice. I have some peace of mind now that I at least know she has a nice meal in her belly.

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Good to hear, if you end up needing help feel free to send me a PM, I'd be glad to come by and give you a hand. Oh- and yes, I am Dehlida as you guessed ;)

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Originally Posted by MMReptiles

Good to hear, if you end up needing help feel free to send me a PM, I'd be glad to come by and give you a hand. Oh- and yes, I am Dehlida as you guessed ;)

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Haha thanks. And yeah, I kinda assumed. I may not always agree with the way you've presented info in the past, but thanks for the advice once again. I appreciate it.

Hooray! I am so glad the assist feeding worked! Hopefully next time she'll get it on her own!

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Originally Posted by AliCat37

Hooray! I am so glad the assist feeding worked! Hopefully next time she'll get it on her own!

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ditto here... I tried assist feeding with my ball python once here successfully, it upsets me emotionally so much to do anything that 'forceful" with any of my animals that I only was successful once. The other times I was so shaky she dropped the rat within seconds of my pushing it into her mouth. Fortunately my successful assist feeding attempt bought me and her enough time to get her interested in eating on her own.

Now, here in west texas, I'm dealing with daily 110+ temps, our house (cooled with a swamp cooler) is at 90+ degrees. Snake is having a rough time, as are all of us. I have her in the coolest, darkest area of the house with a fan going over her tank. She hasn't eaten in about 3 weeks now. Her humidity is great, I'm keeping it around 55%-60%.... but temps in her tank are 90 degrees pretty much through out. I'm tempted to start putting a little ice in one area of her cage, but worry that it will "shock" her if she some how manages to go directly over it

we have appx two more weeks of this hellish heat before temperatures should drop.

As a representative of Scales N Tails, I apologize for any bad experiences you may have had at our store(s) or with any of your purchases. We are committed to providing healthy animals and excellent customer service so, in accordance with our standard policy, we will take back or exchange any animal that is not living up to your expectations.

In the event of any further difficulty, please contact me immediately so that we may provide appropriate assistance.

Needless to say, it is troubling to hear that Scales N Tails staff may have provided improper husbandry advice or in-store care for any animal. I invite anyone with knowledge of such happenings to provide specifics about your experiences so that we may investigate and take corrective measures.

Again, we are committed to providing healthy animals and appreciate your feedback.