feeding issue

OK I got my first ever bp it was gave to me by a ex breeder i know who is getting out of breeding. The snake I got is a 6yo female who was hatched by him and raised to be another breeder anyways when he gave it to me he told me that it has not ate in like 3 months my first attempt to feed it was 2 days after I got her, it was a Friday when I got her and tried to feed her on a Sunday, she did not even strike at the rat so I let her settle in until Tuesday when I tried again she did a few defensive strikes then retreated into her hide so I try again today and she strikes it a few times then she grabs and coils it for about a minute then she lets it go she didn't even kill it or drawl blood and as it ran around in her tank she acted scared of it until she retreated into her hide and haven't seen her since then and I'm worried because she hasn't ate in along time and don't want her to starve or get sick

temps. are
Cool stays around 70-85
Hot stays around 85-90
Humidity stays between 40-70

You can try to find a breeder or someone who knows how and has done it before to assist feed her. Or you can watch several youtube videos on how to assist feed a ball python and make sure you do it right.

You should be fine, if she is 6 years old she probably has a decent bit of weight on her. Females tend to go off feed this time of year. Just keep offering every 10 days :gj:

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Originally Posted by evan385

You can try to find a breeder or someone who knows how and has done it before to assist feed her. Or you can watch several youtube videos on how to assist feed a ball python and make sure you do it right.

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This is VERY unnecessary, she is a 6 year old snake, going off feed for a while is not going to hurt her.

Did you ask the breeder what they were feeding the girl? She could be on frozen thawed or pre-killed. This could be one explanation for her defensive behavior towards a living, kicking, biting rat.

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Originally Posted by Ezekiel285

You should be fine, if she is 6 years old she probably has a decent bit of weight on her. Females tend to go off feed this time of year. Just keep offering every 10 days :gj:




This is VERY unnecessary, she is a 6 year old snake, going off feed for a while is not going to hurt her.

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If she starts to lose a significant amount of weight then it will begin to be a problem and may be necessary. Right now, no it's not but it may be in the future.

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Originally Posted by evan385

If she starts to lose a significant amount of weight then it will begin to be a problem and may be necessary. Right now, no it's not but it may be in the future.

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Yes but he's had her for about a week and she hasn't eaten, and on top of that she's a 6 year old female (that means she's big....) the first thing you suggest should NOT be assist feeding.

Also to the OP, don't offer except for every 10 days, the frequent offerings of food can cause lots of stress. That's probably all it is.

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Originally Posted by Ezekiel285

Yes but he's had her for about two weeks and she hasn't eaten, and on top of that she's a 6 year old female (that means she's big....) the first thing you suggest should NOT be assist feeding.

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He said that she's been off feed for three months before he got her. That would be three months and two weeks total. I don't know how long they can go off feed without losing weight but that's almost four months.

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Originally Posted by evan385

He said that she's been off feed for three months before he got her. That would be three months and two weeks total. I don't know how long they can go off feed without losing weight but that's almost four months.

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Ah i missed that part. Even so assist feeding is not necessary at this point. I remember reading on this site about somebody whose BP had just come off a 280 something day hunger strike. The big ones can do this and it doesn't affect them like a hatchling. Assist feeding is the last thing you attempt to do.

To the OP i would just get a scale (in grams) and keep track of her weight, she will lose a little but as long as she looks healthy and there isn't any significant weight loss you should be good. It's breeding season and if she was a breeder she has other things on her mind (not food).

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Originally Posted by Ezekiel285

Ah i missed that part. Even so assist feeding is not necessary at this point. I remember reading on this site about somebody whose BP had just come off a 280 something day hunger strike. The big ones can do this and it doesn't affect them like a hatchling. Assist feeding is the last thing you attempt to do.

To the OP i would just get a scale (in grams) and keep track of her weight, she will lose a little but as long as she looks healthy and there isn't any significant weight loss you should be good. It's breeding season and if she was a breeder she has other things on her mind (not food).

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Well yeah since he just got her you're right. But if she was mine and was off feed for over three months and I had tried everything else which I assume the previous owner did... Well never mind I would probably ask here and be told it's probably seasonal and not to worry about it too much lol

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Originally Posted by John1982

Did you ask the breeder what they were feeding the girl? She could be on frozen thawed or pre-killed. This could be one explanation for her defensive behavior towards a living, kicking, biting rat.

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Good idea, try F/T or P/K and see if that works. But don't offer so frequently.

Also to the OP, leave her alone for the next week, don't touch her, don't try to feed her, and disturb her as little as possible. THEN you can try to feed her again. They need at least a week to settle in. After your first attempted feeding wait 10 days and then try again.

and whats really got me worried is that he weighed her at the beginning of the year in march and she was 1200+ gms he weighed her the day i get her and shes at 700+gms so shes lost alot of weight since then but she looks healthy shes not skinny or sickly and when made me want to try and feed her so soon was that she was striking the tank as i was checking up on her and thats the first time she did anything like that since i got her so i thought she was hungry :hmm:

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Originally Posted by j0386

and whats really got me worried is that he weighed her at the beginning of the year in march and she was 1200+ gms he weighed her the day i get her and shes at 700+gms so shes lost alot of weight since then but she looks healthy shes not skinny or sickly and when made me want to try and feed her so soon was that she was striking the tank as i was checking up on her and thats the first time she did anything like that since i got her so i thought she was hungry :hmm:

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Ball Pythons can go for wayyyy longer than 3-4 months without food, just make sure you are only offering every 10 days and giver her a week to settle in like I said, she should be fine then. I also suggest you take a look at the caresheet and make sure your setup matches this. As long as all of your husbandry is correct and you are offering every 10 days, she will eat when shes ready. If however she starts looking skinny and sick, this is when its time to worry (I would post back here for help). However for the time being I think you have nothing to worry about and just need to focus on letting her settle in and making sure you have everything on your end set up right.

If she really has lost that much weight, then you may want to try getting a fecal sample for a vet to check for parasites. If she still looks healthy, then I have my doubts about the starting weight, not to mention any "breeder" that would sell/give away a snake that had been dropping weight like that without making 100% sure she's healthy. Are you sure he didn't breed her? The only time my girls (same age) dropped weight after their 7-month fasts (last winter), was when they laid eggs (one lost 320g and the other 540g).

As mentioned before, wait at least a week between offerings. You can also offer slightly smaller meals than would be normal to keep her from being intimidated. I'd avoid mice if possible, but if you can get some dirty mouse bedding for the rat to sit in for a little while, it could "season" it with the stronger mouse smell and entice her to eat.

First, what environment do you have? Temps, humidity, etc. I assume the breeder kept her in a tub. What is your enclosure? tub or tank? Changing from a tub to a tank can cause stress. Do you have hides? What size enclosure are you using? Is she being handled a lot? What did the seller feed her? Is she in a high traffic area of your home? Without this information, it is hard to help you solve the puzzle.

BP's go off feed because they do not have the right environment, are stressed, or just not hungry. I once had a female go off feed for 9 months. I know how stressful it can be to have a snake go off feed, but the more information you give us, the more we can help.

the environment before i got her was a breeding rack with small tubs now shes in a 20gal long i blacked out the sides and back to give her some more privacy the the temps are. Cool stays around 70-85 and Hot stays around 85-90, Humidity stays between 40-70 she was fed live rats and theres not alot of traffic where shes at and i have only handled her a few times and her hides are some home made hides there dark bowls i have cut holes in them for her

Sounds like things may be OK. I assume you are using an UTH for heat? Also, are her hides tight enough to touch her on all sides when she crawls into them? If not, see if you can fix those things.

Try this - Don't handle her at all until after she eats. Give her at least two or three days alone (maybe even a week) and minimize any disruption in the room she is in. Then try to give her a smaller than usual food item. If she has been eating small rats, you might want to try a weaned rat or a pup. You could even go down to a large mouse (or ASF) if she doesn't take the pup, but I would try a rat pup first. Put it into her enclosure after dark, then cover her enclosure with a towel and leave her alone.

Sometimes a larger prey item will stress a snake and they will not eat. Also, if you put it in there and constantly every few minutes open it up and look in, you are stressing her out. With the towel over the front, just sit and wait for the thump. Leave her alone. Minimize stress.

If your husbandry is spot on and you can not find anything that is stressing her out (although her new home may be a source of stress until she settles down), then she could just be fasting for awhile. Three months seems like a long time to you and me, but they can go a long time without eating. The most important thing to do is not stress yourself out over it.

Also, you might want to post a picture of your setup. Sometimes that helps in seeing the environment and spotting something that can be fixed.

yeah samething happened to me and i just finally got my female to eat a few minutes ago just try once a week and dont bother her at all until then probably just stressed

for heating im useing a lamp on top of the cage with a 75watt blacklight ill get pics up of her setup later on

Well that is one problem. Heat lamps will remove humidity and it is difficult to get a good thermal gradient. Get an UTH for your tank. Also, a temperature gun to spot check temperatures would be a good investment.

Heres some pics of her setup and a funny thing with the hides the bowls that I used was to light for her and as she tried to get out of them they moved with her and she couldn't get out so i made this one with a bowl, foil and foil tape and taped a weight on top till i went to get some better heavier hides and well when i put the new hides in she refused to go in them but when i put that home made one in she gose right in so should i just make another one just like that or put then new ones in and just let her get used to them? because i wont her to be as calm as she can be for then next week..


http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/6...000010z.th.jpg
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/9828/s5000011.th.jpg
http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/9310/s5000012.th.jpg

Tape inside the enclosure is highly discouraged.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...48#post1412648

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ght=stuck+tape

ok i just stuck the new hides in there and see if she will go in one ill be at work all day so there should be no disturbances as the house will be empty

she just now ate, she ate a F/T rat she snatched it up almost before i could dangle it infront of her so i guess her diet will be a F/T rat once a week thanks for all the advice and help :gj:

Glad to hear (read) it!