Pied male possibly stressed out and not eating

My girlfriend bought me a beautiful male pied in mid February from a reputable local breeder. I set him up in a 15 quart tub and he ate for me 6 times in a row, never missing a meal. He had a little bit of a bad shed (pic below) and has not eaten since. He has missed about 6-7 meals now. I weigh all my snakes at the first of the month and he has only lost about 5 grams since (Currently around 296). He seems to be stressed out because every time I drop a rat pup in with him he defensively strikes at it when it gets close but never wraps it up to eat.

Ive added hides and double checked all of his temps and humidity and every thing seems on. I would say he was a mouse eater if he didnt eat 6 rats in a row for me. I have a mojave girl that gets pissy sometimes and strikes at her food in the same way. The difference is that she is really mean and will try and tag anyone who tried to touch her and he is not. She has been eating recently though.

He is about to shed again and was pink yesterday during feeding but was doing the same behavior striking at the rat.

Any suggestions or comments? I am not really that worried about him yet because of the minimal weight loss but its still a concern that he is so young and just randomly stopped eating.

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How long ago did you add the hides, and how often are you handling him since he's been off feed?

BTW, he's a real looker!

Leave him alone. No handling except for whats necessary for cleaning. Quit adding and removing things from his home. Keep offering once a week. He'll eat when he's ready.

Agreed ^
If he doesnt calm down a black out tub may also be necessary. Use his regular tub and just tape cardboard or construction paper to the sides. I spray paint mine but either way it'll work. No handling, and try and keep everything to the basics. Keep offering.


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Thank for the comments! I don't handle him or mostly any of my snakes just for the sake of handling them. Hes in a low traffic room for the last 3 weeks. He had no hides originally and after 3 weeks of not eating I added 2 hides. After 3 more weeks I put him in a 32 quart because he seemed really cramped in there. I only touch the tub to check the water and when I weigh him. I figure he will get hungry enough eventually.

I may crumple up some news paper and put it towards the front of the bin to create what may be a more secure feel for him in the rack.

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Originally Posted by Billy305

I may crumple up some news paper and put it towards the front of the bin to create what may be a more secure feel for him in the rack.

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That's a great idea!

he is still not eating. i cleaned some pee and stuff out of his cage and now he is down to 276 grams from a peak of 304. At what weight should I really start to worry?

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we have a mojave that did this for a while too but never lost a single gram

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have you offered smaller prey size, he might be scared by the size of the prey or has some stuck shed on his heat pits making targeting hard and off. wait until the next shed and then offer him food.
My albino was like this for a few monet then suddenly he nails anything he can offered.

he just finished a full nice shed. size didnt seem to matter just doesnt seem hungry

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Looked like about 10 days ago he had retained eye caps so I soaked him over night and it looked like they were gone. Ive tried feeding twice since then but still the same thing. Doesn't seem interested in eating and only strike at the prey as if hes pissed off at it if it gets near. No coil up or eating though. Its been months now since he has eaten. I know BPs can go on strikes but I think its weird for a snake this small. His max weight since ive had him, probably with food inside, was 304 grams. He is currently as of today at 262 grams. I have him with hides, tried feeding him at different time of the day each week. I've tried adding crumpled newspaper to add more security. I have triple checked the temps.

I'm not sure whats going on with him or what I am doing wrong.

Try a live hopper mouse. Like many others have said, it drives ball pythons nuts!!! :D

I would but I really dont want to have to get him on to mice unless I have to. Breeder I got him from was feeding him rats and he ate 6 in a row for me and then just stopped.

You are afraid of trying mice because your afraid he might eat it? I'm all for a ball on rats but if its driving you crazy with him not eating this long give him a mouse and if he eats it get a few meals in him and try to switch over later. Mice are not as bad as some people think. A 30g mouse is better than a 0 g rat.

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Originally Posted by HerpIsAhobby

You are afraid of trying mice because your afraid he might eat it? I'm all for a ball on rats but if its driving you crazy with him not eating this long give him a mouse and if he eats it get a few meals in him and try to switch over later. Mice are not as bad as some people think. A 30g mouse is better than a 0 g rat.

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It's not that im afraid to feed him a mouse so let me try this again. How long and how much weight would you let him lose if he seemed otherwise healthy? I'd like to give him rats but also want whats best and healthiest for him.

He eats live right ?

Have you tried F/T or prekilled ? I know that sounds like a contradiction, but believe it or not I've tricked a few of mine into eating by offering prekilled when they were fine with live before.

I had a het pied female do this to me, defensive strikes and all. Eventually I just left her alone. Didn't even offer her food. Tracked her weight once a week, not on feeding day, and just left her be. Three weeks of that and she's at the front of the tub when I'm feeding the others giving me the "Where's mine?" stare. So I offered her a little tiny rat. And she ate. I still believe she was just being stubborn.

Gale

You could also try just leaving a prekilled rat overnight with it. That works most of the time for me.

My spinnerblast was feeding on live small rats when I received him but I couldnt get him to feed for me at all. I put a live mouse in there and he had it down in just a couple minutes. sometimes you gotta take a step back before you can move forward.

I would try a rat pink. That won't be very mobile. Sometimes if the prey item moves around the tub a lot, my snakes will refuse to eat.

Tomorrow will be 3 months with out a meal. He refused yesterday and has lost a total of 30 grams since March 1st. I think next feeding day I will try a live mouse and see what he does with it. If he doesn't go for it ill try leaving a pre killed with him the following week.

Is the 30 grams over 3 months and him not eating during this time a cause for very serious concern or have you all seen worse?

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Originally Posted by Billy305

Tomorrow will be 3 months with out a meal. He refused yesterday and has lost a total of 30 grams since March 1st. I think next feeding day I will try a live mouse and see what he does with it. If he doesn't go for it ill try leaving a pre killed with him the following week.

Is the 30 grams over 3 months and him not eating during this time a cause for very serious concern or have you all seen worse?

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I wouldn't be overly concerned yet, three months is typical for a Bp on strike.

3 months is a short period of time for a hunger strike and 30 grams really isn't worth worrying about. I didn't mean that you were afraid of feeding him a mouse in the sense that you were afraid of the mouse:). Honestly too much is made of getting every ball python on rats. Yes it is more convenient for "US' in most cases. This doesn't mean however that every ball will want rats or that it is truly best for them.

I know yours had been eating rats but that doesn't mean a whole lot when he hasn't taken anything in 3 months. I had a female who ate nothing but rats til she was about 8 months old then decided that mice were more her thing. Once I got her eating steadily on the mice I tried switching her over again. Sometimes they just need a jumpstart on the old feeding response. Good luck with the next attempt. :gj:

Didn't touch him all week and dropped a mouse in. Came back 5 minutes later to this.

http://img.tapatalk.com/6cd1a915-ae8f-6e6f.jpg

Good to see him take a meal. I will try a few more mice and then rats again to see if he just preferred the mouse or wasnt hungry. Of course as soon as he takes I have 2 girls stop eating lol. Guess thats just how it goes!

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Hellz yeah.....they go on feeding strikes all the time..I've learned after my last hatchling feed issue,to not stress it anymore....they will eat when they get hungry

Fed him a jumbo mouse today and he took it right up. Will probably fees mice for another feeding or so then try a rat again. if he doesnt take it, im ok with him eating mice as it wont take him much to be a breedable size.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by HerpIsAhobby

You are afraid of trying mice because your afraid he might eat it? I'm all for a ball on rats but if its driving you crazy with him not eating this long give him a mouse and if he eats it get a few meals in him and try to switch over later. Mice are not as bad as some people think. A 30g mouse is better than a 0 g rat.

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i agree i would try everything gerble hopper mice just to get somthing in him i would rather deal with a mise gerble eater then a possibly dead snake

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Originally Posted by Got Balls?

i agree i would try everything gerble hopper mice just to get somthing in him i would rather deal with a mise gerble eater then a possibly dead snake

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well as i said he seems to like mice. better than gerbils :p

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