Frustrated with long time non-feeder

Hi all. I am beginning to lose hope with one of my BPs not feeding. She is a pastel het pied, around 700 grams, and hasnt eaten or shown any interest in food since November last year (7 months by my count).

My main concern is not just the non feeding, but the fact she just seems completely terrified every time I open her RUB or try to offer food. She generally hides under the newspaper and balls up/ makes every effort to try and get away from the slightest movement.

Food wise, she was eating large weaner rats happily enough until Nov 13th last year, then she stopped. I've tried f/t mice, live mice, live rats (the latter 2 just spooked her even more). I've moved her to a smaller RUB to see if that might help too, but so far no joy.

I've not had much luck feed wise with any of my BPs since moving house in Feb, though I'm sure my husbandry is all 100% so not sure why - I seem to throw away more f/t rats than they eat unfortunately... (Mainly with my girls around 1kg which seems to be a common theme?)

Now, I've given up on her ever getting up to breeding size this year, I just want her to be happy and healthy, so if anyone has any ideas or tricks I can use to stop her being afraid of her own shadow and in turn get her eating, I'd be eternally grateful! :please:

It drives me nuts when they do that.

I don't know if it will work for you, but I once broke a fast by offering extremely tiny live prey.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n...abyfood001.jpg

You mentioned that she hides under her newspaper - does she have any hides in her tub? You could also consider switching her to aspen. Scared means something is wrong, and she isn't going to eat if she feels exposed. The move could very well have contributed to the issue. However, the 1000g (or 700g) "wall" isn't unusual for growing females, especially during that time of year. I hve a few that took a couple of months off and just started eating again in the past couple of weeks. Make sure she feels secure in her tub, monitor her weight, and just keep offering what she was taking before her winter fast.

Try hamsters or gerbils. Asf's? She might get picky after but it might be all you can do...:(

I met a breeder who had a very similar issue after breeding season with one of his females. He finally resolved the issue by putting her in a dark closest with a meal and she finally ate after 6 months. Im not sure if it was seclusion, the lighting or if she was just finally hungry but it did end a 6mo fast.

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Originally Posted by Capray

Try hamsters or gerbils. Asf's? She might get picky after but it might be all you can do...:(

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I wouldnt try feeding her anything that you cant get regularly.

Hamsters and gerbils are expensive so if they get imprinted on them it could cost you a fortune to feed her. Also gerbils have bigger, sharper teeth and claws so they can do alot of damage to your snake if the snake doesnt get a clean hit when striking.

Id bet its the previously mentioned 700g wall. About half my females, no matter their prior feeding habit, simply stop eating around that time. As long as they arent loosing weight, all you can really do is wait it out.

Hi guys, thanks very much for the feedback. Funnily enough I have a bulk order of aspen coming tomorrow so will definitely try that.

Otherwise, yes all my snakes have hides, but she prefers to hide under the paper. She was always timid and my only BP to actually hiss at me when I pick her up (which I avoid unless I have to on cleaning day). She's fasted before but one day she was just out of her hide and bam, she ate. I will try and get hold of some rat pinkies as suggested but otherwise I will just do my best to help her settle and destress

I have a male ghost that was a great eater on anything live prior to pairing him this year. Once breeding was over, he wouldn't go near anything, in fact he would go the other way. Tried f/t, but no luck.

One day decide to toss in a small live rat into his tub and turned off the lights that were directly over the rack he was in. Came back roughly 30 minutes later and rat was gone and he was coiled over the warm spot looking very content.

Give it a try, can't hurt.

Keep a gerbil in freezer and rub a defrosted rat all over it.
Sometimes gives them a kick without getting them hooked on gerbils
This has worked in past for me.

I would consider taking her to the vet for a check up also. Sometimes things like internal parasites or fungal infections can go unnoticed for a LONG time. Those things could disable her from the urge to eat or want to eat. Unwell snakes usually start to act really skiddish when they are physically disabled in some way. That is 100% my expirience.

Thanks again. How small rat are we talking? How many small feeds did it take to get him eating normally again?

I will look into the vets if the problem doesn't resolve soon, though I'm not sure how much reptile expertise vets have in London :-/

I myself am going through the same thing right now. My male ball python is currently off feed. He hasn't ate one single meal since March, and as you know its really frustrating! Actually it has me a little worried to be honest (first snake). I hope your snake starts to eat soon!

My mouser male has been on and off food his whole life. (2 years) He was hanging around 400g until about 5 months ago. Then he started pounding his mice. Two a week. The best he's ever eaten. Then, all of a sudden, he decided to stop again a month and a half ago. I got him up to 750g before he stopped eating again. Dang him. We were making progress. :rolleyes:

Mine aren't feeding well now either. I'm hoping warmer weather will make the difference soon.

In the past I had a shy BP that hid under the paper liner and wouldn't eat. I put hides on the edges so he couldn't go under, and I started holding him more, even though he doesn't like it much. He ate fter a couple of weeks, but he's still a poor feeder.

If your cages are the same, but you've moved to a different house, there may be something wrong with your room. I have a wall furnace that makes hot spots in the room. I installed a ceiling fan and a new thermostat to even out the heat. Then I moved their cages to a different wall that's not right in front of the furnace.

Don't know if any of this will help. Hope it does. Good Luck!

I had recently gotten a few snakes off hunger strike. They did not respond to a lot of conventional methods. At one point I tried to scent with mice. They did not eat. So after a couple weeks of that I got frustrated and I tossed the mice and the rat into the tub of one of them and left it. About 30 minutes later she ate the mouse and left the rat.

I then fed the other off feed ones mice too and they ate it. Then I offered scented rats of the SAME SIZE as the mouse, and they ate it for a couple weeks. Then I gave them UNSCENTED rats of the SAME SIZE as the mouse and they ate it. I did try to give bigger scented rats but they did not. I found that size is an issue in getting a non feeding snake to eat again. I will now gradually move the rat size up each week to see if that gets them to eat bigger meals again. I find gradual change works.

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Originally Posted by Druzy

I myself am going through the same thing right now. My male ball python is currently off feed. He hasn't ate one single meal since March, and as you know its really frustrating! Actually it has me a little worried to be honest (first snake). I hope your snake starts to eat soon!

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March is not that long, even if he was a great eater before then. Both my male (850g) and female (1500g) have gone through it. If temps, humids, hides, sheds, etc all ok, then either vet visit, or extreme patience may be the answer.

BTW, sometime a call to the reptile house of a local zoo can get you some vet help.

I too am reluctant to do the gerbil/hamster thing, as once you go this way, there may be no turning back!