Getting worried

My male Mojave has been off feed since AT LEAST November of last year. He's a 2011, possibly a late 2010. His weight when he went off feed was just about 750 grams. All my balls are eating with a vengeance except him, and now I'm getting worried because he's down to 630 grams as of tonight. I've tried f/t rats and mice, I also tried a live mouse and he had zero interest. What other options should I try before starting to worry? He's in the same rack as 7 other balls, husbandry hasn't changed at all so I don't know why the others have kick started their appetite but not him :(

Correction, he is definitely a 2010.

750 to 630 isn't *too* bad. If anything maybe try a live rat pup, something small in like the 20-25g (when they get hair and eyes are open but still not weaned) range to get his metabolism started going again.

I got my Dumeril's in late Nov last year and she didn't eat til about a month and a half ago and she's perfectly healthy.

Even one of my male BP's who was an awesome eater just decided to go off feed for over 3 months for no apparent reason, it happens.

Have you tried braining? Or asfs?
I agree that 750 to 630 doesn't sound too drastic yet.
How is his body condition?

I know they go off feed as a majority of mine have just recently started eating again, I just didn't know how much weight loss is acceptable. I figured the live mouse would do it but he just stuck his nose up at it. I guess I could try a rat pup, however the last rat pup I tried feeding ended up a pet lol. Mice are so much easier to feed live for some reason haha. Any other suggestions?

I haven't tried braining. He's still appearing healthy but definitely looks skinny compared to everyone else who's eating.

Here I just snapped a few pictures. The one with my hand is the thickest part of his body.http://img.tapatalk.com/aefc3226-ee4d-cacc.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/aefc3226-ee5b-8d94.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/aefc3226-ee68-d529.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/aefc3226-ee75-d945.jpg

If you know anyone who sells feeder hamsters/gerbils or has babies, that could work. I heard sometimes using a hamster helps jump start their appetites.

Hmmm, experimental thought: perhaps try raising the temp for his tub specifically(if you can) by a couple degrees for a week. Then try feeding and drop the temps to normal afterward. Trying to think outside the box.

Hope he gets back on feed for you soon.

I have a male YB who stopped eating back in November as well, he lost just over 100g. I actually pulled him from breeding in February after not eating for 3 months. I tried regular( for him) sized rats, weaners, mice and gerbils with no luck. I finally gave in and gave him a young ASF this last Tuesday, it was gone when I checked 10 mins later! It was small for him but I plan on trying a ASF scented weaner rat this Tuesday and hopefully get him back on schedule, he has his own girl this year after all, no sharing!
Although as long as he doesn't look skinny try not to worry(ya, right). My Loki is looking very lean but not skinny. Oh, he doesn't look bad at all.

I highly recommend NOT getting hamsters or gerbils.
It's extremely difficult to convert a snake back to rats once they've had hamsters or gerbils.
And hamsters and gerbils aren't economical in the long run if a snake gets addicted.

To the OP: your male does look a little skinny in your photos. But not deathly thin.

Pretty.

He does seem a touch thin I guess but healthy. If he doesn't seem any weaker and he is acting normal, I guess patience is the way to go? :-/

I've had my ball just under a year and dealt with a 4-5 month strike in the winter. Then found out I was doing things wrong and made changes; went right back on feed.



PS. Nice nails. :-)

I'd go with braining before trying the gerbil/hamster route. If you want to get REALLY creative, you can brain a pre-killed mouse or rat, then smear the brain matter on a live rodent.

from the pics where he's curled up in a circle you can't really go off of, of course his spine is gonna show when he's bent like that.

from the laying flat pic I'd say he doesn't look too bad at all, just a hair thin.

And I also agree with staying away from gerbils, once you open that can of worms you can really regret it.

Any news on the feeding?

I had a female pastel of mine go off feed for about 8 months, I tried everything. I offered her a sm rat once a week and she wanted nothing to do with it. Who knew all I had to do was put a hide in there!!! She took it right away the next time I fed her ;) I've learned that some ball pythons DO NOT like to eat in public