Need some good advice

Ok so here is the situation, I rescued a ball a couple weeks ago. He is a fantastic snake, easy handler. I was informed he had not eaten in about 4 weeks and weighed 596 grams. I weighed him when we got home and he was 542 grams. I know not much difference just using it as a reference. It has been 2 weeks and he has still not eaten although he has struck at FT and coiled and has struck at and killed live. He just refuses to eat. I was told some rescues will starve themselves to death and am getting worried. I have been considering force feeding but am reluctant to do it right now because I am not sure if it is to soon.

I do know that sometimes balls just go on an eating hiatus. I hope thats all it is. Hopefully someone will come along with better info for you. What was he eating at his previous owners? When was the last time he ate? How often are you offering him food?

Can you tell us more about his enclosure? that can have a lot to do with why they might not be eating.

What kind of rodent are you using and what size?

Pics are a plus :)

He was eating live hopper mice one every 2 weeks, way to little for his size, but like I said he was a rescue. He now has heat humidity substrate and water as well as a stable environment. I tried him on a live adult mouse and I tried him on a FT rat pup. He struck at both and coiled them both but would only snuggle up with them afterwards. I have tried him once a week same feeding day as the rest of my collection and leave him with the food overnight in case he is just a shy eater.

I personally don't believe in force feeding as it only further stresses the snake making a successful feeding less likely in the future. Assist feeding is a better option, but at only 2 weeks without food I don't think that it is time to consider anything that drastic. For now make sure that your husbandry is spot on, leave the snake alone, and only offer food every 7 days.

He is in a rack with belly heat.

I had the same problem with one of my girls, she refused to eat.
I tried rats, and mice. I tried heat and a small dark space...

Then I tried Gerbils, She is eating great now, and I find she only eats at night too.

A high stress level from neglect and husbandry changes can also cause this. It may take a few weeks till your new BP levels out and settles down. I agree with THESERPENTMERCHANT<--- Smart Cookie


Also, Sometimes they're shy eaters. My Shiva WILL NOT eat unless i leave the room. She's just shy like that... Like a fat kid nomming down cake in a corner yelling" Don't look at me!" lol

Hope i could be helpful in some way

What size tub? Maybe consider moving to a 15qt for a little while until he starts eating better. Also make sure he has at least one hide.

It sounds to me like he is hungry, but maybe too insecure to actually eat what he has killed. Next time you feed (one week) leave the lights off and put the rodent in with the snake and leave it there til morning. If it isn't eaten overnight then throw it out. Obviously if you are doing live you should monitor the feeding. If he doesn't kill it within 10-15 minutes then remove it and try again next week.

it sounds like its only been of feed for 1.5 months which isnt that long. i would offer a live smaller adult mouse once a week. i wouldnt try force feeding at this point as its very stressfull for the snake and unlees he is loseing alot of weight its not worth it yet.

Not sure if this has anything to do with it, but I checked tonight and it looks like he had a double shed over night. I know it sounds strange but I check all my snakes every night and spot clean at the same time. And I swear to you it was a double shed.....

Don't force feed him. Force feeding really shouldn't be used other than with hatchlings that haven't absorbed their yoke. Assist feeding is an option, but IMO, only if the snake has lost about half it's body weight. Your snake could lose a lot of weight before I would worry about him. If he is constricting it, then leave him alone next time you feed him. Don't look at him, don't check on him, nothing. Put the prey in, wait for him to strike and coil, then shut of the lights, walk out the door, and don't look back for several hours.

I would just be patient. If he made it to 542 he was eating well at some point, especially if he was eating hopper mice. My thought is that with it coming in to breeding season it's possible if temps were dropped on him he went into breeding mode and went off feed for the season. This could especially be true if somehow he was introduced. None of my males have gone off yet, but my temps are still up. I purchased a female pin one time in feb advertised at 800g. She came in at 900g, but didn't eat for me for till the following may. I was a nervous wreck even though everyone told me to be patient. When the next breeding season came along she did the same thing even though she didn't breed. And now this year she hasn't gone off feed yet, but she is starting to get hit and miss again. I've personally never had a snake that small go off feed, but so I can't say how it'll handle it, but a snake that's 1000g that goes off feed for the breeding season will still end up around 925 or higher by the time it goes back on feed. So I would imagine you guy can handle a little fasting. Just keep good husbandry, offer food every week, be patient and confident wait it out. If may comes around and he doesn't eat or if he loses more than 20% of his body weight that's when you want to get worried and seek out a vet. As for killing but not eating its always been explained to me like this. And I feel would hold true especially if the snake was used to eating live. The snake is healthy enough to defend itself, but not hungry enough to eat. If the snake is stressed out enough to not eat, it will more than likely go into flight rather than fight. Striking is good. Just interested in other things than eating right now.

WOOOHOOOO thanks everyone he ate today. And my mistake everyone, I meant assist feed not force feed. I did have to assist him because he was trying to eat a leg and getting stuck. I held the mouse after he killed it and sort of directed the head to his mouth and he did the rest. Thank-you to everyone my stress level has dropped in a big big way.