Is my ball python very thin?

My ball python hasn't eat anything for more than 3 weeks now and when I weigh him today he weighted 40 grams less than the first time I got him. I just can't get him to eat anything, the only thing I'm missing is live mice/rats but breeder assured me he was on F/T.

Here are the pictures:

http://imgur.com/a/oFwnl

Doesn't look too thin. How much exactly has he lost? And how much does he weigh now?

My boy went from 613g to 542g just off doing his business...

3 weeks is not a long period for a BP to go off food

Lost 40 grams in 3 weeks? Was he eating regular before he stopped?

He was 125 grams when I got him, now he's at 80. He hasn't eaten anything ever since I got him on October 28th which worries me a lot. Breeder told me last meal was on October 24th, rat pup. So that's what I've been trying to give him and nothing.

Can you give us details on his husbandry

Okay that is a bit of a large loss, has he pooed since you weighed him at 125g? They can loose some when they do their business. My pastel didn't eat until her 4th week with me (I think) May have been her third...

Details on husbandry a must.

[QUOTE=m1n054;2180550]My ball python hasn't eat anything for more than 3 weeks now and when I weigh him today he weighted 40 grams less than the first time I got him. I just can't get him to eat anything, the only thing I'm missing is live mice/rats but breeder assured me he was on F/T.


Ok have you tried to offer him Live yet?

I think if things are too dry for your ball it may go into a type of drought mode, and won't want to eat anything for a while? I was given that warning when I brought my adult female home. Also I think stress might make him lose his appetite for a while too. :( I hope you find out what's up with him.

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Originally Posted by m1n054

He was 125 grams when I got him, now he's at 80. He hasn't eaten anything ever since I got him on October 28th which worries me a lot. Breeder told me last meal was on October 24th, rat pup. So that's what I've been trying to give him and nothing.

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I think your scale is broken. Unless you are a small person yourself of course.
That snake looks as large or larger than my smallest snake which is 220 grams(actually she is a bit more but waiting for he to empty to compare her current weight).
It doesn't look to be in danger of wasting away.

A move can throw a snake of feed with stress(I've been fortunate most of mine feed the same day I take them home and slither off to a warm hide).
Double check the enclosure for temp's, make sure there some privacy incase your snake is stressed from the move( a pair of hides, fake plant cover or, a nice dark spot in a rack).
Other people have had success feeding snakes in a smaller space as well.
Oh, "are you getting the prey warm enough?", is another thing to look at.

This is my little boy at 88g: he fits in my hand with space to spare! Yours looks much bigger than him!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...5df09e317f9a20

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...422a1a5b283beb

Try love or pre kill. If live doesn't work than maybe worry. Also how long are you trying to feed? How long do you dangle the prey item? I have a male boa that will eat PK but you have to give him some privacy, like total darkness. After about an hour you hear him strike and 10mins later check and he's eaten.


Sent From an Enclosure

Ok, so in regards to husbandry:

He has a hide. This one is new though because I thought the other one didn't make him very safe. Plus this one is heavy so helps me hold the thermometer probe in place.
Warm side around 90F.
Cool side around 80F.
Humidity around 60% (last week was a bit dry sometimes it was at 45% but I sprayed the tub a bit and it went up.)
Aspen bedding.
This is my thermometer.
Using Hydrofarm thermostat.
Using Zoo Med small UTH.
He's on a 15qt bin.

He spends all his time in the hide, and some nights he goes out and drink water and explore the tub. He does this a lot in the morning, around 6-7 a.m. He pooped something, or it would seem like poop but a very tiny thing, at first I thought it was pee on aspen but it was poop in the end. I'm also worried about my scale, I don't like it at all... I thought it might be good but I don't know now. I'm not a small person, but I do have small hands (small palms, long fingers).

In regards to feeding attempts:

Now, the first thing I offered him was a F/T hopper at night, 6 days after I got him. I dangled him a little bit in front of him and he seemed interested, he smelled it and pulled back. I left the mouse there, he didn't take it. I then offered a rat pup a week and some days later (yesterday), I thaw it and then used hair dryer to warm him up, he still didn't take it. I really don't want to feed him live but if there's no other way I'll do it.

You need to get an accurate weighing somehow. A snake not eating for three weeks and going from 120g to 80g is in a slightly different situation than one going from 240g to 200g.

If your weight is accurate and the snake has gone from 120g to 80g, you need to get it a live mouse hopper pretty soon. It needs food and a live mouse hopper is a good start.

If the weight is inaccurate and it actually weighs closer to 200g, you have more options and more time.

He might be around 100grams instead, here's a picture I got with the scale, when I first got him:

http://i.imgur.com/BxnpYLg.jpg

Get her a live mouse hopper for now. If she is ~100g, it's close enough to correct size. If she is ~200g it's too small, but it's some food at least and it doesnt hurt her to have it. It's always good to see them eat, and it might kick start the feeding.

Has he been weighed on the same scale on both weighings? Scales can vary widely. I am a little concerned if he has truly gone from 125g to 80g on the same scales in three weeks :/

I hope this is a scale error and you also get him eating :)

I have quite small hands too.

I say get a live hopper and very soon. I would also test the accuracy of your scale by weighing something that you know the weight of

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Yes this is the very same scale but like I'm said, I'm having my doubts too. Last time I weigh him was 10 days ago and he was still 125 grams. There's no way he would lose 1/3 of his weight in a week I think. I'll go get him a live hopper somewhere... see what he does.

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

I say get a live hopper and very soon. I would also test the accuracy of your scale by weighing something that you know the weight of

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Yeah, thanks for the suggestion. Looked up the specs of my phone and it's 143 grams. It measures 139 grams in my scale so I maybe the scale is working. It's different weighting a snake than a phone though. When I first got him and weigh him he was all balled up. Last time I measured him he was kind of moving around, so maybe not a very accurate reading, can't get him to sit still though :/.

Place your hand near his head area and cup him in his hands, it's like a forced ball up. Not great for trust unfortunately but I saw it as a way of changing the fight to flight in BP's. It is hopefully just the fact that he was moving.

Best of luck!

youtube clip, comes on half way through to get the BP to ball up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DQssbM0uk

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Originally Posted by Naom9Anne

Place your hand near his head area and cup him in his hands, it's like a forced ball up. Not great for trust unfortunately but I saw it as a way of changing the fight to flight in BP's. It is hopefully just the fact that he was moving.

Best of luck!

youtube clip, comes on half way through to get the BP to ball up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7DQssbM0uk

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Oh I've tried him to ball up by touching his head but he's surprisingly not head timid. He doesn't really care if I stroke or tap his head. I don't want to get too rough with him either :/

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Originally Posted by m1n054

Oh I've tried him to ball up by touching his head but he's surprisingly not head timid. He doesn't really care if I stroke or tap his head. I don't want to get too rough with him either :/

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Ah! This method may not work for you in balling him up for weighing then. You could put him in a tupperware? Weigh the tupperware, weigh snake in tupperware and subtract the tupperware?

Feed live,my one guy will only eat live. I tried FT in every way possible,no go...he actually just made the switch today from mouse hopper to a rat pup,I'm a proud of my boy :oops:

It doesn't sound like your scale is off much. When I bought mine the guy at the store said a nickel weighs 5grams so you can check with that if you want. My snakes don't sit still at first but even when they do the weight is still really close, I assume you've double checked his weight and made sure the scale was zeroed out and not in the negatives.

I would probably try live if you can. If not make sure you're thawing it out completely maybe let it sit on top/near the enclosure for a while and see if he starts to come out looking for food then heat the head up with the blow dryer and try that. If he don't take it leave it in front of his hide for a while.

Try feeding in the evening/night when it's already dark. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by tlich

It doesn't sound like your scale is off much. When I bought mine the guy at the store said a nickel weighs 5grams so you can check with that if you want. My snakes don't sit still at first but even when they do the weight is still really close, I assume you've double checked his weight and made sure the scale was zeroed out and not in the negatives.

I would probably try live if you can. If not make sure you're thawing it out completely maybe let it sit on top/near the enclosure for a while and see if he starts to come out looking for food then heat the head up with the blow dryer and try that. If he don't take it leave it in front of his hide for a while.

Try feeding in the evening/night when it's already dark. Good luck!

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I got him a live hopper, going to try feeding him early tonight. He's sitting outside his cage and so far he hasn't even come out of his hide. Hopefully he comes out tonight and maybe he'll go for it. The mouse is barely 10 grams I'd say, but hopefully I can get him starting to eat. Otherwise I'm just gonna get 1.1 mice and freeze the excess for my corn snake.

These little guys will put you through the wringer sometimes, you just have to deal with it as best you can.

I know you were hoping to avoid live, but as little as he is, it may be best to cave in for a little while and get his weight up then try the f/t again. If you can get him up around 200-250 grams, you can try the f/t thing for a few weeks, if he doesn't go for it, you can repeat the live-then-f/t cycle a few times. In general I would try f/t for 3 weeks, then go back to live for say...4-5 weeks, then try again.

Sometimes, keeping a live mouse/rat that you can place on top of or very near his enclosure on feeding day to get him going, can help persuade a reluctant feeder that f/t isn't really all that bad. Kind of a bait-and-switch type deal. I do know that in most cases, if the f/t prey is not putting off a good heat signature the baby won't strike it. Some prefer their food to be left overnight in the tub, so by all means once he gets some weight on try it both ways again.

Gale

Welp, this guy had his first meal. A live mouse, can't tell if it was a hopper but it couldn't have been bigger than a rat pup. He swallowed it and now he's on his hide. Hopefully no regurges:please:... Now I'll leave him alone for three days. This is the first time I see a ball python eating such a large meal... I'm really scared, it's just that the neck part is so thin compared to his body.

Thanks everybody!

Lol sometimes they seem huge. I've seen them go down kind of sideways/folded in half.

I would just check on him off and on but not mess with him much, even after 3 days not until he's eaten a few times, it will just cause stress. Congrats!

Glad he ate! Don't worry it may seem big but I'm sure it's fine, it should leave a lil lump. :)

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Originally Posted by m1n054

it's just that the neck part is so thin compared to his body.

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That's part of why I've always thought snakes in general were fascinating. How they can eat things so big compared to their mouth, head and neck is just amazing to me.