Is your Pied a picky eater?

Hey guys, it's been quite a while since I last posted here (been lurking though :cool: ).

First off, sorry for creating yet another food-strike thread. :/

Anyway, the thing is that my 'mid-late' 2012 Pied hasn't been wanting to eat for the last 2 months, and while talking to a few friends, they told me that their pieds were also a bit picky, so that got me thinking, is it common for Piebalds to be inclined not to eat?

Although I'm aware food strikes are not uncommon, I'm a bit worried because since he stopped eating about 2 months ago, he's lost about 100 grams (although some of that lost weight was poop), and he's not huge by any means (he's sitting at 560g right now), however he does not seem to be underfed. That being said, I do feel that his weight is considerably low for a BP that is almost 1.5 years old.

I've tried multiple ways to change his 'appetite' or lack thereof. I usually fed him freshly killed rats in his feeding tub, so naturally the first few times I offered since he started his strike, I did what had worked so far. Next I tried leaving a live rat in his tub for about 2 (supervised while I studied), Nada. Then I tried offering in his tank, and to no avail. I even tried setting a brand new tank for him, (it was about time, he was starting to outgrow his 10g), and what happened? Nothing. After that I even tried offering mice instead of rats, but that didn't work either.

About his husbandry:
Humidity = 50-60% depending on the day (Using the local weather, not manipulating it)
Low temp = Room temp in my apartment is about 78-85 on most days, some it gets a tad higher
High temp= 85-92 depending on how the room temp is
He has 2 identical hides appropriate for his size
Bedding = Aspen shavings in the tanks and Towel Paper in his tub
Spot cleaning is made as soon as I see waste and I usually clean/disinfect his tank 1 day or 2 after he poops
His tanks have 3 sides blacked out.

Thanks :D

My pied girl eats anything in front on her: if your ambient temps are getting over 85 consistently that may be a reason why he's not eating, that's a bit warmer than what I personally like to keep my pythons at for their cold/ambient side.

Forgot to add a pic:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...03775300_o.jpg

He's currently about 2.5' ish (although it may kinda be hard to believe according to the picture)

Those temps seem high to me, also. I second Daybreaker, that could very well have something to do with his non feeding. Being a second-winter male probably isn't helping. For me, I've found that if a male hits a feeding wall, it tends to be in his second winter.

For the poll, I voted No. I've noticed no difference between how my pieds eat, and any other ball python.

My pied is a beast when it comes to eating. I have heard the opposite that pieds and het pieds eat well.

oh well, my friends and I might be the odd ones :P

I will lower his temp a bit to see, thanks guys

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Originally Posted by Munizfire

oh well, my friends and I might be the odd ones :P

I will lower his temp a bit to see, thanks guys

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My pied eats 2 weeks on 2 months off consistently since i got her…. I talked to a few breeders at a show and each one said all pied female breeders are pains to make weight each year and always go on strike. Then they said compared to all other baby ball pythons they are the hardest to get on food. so you are not alone I am with you and 4 other breeders i talked to at shows who specialize in pieds all are with this notion lmao

Also that being said I feed my pied on wednesdays (she eats rats), so by the next wednesday she will eat again and poop on thrusday then by the next tuesday she poops again and stops feeding for a few months every time. I track everything for my snakes poop shed blah blah blah and I read her notes over and over and found so many alike patterns such as pooping days, weeks between feeding, sheds, so many things and it comes down to she eats for 2 wednesday poops on the tuesday before the 3rd feeding doesn't feed for 6-8 weeks after and she sheds every time on week 4 of her hunger strike how weird but its cool i see her consistency in notes , on the other hand my other ball python eats every time i offer food no matter what but if i offer rat hell no she won't even look at the thing, runs scared well slithers haha , but other then that a great feeder so i won't complain

Yep... My Pied boy is definitely a problem eater. I have to feed him on the same exact day or he just kills his pray and doesn't eat it. On the other hand, my Pastave het Pied girl is a monster eater! I got them around the same size at around the same time and she's a lot bigger than he is.

Pieds are not genetically prone to be poor eaters. We are not fanatical about stuffing food into our Pieds, hets, and combo’s, (feed once a week on average) but the vast majority of the males are over 800 grams and breeding by their 2nd winter and the females comfortably over 1500 grams and breeding in their 3rd. Pretty much like any other ball pythons. We have had a few females breed and produce at over 1700 grams when 2 years old, and the slowest was a female het that didn’t produce until she was 5, even though she reached breeding size by age of 3. We start our hatchlings on live fuzzy rats and switch to thawed fuzzy rats within a few meals. They eat consistently and are primarily raised on thawed rats. Once they start breeding and cycling, the feeding strategies change and they move back and forth between fresh-killed and thawed based on our convenience, their preference, and a multitude of circumstances.

About 10 years ago, we were trying to start our Pastel Pied project by purchasing some quality female Pastel hatchlings to raise for breeders. Bear in mind that a nice female Pastel hatchling was over $2,000 at that time. They were from different lines and purchased from different breeders and were the most frustrating and worst-feeding animals I have ever dealt with. We finally ended up getting a male Pastel Het Pied and moving out the female Pastels. The Pastel Het Pied was a great eater and so are the Pastel Pieds and Pastel Het Pieds he has sired. Based on that personal experience, I could claim that Pastels are horrible eaters and we needed to get the Pied gene mixed in to get them to eat!!! I understand that is not true. Some individual ball pythons and some lineages just eat and grow differently than others, regardless of the paint job.

-Paul

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Originally Posted by Mr. Misha

Yep... My Pied boy is definitely a problem eater. I have to feed him on the same exact day or he just kills his pray and doesn't eat it. On the other hand, my Pastave het Pied girl is a monster eater! I got them around the same size at around the same time and she's a lot bigger than he is.

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Wow my pied did this yesterday she struck killed and left the rat pup in there i thought she ate it bc i heard the rat make its noise next minute no noise, so about an hour later I lifted her hide to see if she wanted another and what do you know the things dead sitting there next to her

Yup, my pied has killed a few rats but didn't eat them... that's frustrating :rage:

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Originally Posted by Munizfire

Yup, my pied has killed a few rats but didn't eat them... that's frustrating :rage:

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Ya on wednesday she struck i was convinced she was breaking her off streak at 4 weeks would be the shortest time off feed ever for her , but nope dead sitting next to her kinda of pissed me off , but what can you expect if a person who came in my home was unwelcome id kill them too lmao, she just obviously didn't like the rat in her hide so she killed it and left it to rot hahaah

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Originally Posted by ZacharyPoller

Wow my pied did this yesterday she struck killed and left the rat pup in there i thought she ate it bc i heard the rat make its noise next minute no noise, so about an hour later I lifted her hide to see if she wanted another and what do you know the things dead sitting there next to her

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Yep, he did that a couple of weeks in a row and I didn't know what to do. The reptile store where I usually get my feeders suggested putting him in a smaller dark enclosure and it actually worked. He started eating again for some weird reason.

Another thing that it might be is the feeder size. When he was still eating, I was feeding him 2 hoppers a week and then decided to up his size to rat pups (he's around 125g). He'd just kill the rat pups but wouldn't even touch it while still acting hungry. Then I tried to offer him a small mouse but he killed that too but didn't eat it. I went back to two hoppers and he eats both of them and still acts hungry. Next week I'm going to try upping the feeder size to small mouse again and see how that goes.

Anyways, at this point I really don't know if it was the enclosure, the feeder size or maybe just a random fluke but that's my experience with my Pied boy. I hope yours starts eating soon though. Thankfully I feed 3 of mine on the same day so whatever one doesn't eat, my Pastave het Pied gladly gulps down.

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Originally Posted by Mr. Misha

Yep, he did that a couple of weeks in a row and I didn't know what to do. The reptile store where I usually get my feeders suggested putting him in a smaller dark enclosure and it actually worked. He started eating again for some weird reason.

Another thing that it might be is the feeder size. When he was still eating, I was feeding him 2 hoppers a week and then decided to up his size to rat pups (he's around 125g). He'd just kill the rat pups but wouldn't even touch it while still acting hungry. Then I tried to offer him a small mouse but he killed that too but didn't eat it. I went back to two hoppers and he eats both of them and still acts hungry. Next week I'm going to try upping the feeder size to small mouse again and see how that goes.

Anyways, at this point I really don't know if it was the enclosure, the feeder size or maybe just a random fluke but that's my experience with my Pied boy. I hope yours starts eating soon though. Thankfully I feed 3 of mine on the same day so whatever one doesn't eat, my Pastave het Pied gladly gulps down.

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Same whatever she doesnt eat gets fed to my other , but if she kills it i leave it in for 24 hrs but not once has she actually ate it so maybe ill just start taking them out

Pieds were notoriously bad eaters in the beginning!