Super Restless, Not Eating - Husbandry problem??

This is my first BP, she's 10 years old and currently weighs around 1534 grams at her last weigh-in. Her old owner only fed her two large live mice anywhere from every two weeks or every month (at our best guess). She was 1300 grams when I got her and was eating like a pro (took no work at all to switch her from live to f/t mice and then again to rats, and ate consistently every 7-10 days) on top of putting on that weight, but late last month and since then she's been insanely active and refusing to eat.

The only changes to her tub have been a new hide I gave her at middle of last month, but I'm still worried since she's been so active she only seems to stop when she's absolutely exhausted. I'm guessing maybe she's just kinda taking a break from food since in 10 years she's never been fed regularly or this much protein, and it's also the height of winter which is breeding season, right? But since I'm not a breeder and she's still my first owned BP, I'm obviously not 100% and would love to get some opinions/advice. (Also, kudos to me for letting myself read husbandry horror stories and it making me totally paranoid that everything I'm doing is wrong lol.)

Summary:

10yo 1500g BP, extremely restless, refusing to eat
warm side (fahrenheit): 91
cool side: 80
humidity: 64%
last shed was january 1st
can't remember the exact size tub she's in, I think it's 116 qts?
She has hides on both sides with her water dish in the middle.

Great job putting some weight on her. Does she ever soak in her water bowl?

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Originally Posted by Slim

Great job putting some weight on her. Does she ever soak in her water bowl?

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Thank you! And not that I've seen, no. She did tip her water dish over like three times in the span of two days one week, so she might've been trying to soak when I wasn't around and messed up.

Just wondering if she might have mites. Those little critters can make a BP very restless.

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Originally Posted by Slim

Just wondering if she might have mites. Those little critters can make a BP very restless.

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I gave her a careful check as soon as I read this, can't believe I didn't think of mites. I didn't find anything, though, her scales are perfect and her eyes/mouth/butt are all clear. I use a combo of newspaper and paper towels as her "substrate," the only thing in her tub I could imagine having a higher risk of mites would be her stick and bark hide, but I checked those out too. Do you think it's still a possibility enough I should get her a vet appointment?

If you use a really good light, you should be able to see any mites with the naked eye. Usually you can find them in the heat pits, under the chin, and around the eyes. If those areas are clear, you can usually rule them out.

Usually a restless BP indicates stress, but it doesn't look like her setup is an issue. Is she ever in her hides? If she is never in her hides, it may be that she doesn't find them secure enough (too big of entrance, too big in general). Often if I have a BP that is very active, I will give them a different hide, and then they will be in their hide all the time. What kind of hides are you using?

This is the one on her warm side. It's her most recent addition and it does line up with when her activity problems started. At least as far as I recall, I did buy it because she ruined her previous (albeit cheapo one I should've replaced sooner, it was cardboard) hide when she tipped her water dish.

I've seen her use it but I don't want to discount it from it being the problem. I'll try adding some paper towels to kinda buffer it up and see if that helps?

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Originally Posted by alexcessive

This is the one on her warm side. It's her most recent addition and it does line up with when her activity problems started. At least as far as I recall, I did buy it because she ruined her previous (albeit cheapo one I should've replaced sooner, it was cardboard) hide when she tipped her water dish.

I've seen her use it but I don't want to discount it from it being the problem. I'll try adding some paper towels to kinda buffer it up and see if that helps?

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I use those and they work great, although if I have a more snug hide available as well, the BP will choose the smaller one over the Reptile Hide Box. Maybe it's too large. :confusd:

My girl does the same thing. During the day she sleeps in her hide but at night, she is trouble. She will burrow under her water bowl and arch up trying to tip it, tears her plants down, pushes her temp/humidity gauge all over, push aspen into piles. She hasn't eaten since Oct or Nov. It is that time of the season for them.

Is she active 24/7? Might not like the set up. Can try switching sides with hides or new hides.

As for mites, if she is your only snake and it didn't have mites when you got it, it probably doesn't have mites. Snake mites really aren't all that common away from snakes so its not like they will just be wandering down the street. Now if you went to a reptile show and then come home, sure you can transfer them then. That's why its best to come home, strip in the garage and throw everything in the laundry right away.

If she was eating fine before in the set up you have and the only change is the one hide, then that is probably the culprit. Otherwise, I would just chalk it up as "the season" and do like I do and just offer a rat once every 2-3 weeks and if she eats it, great. If not, get a boa or 2 to play garbage disposal :D

They like to work all night and sleep all day. Work over the cage that is. :rage:

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Snake mites really aren't all that common away from snakes

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Well, I guess when your neck of the woods is Washington, this is a true statement. But, here in Florida, where you can't toss a McDonalds wrapper without hitting a native reptile, mites are a real concern at all times.

(P.S. I don't really throw McDonalds wrappers...:rolleyes:)

WELL a little update: I put some extra paper towels in the new hide to kinda buffer it up, it seemed to help as since then she's been chilling in the hide. I've also kept it covered with a light blanket to make it darker and since then she's been very calm. This also could've been because she was in hyper-drive for somewhere between 30 and 48 straight hours, so I'll just keep a close eye on her for a while.

I don't want to mess with her tub for another few days at least to give her a chance to de-stress since due to the commotion she caused I had to reach in there a lot. :x I hope she'll eat again soon, her old owner claimed she'd never refused food but said owner didn't feed her well as I mentioned. Is it possible my BP's just stuffed for the first time in her life?? (lol)

Maybe. My little girl ate every 2-3 days as a baby like clockwork. Now she is fat and lazy so I guess she doesn't really need food lol. Good that yours calmed down. Figured it was a hide issue as you said once her hide got destroyed cause of water, she went hyper.

@Slim. Yeah I guess down in Florida, snake mites would be more prevalent. I mean up here you find em on wild snakes still but I live in the city/suburbs so you don't really find snakes wandering around here unless you go out of the way to the woods or up to mountains to find them.