Not Eating

I got a new BP roughly three months ago now who is fairly young. In June she'll be a year old and so far I haven't been able to get her to eat at all. I've moved her into a tub, fixed every husbandry error I noticed and tried four different prey types and so far nothing, not even a strike.

She's officially getting taken to a vet in the next week or two (whenever I can book an appointment and get a day off work).

Her humidity is at 55%, her cool side is at 78 degrees and her hot side is at 89 degrees.

Any help you can offer would be much appreciated!!

A good thing to do to help us help you is a) post pictures of her set up, and b) describe her general daily behavior. From the written description of you set up it sounds like you have husbandry spot on, but their may be other clues you aren't aware of that can help pinpoint an issue. A few more questions to help trouble shoot:

How long have you had this snake?
How long has she been off feed?
What prey types have you tried, and how where they offered?
How big is your snake? (weight in grams, as well as describe or post pictures of her over all body condition)

How much does she weight? It is normal for a BP to fast for a bit. Do you know what she was eating prior to receiving her?

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This post isn't really helpful, but I am running into identical problems. All of my terrarium stats are the same as the OP, my ball python is around 7 months old. The place I got her from said that she was fed live mice, so I tried that and frozen mice, but she just refuses them all. A couple of times she has even touched noses with the mice. Otherwise she seems healthy. She hides during the day and comes out for about a half-hour at night. Also, I have one husbandry mistake and that is I have two different hides. To test whether or not she preferred one I switched their positions and she still prefers the log despite it being on the cold side. I know that Ball Pythons are notoriously picky eaters, but since I'm a first time owner I'm a little neurotic about it :)

I've had her for about three months and she hasn't eaten for that time.
She's been offered f/t mice of different sizes, f/t rats of different sizes and colors and at different times.
Idk her gram weight atm (my last scale broke and I haven't gotten a chance to buy another)

I seem to also be having problems attaching photos to this post? Once I figure it out I'll post pictures of her setup and of herself.

Pictures of her setup and of her! I'm thinking she may need more headcover??


http://pre14.deviantart.net/e64f/th/...na-da2f125.jpghttp://img07.deviantart.net/0a17/i/2...na-da2f130.jpg

What was she eating before you got her?

Also look at smaller hides and a darker tub. Balls like security and big hides and very open tub tend to be a stressor and the first thing to go is the eating.

Throw in a live rat and see if she'll take that. I've had a few that never took f/t even after months of trying. I threw in a live rat and boom they ate. You also may want to cover the top, she may feel vulnerable from it being clear like that.

How do you prepare your f/t rodents?

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Her breeder only fed her f/t as well. And I put them in zip locks and set them in warm water for about two hours. Same with my other snake (who eats like a champ).

Also any live rat I could get my hands on around here would be WAY too big for her anyways and I'm not chancing my snake getting eaten.

Also I've completely covered her tub before so it would be dark and still no luck with that.

Idk if you do this but after you thaw them out take a hair dryer and heat the head up really good and blow it toward the cage so the smell gets in there. Plus you want a good heat signature on the head and it helps them know where to strike.

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+1 make sure it's warm enough with heat focused at the head. The way I feed f/t is stick all the rats in a bucket of cold water to defrost for about 30-45 minutes, then run the water as hot as it will go over them for about 10. The water comes out of my tap at around 130 f and I let it fill the bucket that has cold water still, so it heats slow but won't over heat, and still has enough time to heat the rats through. If you have a temp gun, your rats should be clocking in somewhere around 101, the body temp of an alive rat, and you can dip their noses briefly in boiling water to get the extra warm bit for them to lock on to.

Imo, i wold start with the tighter hides and the darker tub. I would get a paper towel roll end and stuff paper towel into one end so as there is only one way in and out. You would be surprised at what these reptiles can squeeze into. Stop the feeding attempts until you do this and then give her 1 week to acclimate to the new changes. Then give her a live mouse offering with all the lights out in complete darkness. :D OH! Try and sprinkle a little 100% cypress mulch into the enclosure as well.

A lot of snakes don't like the half-log hides because they're open on both ends so it makes them feel insecure. Try some hides with only one door---low, dark, and a tight fit. If you don't want to buy anything special, try cutting a small hole in a butter tub or a flower pot drain tray. They love squeezing themselves into ridiculously tiny spaces :D. Also get some silk vines at a craft store and drape those around the tub. Hiding in foliage is fun! But more importantly, also stress-reducing.

Putting the rodent in hot water for too long doesn't seem to be my snakes' favorite thing. They like it better if I thaw the rodent in the fridge overnight, then put it in hot water for only about 10-15 minutes. You know how fresh coffee tastes better than 2-hour-old coffee? Something like that, I think, lol. They tell us not to thaw meat intended for human consumption in warm water because it makes bacteria reproduce faster. Maybe that has something to do with it. Also, how have you presented the rodent? Some snakes like theirs to "run around", some prefer if you just set it down and go away. Takes a little experimenting.