5 month feeding strike-- kinda getting nervous how long it's been .. .

This is Lucy our 3 year old BP. She is very moody and nippy but has always been a pretty good eater. She has not eaten since December. I know they go through strikes but it's going on awhile. It's my 15 year old's snake. Husbandry is very good, snake is pretty active, and I took her outside for some UV light and photos and she was curious and active. We don't weigh our snakes so I don't know if she lost weight but I think she looks pretty good still.

As far as feeding we've tried everything-- hairdryer trick, feeding at night, etc. She looks at it and acknowledges it's there and then moves away from it.

Just need some reassurances and any tips you can think of. Thanks!


https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...36f9f7f15f.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...79d3c6d8db.jpg

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She looks healthy to me. Unless she starts dropping weight, there is no a lot to be worried about. This is not unusual at this age. The only way you can be a little more certain about what is going on is to track weight. If she drops a significant amount you can try live.

That snake has plenty of weight on it so if those pictures are recent... “We don’t weigh our snakes” but you want info when they don’t eat is a little negligent in my opinion. If the snake ate regularly for three years and now hasn’t eaten in 5 months and you haven’t weighed it then how would you know the snake isn’t sick and dropping weight?

If I’m you I would invest in a scale so you can track the snake during these times. Since you don’t know how much she weighs, we have no clue what’s she’s eating, how often she is eating and the fact that you told us she is nippy and mean it sounds like you might start reevaluating how she is being cared for.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

She looks healthy to me. Unless she starts dropping weight, there is no a lot to be worried about. This is not unusual at this age. The only way you can be a little more certain about what is going on is to track weight. If she drops a significant amount you can try live.

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Unfortunately “they don’t weigh their snakes” so they won’t know any of this.

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Originally Posted by Moose84

That snake has plenty of weight on it so if those pictures are recent... “We don’t weigh our snakes” but you want info when they don’t eat is a little negligent in my opinion. If the snake ate regularly for three years and now hasn’t eaten in 5 months and you haven’t weighed it then how would you know the snake isn’t sick and dropping weight?

If I’m you I would invest in a scale so you can track the snake during these times. Since you don’t know how much she weighs, we have no clue what’s she’s eating, how often she is eating and the fact that you told us she is nippy and mean it sounds like you might start reevaluating how she is being cared for.

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This ^^^^ approach to "helping" is not productive.

And giving “advice” with no information whatsoever is? “That snake looks good to me” is what you said. You have no information whatsoever other than a picture. Answering just to answer isn’t helping anyone.

There is a reason a sticky is dedicated to giving as much info as possible prior to posting. When an owner says “I know nothing about the health of my animal other than it’s mean and hasn’t eaten in 5 months” I don’t think that is an opportunity to baby them.

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Originally Posted by Moose84

And giving “advice” with no information whatsoever is? “That snake looks good to me” is what you said. You have no information whatsoever other than a picture. Answering just to answer isn’t helping anyone.

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You can look on someone's profile to determine someone's experience and how helpful they are. I will leave it at that.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

You can look on someone's profile to determine someone's experience and how helpful they are. I will leave it at that.

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Yeah I forgot. Number of posts and years of membership makes keepers experts. 🙄

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Originally Posted by Moose84

Yeah I forgot. Number of posts and years of membership makes keepers experts. 🙄

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You didn't forget. You didn't read. You are right, the number of posts and years of membership don't mean much, but 40 years of experience and hundreds of animals raised and sold have also taught me no one is an expert.

The purpose of this site is to help people and their animals. It is hard to get people to take good advice by being antagonistic.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

You didn't forget. You didn't read. You are right, the number of posts and years of membership don't mean much, but 40 years of experience and hundreds of animals raised and sold have also taught me no one is an expert.

The purpose of this site is to help people and their animals. It is hard to get people to take good advice by being antagonistic.

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It’s also IMPOSSIBLE to give people the proper advice without the details. Not going to argue sir. Have a blessed day!


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Originally Posted by Moose84

There is a reason a sticky is dedicated to giving as much info as possible prior to posting. When an owner says “I know nothing about the health of my animal other than it’s mean and hasn’t eaten in 5 months” I don’t think that is an opportunity to baby them.

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If they don't have information to give, then they don't have it. Nothing any of us can do changes that. Maybe we could get a weight from today, but that doesn't tell us a weight from 5 months ago. The picture provided, assuming it is recent, is more than enough to indicate to experienced keepers the body condition of the snake.

I didn't see any babying in the reply. Just the basic facts as far as can he told on this situation. Fasting is common at that age and she appears to be in good shape. Wait it out is usually the recommended path unless weight or body condition drops.

OP may do well to weigh the snake now and every 2 weeks or so until it eats again to watch from now. Short of trying live prey, not much else to do.

This isn't a Facebook group; we avoid being harsh to those asking advice because doing so often loses their attention or causes them to seek out less reliable/informed help and it is the snake that would suffer if changes needed to be made.

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Thanks for giving the same advice I did in a much more loving way. Who cares about Facebook sites or whatever. It’s about the animals ultimately correct?

Who gives a rats backside about the animals as long as we don’t don’t hurt anyone’s feelings....


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Originally Posted by Moose84

Thanks for giving the same advice I did in a much more loving way. Who cares about Facebook sites or whatever. It’s about the animals ultimately correct?

Who gives a rats backside about the animals as long as we don’t don’t hurt anyone’s feelings....


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I honestly don't care much for people's feelings on anything. I care about facts. That said, if you do not treat people with respect they are not going to listen to you. They will be driven away from the board and then not speak up when they really do need help. How does that help the animals? The animals belong to people. They cannot speak for themselves.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

I honestly don't care much for people's feelings on anything. I care about facts. That said, if you do not treat people with respect they are not going to listen to you. They will be driven away from the board and then not speak up when they really do need help. How does that help the animals? The animals belong to people. They cannot speak for themselves.

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“The animals can’t speak for themselves....” exactly. [emoji106]thanks for continuing to support me. Sorry I didn’t answer the question in a living and nurturing way.


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OP here: I am absolutely shocked and reeling from the hostility of the replies. I thought this was a place full of kind and helpful people. I have been a member here for quite awhile. I suffer from depression and I often come here to see snake pictures and threads (in addition to posting my own) to cheer me up and lift my mood in an otherwise not so friendly world full of bad news. Please know that when you attack someone on-line or are snarky that there is a real person on the other end if who has real feelings. I am so upset right now.

But getting back to the topic:
-- this is NOT my snake. This is my 15 year old's snake.

-- I gave as much info as I could in my OP about the snake's husbandry, temperament, activity level, and behavior.

-- I have two snakes of my own that I post about here most of the time.

-- My 15 year old takes excellent care of her chameleon and her snake, with good attention paid to humidity, enclosures, size, temps, etc. We learned a lot of that care from the *friendly* people on this forum.

-- We have had the this snake for about 1.5 years. She was given to us as a snippy snake who bit people very frequently, and she has improved, but remains snippy. We have taken great care to work with her, again with suggestions of people on this forum, but that is just her base personality. My other BP is a sweetheart and so is my ratsnake. Anyone who reads my threads knows that our snakes are well loved and cared for.

-- So what if my daughter doesn't weigh her snake? Not everyone does that. And don't bite MY head off about that. It's not my snake.

-- We DO keep track of her feedings.

-- The photos were taken today (to answer someone's question)

-- Thank you to the person who said what we needed to hear, that the snake still appears to have good weight on her. That was the most useful answer of the whole thread.

-- We are not professional breeders. We are are not experts (which is why I came here to ask about our issue). We are, however, good pet owners. When I see some of the set-ups out there that BP's especially have to live in-- enclosures with no hides, red heat lamps, sand as the substrate, no humidity control, etc. well I think we are doing a pretty darned good job with our snakes even if we don't weigh them on a regular basis. Come on, people, give us a little credit for what we are doing right.

I think I'm going to take a break from this forum. It has really upset me today. Take care, and I hope some of you start to try to be kinder to strangers. Your words do affect people.

I’m sorry your feelings were hurt. I’m also sorry you suffer from depression. I’m also not sorry that I am honest and to the point.

I believe in taking good care of these animals and when someone posts comments like “it’s not my animals it’s my daughters” and “we don’t weigh our animals....” you posted nothing other than your husbandry was perfect. I can’t count the number of times I have heard that.

I just think this site is a bit to babied at times and the animals are the ones who suffer. Once again. This is about the animals. Not you. What’s best for you or anyone for that matter isn’t always what’s best for them. Have a great day!


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I just got here (having severe weather today) & I too am shocked at the obvious snarky replies...really not helpful, and for what it's worth, I don't weigh MY
snakes either...unless I have to calculate a dose of medication, which hasn't happened in a very long time.

FollowTheSun, I would miss you greatly if you take a break from this forum...maybe you should just "block" a few people...;) Hugs!

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Originally Posted by Moose84

I’m sorry your feelings were hurt. I’m also sorry you suffer from depression....I just think this site is a bit to babied at times

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No, you're not "sorry", you're just rude & thoughtless, and there are other sites you can go to if we're all too nice & tactful for you...here, I'll get the door for ya. :P

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I just got here (having severe weather today) & I too am shocked at the obvious snarky replies...really not helpful, and for what it's worth, I don't weigh MY
snakes either...unless I have to calculate a dose of medication, which hasn't happened in a very long time.

FollowTheSun, I would miss you greatly if you take a break from this forum...maybe you should just "block" a few people...;) Hugs!

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Congrats on terrible snake care to you as well.


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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I just got here (having severe weather today) & I too am shocked at the obvious snarky replies...really not helpful, and for what it's worth, I don't weigh MY
snakes either...unless I have to calculate a dose of medication, which hasn't happened in a very long time.

FollowTheSun, I would miss you greatly if you take a break from this forum...maybe you should just "block" a few people...;) Hugs!

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Thank god you showed up!! We were all waiting on you to bring the situation under control.


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Someone lock this thread please. This guy is just entertaining himself at someone else's expense.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

Someone lock this thread please. This guy is just entertaining himself at someone else's expense.

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Ok.... I literally said what you told him about weighing his animals appropriately and all of a sudden because I didn’t say it like you I’m a villain. Bloods on your hands not mine mr expert.


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Originally Posted by Moose84

I’m also not sorry that I am honest and to the point.

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Hi, how are you?
Someone wanted to rattle my cage.
You want brutal honesty?
Take a step back and review the TOS you agreed to.

This is a public service announcement to all members to remember the rules of this site and PLAY NICE or don't play at all.

Feel free to continue posting ON TOPIC.

FollowTheSun, has anything changed?
We need to know husbandry, feedings and weights to be of anny assistance.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

Someone lock this thread please. This guy is just entertaining himself at someone else's expense.

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I’d want the thread locked if I were getting embarrassed as well.


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Considering the age and overall shape I would not worry for a second that's the good news the bad is that it could last a lot longer and I know it can be frustrating and worrisome.

Now the thing to keep in mind are

She is an adult not an hatchling.
The are very efficient as far as their metabolism go and need a lot less food as they grow.
They are often overfed in captivity.

Other points I want to make I do not weigh my animals either (if if I do if for pic reference of a specific mutation and how it progresses or for a customer)

So I recommend weighing an animal? Young one when they have issues yes, older ones not really the overall body condition tells me more about an animal than a number does.

Now what can you do? Change everything, if your temps are at 90 lower them to 86 if they are at 86 raise them, change the substrate type etc, sometime with adults change is good, that is of course if your husbandry is optimal to start with.

Something else you can do is take your snake on a car trip, does not have to be long 1 hour round trip is often enough (make sure the snake is secured in a pillow case) it sounds silly but it's an old trick that actually works I have done it a few times with animals I could not trigger back into eating by changing husbandry.

And most important be patient leave her alone we all have been there.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

FollowTheSun, has anything changed?
We need to know husbandry, feedings and weights to be of anny assistance.

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[emoji115][emoji115][emoji115][emoji115]exactly. We need all that. Just like the posting forums ask. [emoji122][emoji122][emoji122]


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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

Hi, how are you?
Someone wanted to rattle my cage.
You want brutal honesty?
Take a step back and review the TOS you agreed to.

This is a public service announcement to all members to remember the rules of this site and PLAY NICE or don't play at all.

Feel free to continue posting ON TOPIC.

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Just reviewed them sir. I am in no way, shape or form in violation. Not sure what you angle is... my angle is the best care of the animals. Not codling incompetent owners whom some of which might be putting their animals to a slow death.


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Originally Posted by Deborah

...
Now what can you do? Change everything, if your temps are at 90 lower them to 86 if they are at 86 raise them, change the substrate type etc, sometime with adults change is good, that is of course if your husbandry is optimal to start with.

Something else you can do is take your snake on a car trip, does not have to be long 1 hour round trip is often enough (make sure the snake is secured in a pillow case) it sounds silly but it's an old trick that actually works I have done it a few times with animals I could not trigger back into eating by changing husbandry...

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Very interesting tips, especially the road trip...never heard that one. That's what's so good about forums, pooling our varied experiences. :gj:

I agree with what Deborah said, there is not a lot to worry about with a snake that large.
I’ve had 5 month fasts with large adults. If you are feeding thawed prey, Sometimes feeding live can get them going again.
Anyone can see that the snake is thick and heavy WITHOUT weighing it. So weighing it is totally unnecessary as long as the snake looks as plump as it does in these pictures.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Very interesting tips, especially the road trip...never heard that one. That's what's so good about forums, pooling our varied experiences. :gj:

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I heard that road trip idea from another breeder friend and I thought he was crazy at first! Then I read some other articles about how “changing the environment” slightly can stimulate feeding. In the wild they often change to a new burrow when the old one becomes soiled or otherwise scented.
A fresh newly cleaned tub with a new kind of substrate can help. I remember JKR tip about that, about giving them a new cleanly scented environment. Changing the physical location of their tub/cage even.

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Originally Posted by Godzilla78

I heard that road trip idea from another breeder friend and I thought he was crazy at first! Then I read some other articles about how “changing the environment” slightly can stimulate feeding. In the wild they often change to a new burrow when the old one becomes soiled or otherwise scented.
A fresh newly cleaned tub with a new kind of substrate can help. I remember JKR tip about that, about giving them a new cleanly scented environment. Changing the physical location of their tub/cage even.

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Yes, I've also read that one about cleaning the cage too, but just not the "road trip" to change locations...who knew? lol...makes sense though when I think about it.
-None of my colubrids have ever requested (or needed) to go cruising...;)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Yes, I've also read that one about cleaning the cage too, but just not the "road trip" to change locations...who knew? lol...makes sense though when I think about it.
-None of my colubrids have ever requested to go cruising...;)

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Ha! Yeah, sometimes Royal pythons can be royally spoiled beasts!

I see there’s a lot of comments above regarding kindness and etiquette and unfortunately I don’t have the time to read through and comment on that...I will say though that it really is easy to be pleasant everyone! Mean people suck!

Anyways, hopefully here to offer some optimism...my snake just recently started eating after a six month fast. All my husbandry remained correct the entire time, they just get finicky during the winter sometimes I spose. It was totally random when she started up again but a HUGE relief, so..don’t give up hope yet!


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