sort of feeding question

Hi,
this is the first time ive had a real problem feeding a snake, but i recently got ahold of a big normal female, shes aorund 1500 grams. and ive had her for about.. 3 weeks now and she dosent seem hungry.. she had a little belly blisters when i got her, and i tended to those, and i tried to feed her once (abot 5 days after i got her) and she wouldnt eat, she tagged it a couple times, tried to roll it up once and then gave up.. and then i went to feed her again a few days after that and she was blue eyed. so when she finally shed (a few days ago) i decided to try to fed her tonight.
she strikes at it, but for some reason wont really try to wrap it up.. and when she tries (like once..) she just gives up.

i was told shed only eat live.. so i dont know what to do..
any suggestions??

i thumped the hell outta the rat after she gave up on it the first time..
but she still gives up on eating it..

and for refrence shes a wild caught..

thanks alot..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by phantommaggot

Hi,
this is the first time ive had a real problem feeding a snake, but i recently got ahold of a big normal female, shes aorund 1500 grams. and ive had her for about.. 3 weeks now and she dosent seem hungry.. she had a little belly blisters when i got her, and i tended to those, and i tried to feed her once (abot 5 days after i got her) and she wouldnt eat, she tagged it a couple times, tried to roll it up once and then gave up.. and then i went to feed her again a few days after that and she was blue eyed. so when she finally shed (a few days ago) i decided to try to fed her tonight.
she strikes at it, but for some reason wont really try to wrap it up.. and when she tries (like once..) she just gives up.

i was told shed only eat live.. so i dont know what to do..
any suggestions??

i thumped the hell outta the rat after she gave up on it the first time..
but she still gives up on eating it..

and for refrence shes a wild caught..

thanks alot..

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A few questions before i can assist you here.What were the blisters on her belly? Are they still their? What are your temps on the hot side and the cool side? What type of enclosure is she in? Do you have any hides for her and the sizes of them? When you bought her did the sellar guarentee she is eating? I can give you a little info now until you post the answers to these questions.Several reasons she is not eating right now,you are constantly attempting to feed her before you allow her a full week or two to settle in.Next,she might be in alot of pain from the belly blisters.I think i know what it is but since i am not able to see in person,i can only suggest you take her to a snake vet.Last,some wild caughts never eat.I will keep a eye out for your reply here and i will try to help you out as much as possible.

Well, i gave her just over 7 days to try to feed her the first time..

the hot side is like between 90-95 as of now.. and the cool side is between 80-85 depending ..

her belly bumps, spots were like belly rot from sitting on damp aspen for too long.. (im using peper towels for now..but her belly is healed now..)

she has a hide, and its really snug, but not too small.. even tho she dosent pull herself up into it...

the seller said she was eating fine, and she ate live rats once a week..

she tries to eat, she jsut gives up really easy, like i need to feed her a "special" rat.. or i should just kill it.. but if i kill it, then why not feed frozen like i do with the rest of my snakes...

but ya, id really like to see her eat, cause id really like her to become a mother :)

anyways, im open to any suggestion
thanks again
-josh

first she needs two hides... so perhaps you can get another like the first and let her have one on the warm side and one on the cool side.

how long did you leave her alone with the rat? did you stay super still so she couldn't see you... standing a ways back from her enclosure?

if my ball knows i'm there... he refused to eat... so does my rtb. i have to leave the room and come back in 10-15 minutes to make sure they've eaten.

how would she have space for 2 hides in a 31 qt tub??

and i always watch snakes eat lol, i guess ill have to try the leaving the room thing...

thanks!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by phantommaggot

Well, i gave her just over 7 days to try to feed her the first time..

the hot side is like between 90-95 as of now.. and the cool side is between 80-85 depending ..

her belly bumps, spots were like belly rot from sitting on damp aspen for too long.. (im using peper towels for now..but her belly is healed now..)

she has a hide, and its really snug, but not too small.. even tho she dosent pull herself up into it...

the seller said she was eating fine, and she ate live rats once a week..

she tries to eat, she jsut gives up really easy, like i need to feed her a "special" rat.. or i should just kill it.. but if i kill it, then why not feed frozen like i do with the rest of my snakes...

but ya, id really like to see her eat, cause id really like her to become a mother :)

anyways, im open to any suggestion
thanks again
-josh

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Josh,i am not being rude here.In your first post you said "you attempted to feed her 5 days after getting her",now you say it was at least 7 days.You also state your temps are between 90-95 as of now,your cool is 80 to 85 depending.In order for a new ball python to be happy and flurish they need to be giving at least a full week or two totaly left alone.Just by your two differant posts with differant days when first attempt made to feed her makes me think she is still stressed from being in a new place.Next what were your temps before now? If the temps are not at the correct levels they will refuse to eat.Since she is a wild caught and if your temps were under the 90 to 95 mark she could be thinking its breeding time and has her mind on other things.You also say you treated her belly can i ask how you treated it? If it is belly rot just keeping her dry is not enough she needs to be seen by a vet.Once again i am not being rude here just pointing out the possible reasons she is refusing to eat.

Joe, he said that the belly has healed- if it was mild scale rot, it would have been shed with her skin.


Sounds more like she may be striking in self-defence. Or the prey may be too big and intimidating her. I agree that leaving her alone completely for a week and trying again is the best idea.

Also do not leave her alone with a large live rodent. If you do try this, make sure that it is a small one, and leave food in the enclosure for it.

Sometimes sellers lie about the snake eating, esp. wild caught. But it sounds like she'll come around.

Also make sure that you quarantine her for a couple months before trying to breed.

Try a sheet of newspaper over her in the tub to make her feel more secure.

The fact is wild caughts aren't easy, especially if you are inexperienced. What did the seller tell you about how long this snake has been in captivity, what size of prey other than "live rat", etc. I don't know that the seller is going to give you the best information since he/she sold you a snake with belly rot which indicates some problems with that seller (at least it sure does to me).

You may want to have this snake seen by a vet to check for internal parasites and a general good going over. Put her in a very dark, quiet area (a big walk in closet is a great idea) and try to have very little to do with her until she's an established eater. What size live rat are you trying? You may want to go quite small (big pup or weanling size) just to get her interested again in eating then slowly work up to a nice chubby small rat or two a week.

I would never, ever recommend leaving a food item in there unattended (especially w/ the intentions of leaving feed for the animal in there also.) Joanna gave all of the rest of the advice I was going to give.. please get a bigger tub so that the snake can properly thermoregulate and doesn't have to choose between the right temperature and a secure hide.

It's actually better for a W/C to be the smallest tub possible that still allows for thermoregulation Jen while trying to get it settled in. Let me try to describe the setup that Adam recommended we use in Saoirse's early days.

We used a tub we normally use for juveniles (sorry I will have to run get the dimensions later). She had already been treated for parasites so we didn't go the paper towel route. We filled her tub very deeply with a natural type substrate (it was a mix of aspen and a lot of baked cypress mulch). So deep that basically her hides were almost buried and she had to go down into the hide (like they go down into burrows in the wild). We left a small amount of head room and of course a water dish. This does make the tub a tad harder to maintain temps and humidity wise. We put her in a bedroom and kept the curtain closed as much as possible (Adam suggested a walk in closet but at the time we didn't have one large enough). We allowed no one near her, no noise or disturbance in that room...heck we had her for months and our kids had never even seen her LOL. We offered her very small meals...nothing bigger than a large pup or small weanling rat. We fed her in complete darkness and monitored her feeds by sitting dead still close by and covering a low light flashlight with a dark t-shirt. As soon as she struck successfully we crept out of the room (she would not eat if any movement in the room was detected). We never handled her at all until she was eating consistently and had started to gain significant weight.

It's a LOT of hassle but for this one snake this worked. It doesn't always work and W/C adults can break your heart. Best of luck with this one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sadie

Joe, he said that the belly has healed- if it was mild scale rot, it would have been shed with her skin.


Sounds more like she may be striking in self-defence. Or the prey may be too big and intimidating her. I agree that leaving her alone completely for a week and trying again is the best idea.

Also do not leave her alone with a large live rodent. If you do try this, make sure that it is a small one, and leave food in the enclosure for it.

Sometimes sellers lie about the snake eating, esp. wild caught. But it sounds like she'll come around.

Also make sure that you quarantine her for a couple months before trying to breed.

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Sadie,in my opinion scale rot(if thats what is wrong with this snake) has no mild stage once its started.Thats why i asked how this person treated it.

Hi,
the amount of time i gave her was 7days, i got her on a monday, and when i typed it up the first time i just counted up till saturday which is the day i feed all my other snakes.. but my lady here reminded me that i waited till monday.. i completely forgot.. as feeding day has become a bit of a habit here..

as far as her belly goes.. its completely healed since she shed.. and she may be stressed since i checked her belly once a day.. i also put antibiotic on the spots as i was told to do. i also checked her box once every couple days while she was waiting to shed.. so .. that may be it.. she could just be stressed...

the guy that sold me the snake said she had been in captivity for around 2 years. and its someone i see on a fairly regular basis, i dont think hed lie.. but either way.. i guess well find out..

o and im trying to feed her a medium rat, well the mediums my pet store sells...

so i should give her a solid week and not touch her, open her tub, or anything unless i need to.. and then try a small rat??

what if i need to straighten out her bedding.. or something of that natrue... she has this nasty habit of pushing her hide over her water and then setting behind it...



thanks again..
-josh

Quote:

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Originally Posted by phantommaggot

Hi,
the amount of time i gave her was 7days, i got her on a monday, and when i typed it up the first time i just counted up till saturday which is the day i feed all my other snakes.. but my lady here reminded me that i waited till monday.. i completely forgot.. as feeding day has become a bit of a habit here..

as far as her belly goes.. its completely healed since she shed.. and she may be stressed since i checked her belly once a day.. i also put antibiotic on the spots as i was told to do. i also checked her box once every couple days while she was waiting to shed.. so .. that may be it.. she could just be stressed...

the guy that sold me the snake said she had been in captivity for around 2 years. and its someone i see on a fairly regular basis, i dont think hed lie.. but either way.. i guess well find out..

o and im trying to feed her a medium rat, well the mediums my pet store sells...

so i should give her a solid week and not touch her, open her tub, or anything unless i need to.. and then try a small rat??

what if i need to straighten out her bedding.. or something of that natrue... she has this nasty habit of pushing her hide over her water and then setting behind it...



thanks again..
-josh

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Josh,i thank you for answering my additional questions.I was just trying to help you figure out how to get her to eat,when i noticed the days left alone to settle in were differant.Thats great her belly is better now i am sure your giving the antibiotics and keeping her dry were the reasons it has cleared up.Now the part of not disturbing her for a full week i would just spot clean any messes and clean water daily.Is it possible to use a heavier hide or place something on it so the little bugger will not push it over the water lol? Maybe she does not like the color,you know how females are :P .