My Little Hypo Wont Eat

Deb wrote these questions of another member who had a snake who would not eat. I also have just one snake who is refusing food and it is a drag. She's my little 8Ball hypo and all my other 8Balls and NERD's and TSK's are chomping every 7 days! Slamming big style!! Anyway, I thought I would post Deb's questions and answer them and maybe someone can give me their thoughts...

How long have you had your snake for? We got the shipment on Feb 26.

How old is he? She was born July 17, 2007

How big is he(weight)? When we got her she weighed 176g. On March 1 she weighed 180g. Tonight she weighs 182g.

What type of enclosure do you use? She is in a RBI rack system

How big is your enclosure? 32 qt

Is your enclosure in a low traffic area? Yes

What are your temps (cool & warm side)? 92 hot end with a gradient to 84 cool end.

What is your humidity? 54%

What type of thermometer/hygrometer do you use (dial,stick,or digital)? Acurite and temp gun

What kind of hides do you provide (log, homemade, cubbyholes etc) and how many do you have? She has a hide from RBI (my snakes prefer them to Zilla!)

Are your hides tight (all side touching your BP's body) and identical? Yes

Have you handle your BP since you have had him? NO- just maintenance.

I also pre-scent the room and offer food only once a week. She has refused 2 times now, once on Feb 28 and again on March 6. She is also my only snake to date who has not gone into blue and shed (I have 13 balls and one boa).
So, what do we think? Anything to worry over, or just give her time??
Thanks everyone!

i wouldnt worry just yet, as you have heard im sure balls are finickey eaters. My big girl stopped for 3 months randomly and then started again. She lost over 150g too. Id give it a month or 30g weightloss before worrying. Also email adam he is very very helpful about these kind of things. Try skipping a week also.

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Originally Posted by jdmls88

i wouldnt worry just yet, as you have heard im sure balls are finickey eaters. My big girl stopped for 3 months randomly and then started again. She lost over 150g too. Id give it a month or 30g weightloss before worrying. Also email adam he is very very helpful about these kind of things. Try skipping a week also.

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I Adore Adam and Kelly and have emailed him, but they might still be in Florida or playing catch-up!! I'm not really worried, just... concerned since this is the only one out of all of my boids refusing to eat... I don't know how she's putting on grams...maybe just water weight! ;)

Put her in a 6qt, leave her in a dark place alone for a week, and then try to feed her. A 32qt is really big for a baby that size and I doubt she was in something that big at Adam's. Try moving down in size, either 6qt or 15qt, put a hide and a waterbowl, and she's set. I have some snakes that are perfectly content in 6qts and they weigh around 400-450g(Spider male and Black Pastel male).

I agree with Becky - downsize the hypo's enclosure. For that weight, 32 quarts is pretty big. Let her acclimate for a week to the new enclosure and try to feed again.

I'll chiming in with the same. Either move her to a 15 qt or if you have the dividers for those tubs, divide one. Give her a good, solid week to adjust to the smaller area, pre-scent and give it a try again.

I have three females that are big enough for 32 qts easily. If we move them out of the 15 qts though, all three immediately refuse to eat for weeks on end. Put them back in their beloved 15's and it's....WHAPPP.....WHAPPPP....WHAPPP...dinnertime!

I saw she was in a 32qt which is big, but that is what I have started all my babies on. Either try adding news paper or extra hides to size down the enclosure or try either a 6 or 15qt.

Great job not being scared to ask for help also:gj:

Our 8ball het-hypo girl weighed around that much when we got her. Just a little girl brand new to the world, and we put her into a 12 quart with a snug hide and she has never refused a feeding.

Try a 6 - 12 quart, I think that will help you a lot.

way too big of a tub and also you tried to feed her 2 days after you got her give it time to settle in some

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Originally Posted by nixer

way too big of a tub and also you tried to feed her 2 days after you got her give it time to settle in some

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Nixer- they were hungry and all other 12 snakes ate- just not her. With some snakes it's good to wait a week and others are fine to eat shortly after they arrive.... :gj:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I'll chiming in with the same. Either move her to a 15 qt or if you have the dividers for those tubs, divide one. Give her a good, solid week to adjust to the smaller area, pre-scent and give it a try again.

I have three females that are big enough for 32 qts easily. If we move them out of the 15 qts though, all three immediately refuse to eat for weeks on end. Put them back in their beloved 15's and it's....WHAPPP.....WHAPPPP....WHAPPP...dinnertime!

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Hey Jo, I do have some dividers for the 32 qt tubs, but the hides I use are 11"x7"x2 1/4" found here: http://www.reptilebasics.com/Hide-Boxes-p-1-c-282.html. It really brings down the size of the enclosure.... However, I'll see if it fits into a divided 32q and if not I'll throw in a couple of small Zilla hides that I have.
Thanks to everyone on their input! It's funny that all the other snakes are just fine...it's just this one.... :oops: Okay, going to move the snake now... :)

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Put her in a 6qt, leave her in a dark place alone for a week, and then try to feed her. A 32qt is really big for a baby that size and I doubt she was in something that big at Adam's. Try moving down in size, either 6qt or 15qt, put a hide and a waterbowl, and she's set. I have some snakes that are perfectly content in 6qts and they weigh around 400-450g(Spider male and Black Pastel male).

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Will do and have done! It's funny how the ax is about her size and feeds just fine in the 32qt tub with the hide! Different personalities I guess!

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I agree with Becky - downsize the hypo's enclosure. For that weight, 32 quarts is pretty big. Let her acclimate for a week to the new enclosure and try to feed again.

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Feeding night is Thursday- do you think this might be enough time?

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Originally Posted by Brimstone111888

I saw she was in a 32qt which is big, but that is what I have started all my babies on. Either try adding news paper or extra hides to size down the enclosure or try either a 6 or 15qt. Great job not being scared to ask for help also:gj:

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I am way to old to be scared over asking questions!!! ;)

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Originally Posted by starmom

Feeding night is Thursday- do you think this might be enough time?

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You should be fine if you're making changes today! Be sure to let us know how that works!

You could also try crumpling up newspaper in the tub so the whole thing is practically covered. It wont feel so big to her and she will be more secure.

Let us know how much;) your little hypo eats on thursday....Good luck

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Originally Posted by missi182

Let us know how much;) your little hypo eats on thursday....Good luck

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Very cool! Will do!! :P

Just an update on my end, we weighed my little girl last night, she just broke 300 grams. (maybe it was 2, but 3 stuck in my head) And I believe she was born around the same time.

Yours will be stuffing down those rats in no time, good luck! :gj:

If you think he might be a little shyer than the others here is what you can do

Either put some lose crumble newspaper in his enclosure or downsize the enclosure using a 15 quarts tub and (2) 6 inches flowerpot saucer for hides.

It would look like this http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p...0Room/Tub1.jpg

Well, this little girl pee'd for the first time since I got her and was very curious and active for a short while. She went all over checking out her tub and seemed like a 'normal' snake for the first time! :P I just peeked under her hide and she shot her little head up and looked me. instead of balling up and hiding. I'm taking this to mean that she is turning a corner and by Thursday night will have slammed a weanling rat...we'll see....:bow:
On a side note, I had 2 shed this morning and 8 snakes had pee'd or poo'd or both!! Took me and hour and a half to get everyone cleaned up and squared away. Jeez, what a morning and all before coffee!!!!! I couldn't let them sit in their tubs and cages like that..... :weirdface

Weaned rat seems a bit too big for a snake her size.. Small rat pup maybe.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

Weaned rat seems a bit too big for a snake her size.. Small rat pup maybe.

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Do you think? It's only 35g... The pups I have are about 27g and I'm not sure they would even leave a teeny bump in her..... I feed once every 7 days and all my other snakes are on small rats (55g), 'cept my '06 females and they're eating medium rats at 80g. All of them are eating really well and looking really good!

Its thursday morning! any luck?

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Originally Posted by starmom

Do you think? It's only 35g... The pups I have are about 27g and I'm not sure they would even leave a teeny bump in her..... I feed once every 7 days and all my other snakes are on small rats (55g), 'cept my '06 females and they're eating medium rats at 80g. All of them are eating really well and looking really good!

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35g doesn't really sound like a weaned rat to me. They should be over 50g at least, in my experience anyway. I've had them at around 80g at 4 weeks old. 35g would be a 2.5 week old baby to me, maybe a bit older.

Is it live or f/t? She may not know what f/t is yet.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

35g doesn't really sound like a weaned rat to me. They should be over 50g at least, in my experience anyway. I've had them at around 80g at 4 weeks old. 35g would be a 2.5 week old baby to me, maybe a bit older.

Is it live or f/t? She may not know what f/t is yet.

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Agreed! :gj:

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

35g doesn't really sound like a weaned rat to me. They should be over 50g at least, in my experience anyway. I've had them at around 80g at 4 weeks old. 35g would be a 2.5 week old baby to me, maybe a bit older.

Is it live or f/t? She may not know what f/t is yet.

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It is Thursday morning but I feed at night!! :D Everybody does rats differently and that's why I like to put a gram amount to the name. I get all my rats from The Mouse Factory because I really appreciate the health and cleanliness of their product; Edna is also a heck of a nice woman! Insofar as weaned rats, it just depends on when you take them from mom and when they start to flesh out.
Anyway, Adam knew I was going to F/T and so I am positive he switched them over for me given that all the rest of my 8Balls eat like champs! She's just a little slow on the uptake and given that she hasn't lost weight I think she's just....little! She peed the other so I was able to take her weight again and her weight was the same as when I got her. After her pee and yesterday also, she seems more perky and interested.
The rats are thawing by the racks for the day so I have high hopes for this evening's feed!! Given that I never have any refuse, this is a little frustrating, but hey, there's always one to keep you humble!! ;)
I'll let y'all know how it goes tonight. Cross fingers...she's such a sweetie!

Well all of the snakes ate like always- with a gusto!! The male mojave came half way out of his bin and I truly thought he was going after me instead!! Wow!!
However, and sadly, my little hypo just wasn't into eating again... :sigh2: All I can do is try again. I'll wait 5 days and offer a little fuzzy rat. She doesn't behave as if she is stressed, at least that I can pick up on. Oh well, I 'll send Adam an email because he is super amazing and has tricks up his sleeve- he's a very tricky guy!!! :ninja:
Anyway, just thought I'd update everyone. And to end on a positive note: It was amazing the feeding responses that I got from all of my other snakes!! Several of them came out of their tubs to greet the rat!! It was wicked cool!