Please Please Help.

I know you all have heard this before but my ball python won't eat.

I bought 4 snakes together from the same breeder.All are kept in the same kind of enviroment,same heat,same setup but all in seperate racks.

I received them Sept 9th,2008.

Three have been great eaters and eat once a week and have gained weigh but one female albino has not eaten on her own for 2 months.The others who weighed the same as her are now 150 grams plus while she is still at 62 grams.
There is really nothing I haven't tried that I know of,I have taken and tried every suggestion.
I have tried mice,rats,hamsters,gerbils,asf rat,all sizes pinkys to hoppers,dead and alive.Some were brained.deli cups,chicken broth,paper bags,she spends the night with them and they are still there in the morning.
I am really upset because nothing works.

I did force feed her 3 weeks ago but I donot want to do that again unless it would help get her started.
The breeder did offer to exchange her if I pay to ship her back and at this time I can't afford it and I am kinda attached to her.
Breeder said I was handling her too much so I didn't handle her at all and it doesn't seem to matter.
I really hope someone out there has an answer for me.
Brat!

How is her tub setup? Does she have a secure hide at either end? What temps are you keeping them at? Was she sold to you as a well-started feeding snake?

My first question to you is have you contacted the breeder yet and let them know that your having issues. Its in your best interest to get with the breeder and let them know. If the worst is to happen you can't expect to get any kind of help from the breeder if your hitting them out of the blue with "she didn't eat for 4 months and died".
Did the breeder offer feeding records with the animal?
Next I'd say get some more food in her even if it means force feeding. Then fill her tub with crumpled up news paper and leave her alone just check her water and make sure still still among the living. Getting her eating is first priority.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Next I'd say get some more food in her even if it means force feeding. Then fill her tub with crumpled up news paper and leave her alone just check her water and make sure still still among the living. Getting her eating is first priority.

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My thoughts exactly. I had a hatchling this year that refused meal after meal and I had to force feed her 4 meals, after that things kicked in and she hasn't refused since and is growing well and catching up.

Freakie Frog,if you read my complete post you will see that I have been in contact with the breeder the whole time,he is aware of the problem.

The breeder did offer to exchange her if I pay to ship her back and at this time I can't afford it and I am kinda attached to her.
Breeder said I was handling her too much so I didn't handle her at all and it doesn't seem to matter.

As far as her set up is concerned,I have 10 ball pythons and all are set up the same way and 9 are doing great and this girl is not.
As I said I have tried everything I was told to do.
She has 2 hides,one on each side of rack,she has paper towels for hiding also.
She was sold as a eating snake as were the other three I bought her with.
One end is 90 degrees while the cooler side is 78 degrees,she has a water dish and the humidity is at 55 %.
Brat!

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Originally Posted by swtbrat

Freakie Frog,if you read my complete post you will see that I have been in contact with the breeder the whole time,he is aware of the problem.

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Best of luck

I would try to bump up the cool side to 84. 78 might just be enough to make her go off feed. Usually temps and security are the biggest reasons why they wont eat. Higher temps will increase her metabolism making her hungry and covering the enclosure with newspaper should make her more secure. Leave her for a week try too feed again. If that doesnt get her started than and assist feeding should get her going.

Best of luck

I would bump the warm side to 94 and raise the humidity. Both are known to stimulate feeding.

Since you have already assist fed her you may have to keep doing it until she feeds on her own, it is likely the smell of food is associated with the stress of assist feeding. I would assist once a week until it eats on its own again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by swtbrat

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The breeder did offer to exchange her if I pay to ship her back and at this time I can't afford it

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This begs the question - if you can't afford shipping, will you be able to afford to get her to a vet if she starts to decline in health?

Remember when you ask for help - people are taking the time to respond to your problem by asking additional questions. Don't be so quick to blow them off. ;)

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Originally Posted by rabernet

This begs the question - if you can't afford shipping, will you be able to afford to get her to a vet if she starts to decline in health?

Remember when you ask for help - people are taking the time to respond to your problem by asking additional questions. Don't be so quick to blow them off. ;)

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Was wondering kinda the same thing....can afford a female Albino and 3 other snakes but can't afford to ship one snake...huh???:confused:

Now now... let's not jump to conclusions here people. :)

Realize that there is the chance this person is going through tough times right now. They did say they couldn't afford it at this time, which may just mean things are tight and money must be prioritized. It doesn't automatically mean they could never afford to do it and they don't have the normal means of providing for their snakes.

Sorry, I just react quickly to financial things since I myself am on very unstable ground right now. I do, however, have an account just for animal expenses that I put whatever I can into each month, so I'm not totally helpless. :)

As for the OPs situation, I would agree with the raising of the temps as a first step, then if things still stay the same I would go with another run at force feeding. It's more important to get nourishment into the snake right now, and sometimes force feeding shows them what they are expected to do. :) Good luck!

Thanks Argentra.

Two months ago I had a great well paying job,today I no longer have that job and unemployment hasn't started for me yet.

I bought the snakes knowing I had the means to take care of them and vet visits and now I don't. Crap Happens!

I am not blowing anyone off,I just asked for help and didn't know I'd be judged by other snake lovers,without them knowing the whole story.
Life sucks sometimes and now for me it does.

I will try to bump up the heat,I will do anything to help her.
Thanks to all who offered suggestions.I do appreciate it.
Brat!

Brat...if you read your original post not knowing the last information provided you would ask some of the same questions we were asking, espacially with one of the snakes being atleast a $600-800 purchase. May concider adding that additional info next time to keep our curiosity lower. My opinion is still to get a few more meals in her to kickstart her metabolism. Keep us updated.

I understand that Fatboy but I didn't think my post was really the proper place to explain my personal life of being one of the many who have lost our jobs due to the poor economy.
When I wrote the post I didn't think it was appropriate and thought saying I couldn't ship it back at this time would be enough.

I bumped up the heat and will try feeding her again tonight,if she won't eat I will force feed her again and once a week and hopefully she will someday eat on her own.

Brat!

you might wanna try asf rats.
are you using f/t or live (sorry i didnt catch that)
if you cant get asf's on a regular basis,try getting a few frozen oines to rub on your domestic mice.there is somtin bout asf's that most cant refuse

ooops,you tried this too.my bad

Quote:

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Originally Posted by swtbrat

[COLOR="Red"]The breeder did offer to exchange her if I pay to ship her back and at this time I can't afford it and I am kinda attached to her.

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i'd send her back b4 she dies, at least you might get another snake or a refund. seems you've exhausted all available prey items and you're going to end up force feeding it again.

how much does it cost to ship a darn snake anyway?

one question.after she refuses a meal how long are you waiting to offer another?

I have been waiting a week between offers.

I force fed her last night and that was the 3rd time.

I would like to give her two more weeks to come around and then I will send her back.
I hate giving up on her.:snake:

Thanks for all the suggestions and I will let you all know what happens.

Brat!

Have you tried the crumpled newspapers? Loosely wadded newspaper completely filling her tub, with just a little gap over the water bowl. Maybe she's just extra shy and even the openness of a rack-tub is bothering her? The newspaper helps to make the entire tub feel more den-like.

I have a female spider that I produced this year that ate on her own 3 times and then stopped. She is in a rack with 30 other babies and they are all doing fine so I know things like this can happen. Here is what I do. I try to assist feed, meaning I don't shove the prey item (normally a pinky rat) down their throat. I sit on the floor in front of the rack with the snake and a live pinky. I lay the snake on my leg and gently grasp the animal behing it's head. Then I use the pinky to open the snakes mouth put the pinky in and close her mouth around the pinky so the snakes teeth latch into the pinky. Normally they snake will be stimulated by the live prey item in their mouths and constrict and swallow. If you have tried every thing else you could try this. I like this method better than shoving the pinky doen their throats. If you need help you can call or email me. My contact info is at www.kellysballs.com

Yes she has lots of crumpled newspapers plus two hides.

Kelly that is very kind of you and I will try the live pinky although I suspect I won't enjoy doing that :tears:
I hate forcing the pinky down her throat and it is as stressful for me as much as it for her.
If I need any help I will e-mail you.
Brat!

The last time I force fed her was Nov 9th.I let her go till today when she showed herself out of her hide
I used a F/T pinky mouse and put it in her mouth,closed her mouth around it and pulled back on the mouse to hook it onto her teeth and she managed to spit it out.The second time I saw her swallow and she continued to swallow till she did swallow the mouse.
I was just so excited I thought I'd burst open till I could tell someone.

Thanks to all who tried to help.
Just praying next week she'll do it all by herself.:P
Brat!