Off feed since 1/19/09

Please tell me more about "stuffing" the tank or other strategies for getting my ball to eat. He (?) has refused to eat since 1/19/09. He usually eats live. He's about 4 years old, and 1,400 grams before the hunger strike. Also, I have no experience with pinkies - is that something I should try (he was on medium rats) and do pet stores generally have pinkies in stock?

Thank you!

- judiilana

Has anything changed in his setup, temps, handling? How long has he been on medium rats? BPs go on hunger strikes OFTEN and its nothing to worry about as long as nothing is out of the ordinary. If he starts to lose weight, like a LOT of weight then you might want to try an African Soft Fur, or ASF. Pinkies are baby mice and rats that are still pink, and have nothing to do with a 1400gm Male lol. Good luck!

And "stuffing", or rather busying up the tank involves just crumpling up newspapers and filling up the bottom of the tank with it for security purposes. Again, if everything is the same as it always has been, then he's just being a snake. Offer 5-7 days apart as it can cause undue stress and you'll be fine. And if youre really worried, you NEED ASFs. I had a female that was on strike after laying eggs for 1.5 months and she ate saturday because I introduced ASFs. Welcome!

Since he is 4 yrs old and 1400g, the hunger strike may have more to do with the time of year than any security issues, in which case, stuffing the tank won't help. Since we are pretty much at the end of the breeding season, it is likely your snake will start to eat by itself soon. Just keep an eye on the weight, and if it starts to lose a lot of weight, that is when you should get worried.

In the meantime, it doesn't hurt to try to eliminate any sources of stress. Double check your temps & humidity, make sure tight fitting hides are available, etc.

Stuffing or cluttering up the tank won't hurt. The idea is to make it so the snake feels secure and partially hidden even when not in its hide. You can crumple up newspaper and cover the bottom of the tank, or add lots of fake greenery from places like Walmart or the dollar store.

Some people feel that a medium rat is too big of a meal for a BP, but it is hard to be sure what size you were feeding since "medium rat" can mean very different things from one pet store to the next. You might try a smaller size, but there probably is no point in going all the way down to a pinkie.

Thanks for the feedback. I've gone back down to mice, and there is still no interest, but I'll try the ASF in a week or so... I presume the pet stores have those readily available?

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Originally Posted by kc261

it is hard to be sure what size you were feeding since "medium rat" can mean very different things from one pet store to the next.

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Rats were anywhere from 64 grams to 167 grams over time, and he was fine with them from the time he moved from mice to rats in July 2008, all the way through his last feed on 1/19/09.

- judiilana

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

Has anything changed in his setup, temps, handling?

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Nope - nothing has changed.

I had an adult male pastel go 6 months with no ill effects. This guy was kept in the same conditions as 40 other snakes that ate fine, he bred like a champ but not interested in food. Eventually took live rat pups then small rats again.

I would try to keep his temps up, 84 cool 94 warm side and that should help get his metabolism going.

If he is not loosing weight I would'nt worry too much, he will eat eventually.

I'd say no on pinkies. Try doing the newspaper stuffing the tank thing again. I take out the water bowl. I would try 3 or 4 weanling rats. Put some rat food in there too. Only once a week.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by judiilana

Thanks for the feedback. I've gone back down to mice, and there is still no interest, but I'll try the ASF in a week or so... I presume the pet stores have those readily available?


- judiilana

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Perhaps local pet stores, but not like Petco or Petsmart. The stores where you can find a BP morph for sale will have em. The seeecret shops lol.

You guys are awesome! So helpful!

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Originally Posted by Jason Bowden

I take out the water bowl.

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For how long can I take out the water bowl? Doesn't he NEED water?

- judiilana

Only take out the water bowl when you try feeding him. So the newspaper,etc. doesn't get all up in the water. And really stuff alot of paper in there. So you don't even see the bottom of your enclosure - looking from the top. It's such a waste of newspaper LOL, but it worked for me. If you don't have weanling rats around, use mice. Definately put some rodent food in there to kinda occupy the mice/rats. It worked for me. I only put two mice in with an adult male I purchased this year and I checked on him a hour later and the mice were gone. He was a breeder male and hadn't eaten for me for the first 3 months of my ownership. Just crumple up the newspaper and place it in there and I woudn't leave the rodents in there for more than an hour.

my ball (male) fasts every winter
This season he fasted from 1/12/09 to 6/7/09
I have found that he will only strike at a very small prey item when he breaks his fast. I offer fuzzy mice, and once he takes one I follow up with regular size prey. If I offer full size prey when he is still fasting, he seems intimidated by it. Fuzzy mice don't seem to scare him, and around this time of year he eventually takes one.

Sounds like he is just waiting for a girlfriend to slither by. Keep track of his weight. If you notice significant weight loss, then go to the vet. If not, don't worry about it. Your snake is at a perfectly fine weight to go off feed for up to a year. I don't think it is necessary to try all these feeding tricks.

There was a great discussion awhile back about whether it is ok to handle a snake that is fasting. Apparently handling contributes to weight loss, which was enough to convince me to not handle a fasting snake.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

Perhaps local pet stores, but not like Petco or Petsmart. The stores where you can find a BP morph for sale will have em. The seeecret shops lol.

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Okay - I found a seeeeecret shop, but it's about an hour away. The guy is selling ASF's for $2 a piece, "doesn't have too many" and wants to know how many I want. I don't know - how many do I want? I don't want to be an ASF mommy to more than I need for much longer than I need. I've already given away more mice and rats between January and now than I ever hoped to! Thoughts???

- judiilana

My thought is that I would not change his food, other than offering a smaller size.

He'll eat when he is ready.

YAY!!!! 5 months to the DAY!

This morning he was out & about when he should have been sleeping.... sniffing the air incessantly, drinking water, sniffing some more... all around 8:30 a.m. So tonight I decided to give it a shot again. The mouse was in there for all of 60 seconds before he struck. He didn't even come out of his hide or uncoil to eat. YAYAYAY!! Thanks for all the support. In the end, patience won out.

- judiilana

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Originally Posted by judiilana

YAY!!!! 5 months to the DAY!

This morning he was out & about when he should have been sleeping.... sniffing the air incessantly, drinking water, sniffing some more... all around 8:30 a.m. So tonight I decided to give it a shot again. The mouse was in there for all of 60 seconds before he struck. He didn't even come out of his hide or uncoil to eat. YAYAYAY!! Thanks for all the support. In the end, patience won out.

- judiilana

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Glad to hear it.

I only have one ball, but he just ate June 13 after fasting since January 23. This is the second year in a row he's done this (he's three). Last year he fasted from January 1 to May 30.

During both times he lost about 8% of his body weight.

Congrats on getting him to eat again!

Just wait him out offer every week its no big deal,you can try asf's but mine go off feed too on them.Its what they if you keep them they basiclly eat 6 months out of the year.

glad to hear but don't throw a party just yet , my one guy went off feed about xmas time and ate once mid may and has not ate anything else since . I am mvinghi mto another room to see if the lack of females smells will help get him eating again.