Yafe - Albino Carpet - FINAL - Progression Thread

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Originally Posted by WhompingWillow

So glad to hear that it sounds like he's completely healed! Fingers crossed he gets his appetite up soon!

One thing I'm wondering is if maybe the prey you've been offering is too small for him to be truly interested? I completely understand why you want to start him off slowly, and it makes sense to offer smaller meals that are easier to digest.

One of our BP's, who is typically a reliable eater, went on a short little 3 week food strike a while back. The only thing that was different is that he had been eating weaned rats, but we switched to trying to offer 2 rat pups to use them up before placing another order. He wouldn't even flick his tongue at those rat pups. I didn't make the connection until we got in more weaned rats a few weeks later and he struck so hard and so fast he scared the crap out of my husband. 😀

I'm sure you probably found this in your research on his breeder (both of our carpets are from them) but figured I'd post it just in case. They have a very particular protocol for the prey they offer since they have so many snakes.

https://www.carpetpythons.com/feedin...t-pythons.html

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WhompingWillow,

I'd had this thought, but then got fixated on offering a different prey item - rat fuzzy's.

I am in the process of defrosting a small mouse - 19G (Yafe is 120-125G now). I'll advise shortly if he takes it. He's cruising the tank now. Maybe this is it? He needs bigger prey?

The biggest prey item I've offered to date was a 12G small mouse, but I was mostly offering 9-10G hoppers. The only thing he took was a 9G hopper. That could have been out of pure desperation.

This is a substantial increase in size.

Stay tuned........

Sometimes you just gotta try stuff. Hoping for your success!

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Originally Posted by dakski

whompingwillow,

i'd had this thought, but then got fixated on offering a different prey item - rat fuzzy's.

I am in the process of defrosting a small mouse - 19g (yafe is 120-125g now). I'll advise shortly if he takes it. He's cruising the tank now. Maybe this is it? He needs bigger prey?

The biggest prey item i've offered to date was a 12g small mouse, but i was mostly offering 9-10g hoppers. The only thing he took was a 9g hopper. That could have been out of pure desperation.

This is a substantial increase in size.

Stay tuned........

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*heavy breathing*

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Originally Posted by zina10

So happy for you all :)

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They should make a movie about snake owners, just sayin'.

Sorry for the late response; there was some drama.

I offered the 19G mouse. He nailed and wrapped immediately. Then he knocked it off his house, where he had struck and coiled. He then managed to get his head stuck between the branches in his tank, where he had struck from. Then he semi-freed himself, but tried to pull the mouse through the crack he got stuck in and ended up dropping it. By the time he found it again, he seemed to have forgotten that he had "killed" it and had lost interest.

I re-warmed and re-offered and he nailed it quick and coiled again.

He attempted start eating several times, while wrapped around his branches, couldn't seem to get a good angle, and then knocked it off the house again!

I figured I'd leave it and see what he would do.

I came back at 3:30AM (had trouble sleeping) and the mouse was still there, next to the house, and he was in the house!

Poor guy! Either, he forgot he "killed" it again, and lost interest, or it was a little too big. He did attempt to start eating it several times.

So, being wide awake at 3:30AM, and having snake that gladly struck and wrapped a 19G mouse 2X in an hour. I figured, what the heck, let me defrost a mouse in between 9G and 19G, offer, and see what happens. It only takes about 1/2 an hour to defrost a mouse that size, and I have nothing better to do!

I defrosted a 14G small/weaned mouse, warmed it up to about 100F in warm/hot water, and shook in front of his house. He poked his head right out and I shook it a little more. He struck and coiled! Within two minutes, it was going down the hatch!

Not sure if it was the "right size," not too big and not too small, or he was fired up, or I fed on the ground, so he couldn't drop it, or get tangled, etc. Either way, he ate! He ate willingly and happily at that!


WhompingWillow, I owe you big time! So does Yafe! I called Adam with StarPythons yesterday and asked about Rat Fuzzy's, but he didn't mention larger prey items. Maybe he forgot I was offering smaller prey. Rat Fuzzy's are about the same size of what I offered tonight anyway.

Again, not 100% sure it was a prey size issue, but either way, you motivated me to try again!

Either way, hallelujah!

I'll try in the 14-16G range again next time as well and always go a little bigger than I think from now on with him.

Let's get some meat on Yafe!

[IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/5chCS5X.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/kKHyW8d.jpg[/IMG]

YAY!!! I am so happy he ate, and exuberantly at that! Maybe a little too exuberantly, lol. He probably didn't have much opportunity for climbing previously, so I'm sure he'll figure out how to eat more efficiently with time. :)

A rat fuzzy still probably isn't a bad idea. With his size, I'm thinking he may have been on those at the breeder?

I look forward to many more happy updates about Yafe. :)

Happy dance :)

I told ya, he just needed a bit more time to feel safe again after his last outing, once things became "routine" again, he felt comfortable enough to eat.
So happy for you all :)

He hasn't had much practice eating yet, to know how to navigate branches & obstacles. I'm glad you tried again & with one a little smaller for now...no rush.
Feeding larger prey to a snake that hasn't been eating at all isn't such a good idea anyway. Easy does it. :gj:

Yafe is doing great and kept his mouse down no problem!

Katie held him today and he's doing so well she said it,"melts her heart."

She couldn't believe it; he's a different snake. Still sweet as can be, but so calm and deliberate in his movements and actions.

It think it's time to introduce the new, happy and healthy, Yafe to the world!

Everyone, meet Yafe!

https://streamable.com/oqk9z

You've both done a BEAUTIFUL job of getting Yafe well again...I fully expect he'll be eating regularly from now on too. HAPPY DANCE! :carrot:
He won the lottery when you bought him, you've worked SO hard to help him! Good vet too! :gj: