The dreaded 1000g wall

[cdavidson9]

Any ideas from the Kings and Queens of Feeding Technique's out there how I can get my Female Pastel Poss Het Pied to get over the 1000g mark? She made her way up to 1100 about 2 months ago, and since then drifted back down to 990 or so. She's driving me crazy.

Husbandry is spot on, She's healthy and sweet as a clam.. just not wanting to even sniff any food. I've tried small prey, pre-killed zombie dances, mice.. only thing I haven't tried is the ASF route. Haven't really tried looking here in the Bay Area, Ca but running out of ideas. I just don't want her to get hooked on the Candy Rats.

HELLLLLP!!!!!

(you all are the best, thanks so much for the constant advice and awesome words)

[mues155]

How long has it been since shes stopped eating?
She could just be fasting. Theres many reasons why snakes to this, it can be maturing, hormones, changes in enviroment, etc.
I wouldnt worry too much.
If you must ...feed her live, if she doesnt take a live rodent shes most likey just fasting. Offer her food weekly until she comes out of it. One day she will eat again.

[CLSpider]

I've only ever had this problem with one of my females. When she reached around 1000gr she decided she didn't want food anymore. So what I did was I left her completely alone for 2 weeks. I then tried to offer her a rat when the two weeks was up and she took it. Never had a problem after that.
I'm not saying it will work for everyone....that's just my personal experience and what I did.

[Aes_Sidhe]

Slow offering... Leave her be for 2 weeks and offer weaned rat... You can leave live weanling over night... it Shouldn't harm Your snake.. If that doesn't help wait 3 weeks for another feeding and same story.. very small (35-40g weaned rat)...
Works for me...
After 4 months non eating my female drop from 1087 to 960... and that method works.. (after 3 weeks leave her be weaned rat survived 2 hours... 2 weeks after that small rat survived 15 sec)... She eats 60g rats every week now and...
I need to drop rats fast into tub if i wanna keep my fingers intact

Hope that will work for You...

[deathadder1069]

I dont even stress on bps not feeding anymore, I keep records on them all and if they dont eat then ill try next time, just means that another bp is getting lucky that day and getting 2 rats...but one thing i do that works all the time is i get a p/k rat and jiggle it near the bp and for some reason that triggers it and they tend to eat at that point. Good Luck

[ogdentrece]

Oh my ex-1080 is now 970. When he continued eating after 1000 I was pretty hopeful, but that was too soon. It's been over 6 months..

[nick_kennedy25]

I have had the same trouble with a few similar sized balls this year. I ended up putting them back into smaller tubs and the next week they resumed feeding. Another thing I do is offer a rat that looks different from what I normally feed (usually white lab rats), and offer them a black/brown rat. It's weird to me how those two things work but they have worked for me many times. I hope this helps and I hope you get some pieds out of her.

[jason79]

I have found if you put a male in with them for a week they go back to pounding food. There is a small risk that they will breed and she is not really big enough to breed but so far I have tried this on 4 females none of them bred but they are all pounding food now. The only downside is it is possible for her to become pregnant at this size and most people would not want that but like I said I have done it with 4 females and it worked every time and none became pregnant.

[cdavidson9]

Thanks everyone so much for your ideas and replys. I think I will def leave her alone for a couple of weeks and put her in a smaller bin. She is in a 32 quart right now, with a tight hide, and I even tried balling up a bunch of newpaper to make her feel even more secure.. but have also been throwing food at her every week. maybe if I let her be in a smaller enclosure for a couple weeks and not bother her she will come around. Will let you all know when (if) she comes around.

THAAAAANNNNK YOUUUUU ALLLLLLL!!!!!!

[garweft]

I have found if you put a male in with them for a week they go back to pounding food. There is a small risk that they will breed and she is not really big enough to breed but so far I have tried this on 4 females none of them bred but they are all pounding food now. The only downside is it is possible for her to become pregnant at this size and most people would not want that but like I said I have done it with 4 females and it worked every time and none became pregnant.

This is what I do