no name but still loved

[Mchristy]

I purchased a female BP from a pet store about a year ago. She was 300g and less than a year old. I was told she was a normal but she was so light colored you could almost mistake her for a Pastel! I loved her dearly. She ate for me the day I got her and again the following week. The following week she went off feed. I was unfamiliar with BP's at the time and was told online that it is common for snakes to go off feed. I tried every week to feed her but she denied the food five weeks in a row. Finally on her regular feeding day of the 6th week I found her dead, half in her hide and half out of her hide. I've never cried to hard in my life. The feeling of failure to save her life was absolutely devastating. I only had her for about two months and never even named her but I loved her with every fiber of my being. Sorry for letting you down little girl. Rest now.

[Daybreaker]

I'm sorry for your loss Do you plan to have a necropsy done to see why she died?

[Mchristy]

I didn't have one done, no. I had another BP at the time and he has been just fine since her death; doesn't seem like anything spread. I buried her in the back yard, next to the dog and cat. Admittedly I wonder what could have caused her death from time to time. She wasn't skinny and she wasn't showing any neuroligical signs. No scale rot or mouth rot. One outstanding feature of her last few weeks alive is she was constantly seeking warmth. She spent 100% of her time under her warm hide and it seemed like she was conserving energy as she completely stopped moving most of the time.

[Luciferskeeper]

Wow sorry to hear that!

[I-KandyReptiles]

I never would have thought that losing a snake could hurt so much, but it honestly breaks your heart in two.

I'm sorry that you lost her, and it sounds like you took great care of her! My first ball python passed away in February. Id like to think your little girl is up with my boy in snake heaven chasing after mice .

[Mchristy]

I never thought I could get so attached to a snake at that point either. They aren't quite like a dog or a cat in that aspect yet the pain was definitely real. I have a plethora of snakes now and love each and every one of them as much as any other pet or family member.
I've got friends and family that fear and hate snakes and it really gets me upset when they make awful comments about how all they do is kill them or how they'd kill them if they got loose. My uncle said that last night and with a cheery smile I said "Yea I hear ya! If that golden retriever of yours trotted into my yard, I'd probably kill her too!" Snakes are very precious to me.

[valhalha30]

I am so so sorry for your loss.

This past November I picked up a young normal female BP from Petsmart that's been giving me feeding trouble for a while now.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but everytime I try to feed her, she'll sniff the f/t mouse and then just flat out ignore it. I've tried rats, mice, in all sizes colors and shapes... and she just refuses every single one. Now, the problem started after the one time I tried to feed her a live mouse. I think all the hopping of the mouse when she'd strike at it and fast movements of the mouse when avoiding her, freaked her out. She balled up and became very defensive after she couldn't bite it and constrict it. And I believe she became afraid of mice since then (because now she'll avoid the mice I give her.. even though they're dead)
I would think that at some point she'll become hungry enough to overcome this "fear" she has, but it's been a few months now since she's eaten.

I'm thinking about giving her away or putting her up for adoption exclusively for someone who has years of experiance with BP's and can possibly remedy her feeding problems. I don't know how to help her, and I would hope that someone out there can.

I appologize as this is not the time nor the place to talk about my problems, but I thought I'd share what I'm going through too since it sounds rather similar to your situation Mchristy. I don't know where you got your BP, but perhaps it isn't our fault that our BP's would pass up the food given to them.

[Mchristy]

I am so so sorry for your loss.

This past November I picked up a young normal female BP from Petsmart that's been giving me feeding trouble for a while now.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but everytime I try to feed her, she'll sniff the f/t mouse and then just flat out ignore it. I've tried rats, mice, in all sizes colors and shapes... and she just refuses every single one. Now, the problem started after the one time I tried to feed her a live mouse. I think all the hopping of the mouse when she'd strike at it and fast movements of the mouse when avoiding her, freaked her out. She balled up and became very defensive after she couldn't bite it and constrict it. And I believe she became afraid of mice since then (because now she'll avoid the mice I give her.. even though they're dead)
I would think that at some point she'll become hungry enough to overcome this "fear" she has, but it's been a few months now since she's eaten.

I'm thinking about giving her away or putting her up for adoption exclusively for someone who has years of experiance with BP's and can possibly remedy her feeding problems. I don't know how to help her, and I would hope that someone out there can.

I appologize as this is not the time nor the place to talk about my problems, but I thought I'd share what I'm going through too since it sounds rather similar to your situation Mchristy. I don't know where you got your BP, but perhaps it isn't our fault that our BP's would pass up the food given to them.

Since then I've rescued a few BP's from owners who have had feeding problems. All of the BP's have come from either Petco or Petsmart. After doing some research it seems both of these places have a strict no live feeding policy yet sometimes the suppliers feed live food from birth. This results in underweight and unhealthy snakes that sit in a pet store for weeks/months with no food because they wont take f/t and petco/petsmart wont feed live. I get all my snakes directly from breeders now but it still breaks my heart to see animals being treated this way and unsuspecting pet owners buying these overpriced and unhealthy animals only to be so frustrated with them that they have to give them away or watch them slowly die. This isn't to say ALL snakes from petco/petsmart are like this; some DO take the f/t food just fine.

[valhalha30]

I got mine from Petsmart because they screwed me over with a different snake..... I don't like those big name petstores and I strongly believe they shouldn't even sell reptiles at all... but just have the supplies for reptiles instead.
It breaks my heart as well to see those reptiles slowly decay inside Petco and petsmart prisons... and once they get a caring, loving home, they are STILL aflicted by the bad keeping of those stores. It's a contiuous cycle.... and a depressing one at that.
I am sorry for our snakes, Mchristy, and I also feel bad for us since we're the ones who have to deal with Petsmart and Petco's ignorance.

[therunaway]

Aw sorry to hear about your loss, during the derecho that hit the East coast last summer, I lost a snake, and one got out and still hasn't been found and not putting out lots of hope. Losing any type of animal can tear you apart, just takes the time for them to be taken to realize that.