Is My BP Still Healthy? (Long Fast)

[Eazyyyb]

Hey guys, so my BP has been fasting for 9 or 10 months now and I just wanted to share some pictures I just took to make sure she still looks healthy. To put things into perspective, as of today (1/30/15) she has lost 136 grams since 8/29/14. Is that okay?! Thanks in advance

[Mr. Misha]

How much does she weight? Additionally, describe your husbandry and what have you been trying to feed her.

No one will be able to tell you if she's healthy from a couple of pictures. Need details.

[Eazyyyb]

How much does she weight? Additionally, describe your husbandry and what have you been trying to feed her.

No one will be able to tell you if she's healthy from a couple of pictures. Need details.

She weighs 978 grams now. She is my only one in a tank, with 2 identical hides on either side. Heat is provided by a lamp with a 90 hot spot and the ambient is 78ish. I keep her humidity above 60% and theres brown paper taped around 3/4 sides to give her privacy. I have tried everything, live and f/t, small and appropriate sized, even tried with an ASF

[angllady2]

She's a little thin, but not anything life threatening or anything. It's not unusual for ball pythons to stop eating around her size, We call it the 1000 gram wall. A general rule of thumb is, as long as a snake doesn't loose more than 15 - 20% of their body weight during a fast, it's nothing to worry about. I had a large import female not eat for 18 months, and she only lost about 300 grams, which was roughly 10% of her weight.

Mostly, all you can do is wait it out. If you have been offering food each week, or even every 2 weeks, try waiting 3 weeks or so between offerings. Also, I have found, they can and do pick up on your emotions, and if you are all worries and wound up about the not eating when you feed, it can sometimes make things worse. So do your best to stay relaxed and unconcerned, and it may just help.

I hope things get better for you both soon, but the truth is the fasting thing is almost always wayyyy harder on us than it is on them.

Gale

[Mr. Misha]

You can read through the article which might give you a couple of tips and tricks to get her eating again:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...n-eating-again

Personally for me, it helps when I fully clean their cage. It puts them in a mental state that they're in a new home and food might be scarce. So maybe you can give that a try.

[Eazyyyb]

She's a little thin, but not anything life threatening or anything. It's not unusual for ball pythons to stop eating around her size, We call it the 1000 gram wall. A general rule of thumb is, as long as a snake doesn't loose more than 15 - 20% of their body weight during a fast, it's nothing to worry about. I had a large import female not eat for 18 months, and she only lost about 300 grams, which was roughly 10% of her weight.

Mostly, all you can do is wait it out. If you have been offering food each week, or even every 2 weeks, try waiting 3 weeks or so between offerings. Also, I have found, they can and do pick up on your emotions, and if you are all worries and wound up about the not eating when you feed, it can sometimes make things worse. So do your best to stay relaxed and unconcerned, and it may just help.

I hope things get better for you both soon, but the truth is the fasting thing is almost always wayyyy harder on us than it is on them.

Gale

thanks for the advice, ive been offering every 2 weeks so ill probably just stick to that.

You can read through the article which might give you a couple of tips and tricks to get her eating again:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...n-eating-again

Personally for me, it helps when I fully clean their cage. It puts them in a mental state that they're in a new home and food might be scarce. So maybe you can give that a try.

That sounds like a good idea, but I have done that many times since her fast began hahah