8 Week old BP will not eat

[Danster430]

hello all and Happy Thanksgiving.... i am need of advice on my now 8 week old BP. i got her 3 weeks ago and she refuses to eat at all.. i have done tons of research and narrowed it down to what could be one thing and i doubt that is it because i have 2 other BP that are 3 months and have different cages same heat, same lights, same exact cage set up and they eat within moments of dropping rat pups in the enclosure. NOW my little 8 week old i have no idea what is going on. i weighed her last week and she only weighed 54g, i had to assist feed her and she went to 70g and yesterday she dropped to 68g. i placed the fuzzies in her habitat and she just strolls on by them with no care or concern, they do not phase her at all, more like she thinks they are supposed to live in there to. i had tried day feeding, i tried night feeding, i tried a smaller container and covering it and she just acts like she has no interest at all. when i got her on a Monday the shop said she would be ready that Friday, but i waited to give her time to adjust and she absolutely has no interest. i am starting to wonder if she was even treated right at this shop she was at, i found articles after the fact on the owner and he was charged with not proper permits and not having them in healthy conditions and some of them had mites. if i did my research on the shop, i probably would not have got her there. so i checked my BP further and found she DID have a few mites on her only 5 or 6. so i immediately gave her a bath, bought mite spray, bought new container and all new items and she has not had any mite problem since. NONE of my other 2 had mites at all and have NOT had eating issues and they came from 2 different places. so i did research and see a item i could fix is her temp. all day her container sits at 80 degrees, she has a heating pad on the bottom of her container on her hot side and her hide sits on top of it. then she also has a cold side with a hide also. so i notice at night when i turn the day light off it drops to 70, i know that is NOT GOOD and i am fixing that and getting a red light, so for 12 hours she will have a day light and night she will have red light. i use coconut husk based substrate. and her enclosure 10 inch deep plastic tub. i have thermostat in there to watch the temps as well and fixing that problem now. she is not handled all the time, maybe no more than 15 minuets in the evening. she is not showing sides of shedding at all, she is to young to be sexually active, she is kept in her own cage and she is left alone for 48 hours after feeding.she does not show signs of stress, she does sleep all day, comes out at night, she does wander around. i am at a loss and now wondering if anyone else can give any other advice. i HAVE tried BOTH live and thawed and it makes no difference at all, she has absolutely no interest at all. i am getting the feeling that maybe she has never ever ate before i got her, i honestly do not know if she did or not. BUT by the charges the shop owner had makes me think differently. i leave the fuzzies in her container at the 1st offering about and hour, the second time about 30 minuets and the separate container another 30 minuets. she does drink her water, and will EAT when i have to assist feed her. My question is how can i get her caught on to learn to eat on her own?? anyone have an issue like this?? advice?? thoughts?? is it possible she has never ate since she was born?? i do know if she does not start on her own in the next 2 feedings i am going to take her to the vet. she does not look sick at all, just acts like she does not know how to eat if that make sense. sorry for the book, but more information the better. i just do not want to continue to put stress on her by assist feeding, but i do not want her to die either so i will help her all i can. thank you

[bcr229]

Are your heat sources regulated by thermostats? A thermometer measures temperature, a thermostat forces the temperature to remain constant.

[Dylan_]

hello all and Happy Thanksgiving.... i am need of advice on my now 8 week old BP. i got her 3 weeks ago and she refuses to eat at all.. i have done tons of research and narrowed it down to what could be one thing and i doubt that is it because i have 2 other BP that are 3 months and have different cages same heat, same lights, same exact cage set up and they eat within moments of dropping rat pups in the enclosure. NOW my little 8 week old i have no idea what is going on. i weighed her last week and she only weighed 54g, i had to assist feed her and she went to 70g and yesterday she dropped to 68g. i placed the fuzzies in her habitat and she just strolls on by them with no care or concern, they do not phase her at all, more like she thinks they are supposed to live in there to. i had tried day feeding, i tried night feeding, i tried a smaller container and covering it and she just acts like she has no interest at all. when i got her on a Monday the shop said she would be ready that Friday, but i waited to give her time to adjust and she absolutely has no interest. i am starting to wonder if she was even treated right at this shop she was at, i found articles after the fact on the owner and he was charged with not proper permits and not having them in healthy conditions and some of them had mites. if i did my research on the shop, i probably would not have got her there. so i checked my BP further and found she DID have a few mites on her only 5 or 6. so i immediately gave her a bath, bought mite spray, bought new container and all new items and she has not had any mite problem since. NONE of my other 2 had mites at all and have NOT had eating issues and they came from 2 different places. so i did research and see a item i could fix is her temp. all day her container sits at 80 degrees, she has a heating pad on the bottom of her container on her hot side and her hide sits on top of it. then she also has a cold side with a hide also. so i notice at night when i turn the day light off it drops to 70, i know that is NOT GOOD and i am fixing that and getting a red light, so for 12 hours she will have a day light and night she will have red light. i use coconut husk based substrate. and her enclosure 10 inch deep plastic tub. i have thermostat in there to watch the temps as well and fixing that problem now. she is not handled all the time, maybe no more than 15 minuets in the evening. she is not showing sides of shedding at all, she is to young to be sexually active, she is kept in her own cage and she is left alone for 48 hours after feeding.she does not show signs of stress, she does sleep all day, comes out at night, she does wander around. i am at a loss and now wondering if anyone else can give any other advice. i HAVE tried BOTH live and thawed and it makes no difference at all, she has absolutely no interest at all. i am getting the feeling that maybe she has never ever ate before i got her, i honestly do not know if she did or not. BUT by the charges the shop owner had makes me think differently. i leave the fuzzies in her container at the 1st offering about and hour, the second time about 30 minuets and the separate container another 30 minuets. she does drink her water, and will EAT when i have to assist feed her. My question is how can i get her caught on to learn to eat on her own?? anyone have an issue like this?? advice?? thoughts?? is it possible she has never ate since she was born?? i do know if she does not start on her own in the next 2 feedings i am going to take her to the vet. she does not look sick at all, just acts like she does not know how to eat if that make sense. sorry for the book, but more information the better. i just do not want to continue to put stress on her by assist feeding, but i do not want her to die either so i will help her all i can. thank you

Are you handling her at all?. They say do not handle at all for the first several meals. Also my baby was about 6 months or 7 months when i got her i had to leave her alone for 2 weeks no handling etc to get her to eat. I dint think they will starve them selves i dont think assist feeding is recommended. If she is streesed at all she may refuse to eat. Temps being off humidity not right. To much open space all kinds of different stuff can stress them out. Your heat pad i hope is on a thermostat to make sure it doesent get to hot. Someone else may have better oppinions for you im still new to balls my self but ive learned alot from here. When they refuse food also wait a week before trying again if u continue to try several times in a week that can also stress them out. Do you know if it was on rats or mice balls are picky and if it was on mice u might have a lottle trouble getting switched. Make sure she isnt losing to much weight i wouldnt be to concerned i know how stressful it is but 3 weeks of not eating isnt the worst ive heard. Again others have alot more expierence and can tell you better then me. Hope this helps a little

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[Bogertophis]

You say she shows no signs of stress but that's exactly what not eating is. Sounds like her temperatures are too low, & also you should refrain from handling

any & all new snakes (any age) until they have fed easily for you 3 times at normal intervals. "15 minutes" may not sound like a lot to you, but to her it is...

her whole world changed inexplicably when you took her home...she cannot talk & tell you how terrifying & confusing that is. Assist feeding is making that

worse! She may never have fed for the shop owner, but if she is healthy she should feed for you, IF you provide the right environment, including enough heat

(but thermostatically-controlled to proper range for BPs) and secure "hides" (of the right size for her) and refrain from handling, especially from "assist

feeding".

NO handling! it disrupts her instincts to hunt & eat...the only thing that picks up a snake in the wild is a predator about to eat them...right now, that's what

your handling means to her...leave her alone, let her be a snake first...she needs to feel secure & have privacy & the right temps. (& humidity).

[Danger noodles]

It’s hard not to handle them when u first get them but like said above, u have a long time with this snake. Do what’s right for them and they will reward u with many years of fun! Good luck and definitely get a thermostat. I did a test on how hot those heat pads will get and I got readings of 101.7 down to 94.1 within one day. So they need a good thermostat to keep them from burning themselves.

[Danster430]

Are your heat sources regulated by thermostats? A thermometer measures temperature, a thermostat forces the temperature to remain constant.

it is a thermostat that on the wall of her tub

[Danger noodles]

What do u have the temp set at? And a thermometer is not a thermostat. Does your thermostat turn off your heater when it reaches a certain temp?

[Danster430]

What do u have the temp set at? And a thermometer is not a thermostat. Does your thermostat turn off your heater when it reaches a certain temp?

My bad she has a thermometer in side her tub... I am still fairly new to getting this down

[Danger noodles]

It’s all good man. But it’s very important to get one ASAP. Last thing u want is to burn your snake

[Danster430]

It’s all good man. But it’s very important to get one ASAP. Last thing u want is to burn your snake

I agree and just got on Amazon prime and got one!! A digital one that will shut off if it hits certain amount, what do you advise the heat pad should be no higher at? I’m no snake expert by all means but I am trying to do this all the right way