BP acts weird when feeding/won't eat

[RyanTheNoodleMan]

I'm sorry this is a lot to read but I'm really concerned and hoping for an answer. I've asked on other sites and so far no one knows.

So my 9 month old super mojave paradox bp that I got when he was about 3 months old has always had problems with eating.

The first month when I got him I had the worst luck with heating pads. I couldn't get them to work for a long time and the whole time he wouldn't eat but once they were fixed he finally ate a pinkie. I bought him when he was ready to be moved up to fuzzies but had only eaten pinkies so I bought pinkies just in case he was unsure about eating a larger rat. The next feeding he ate a fuzzy but after that he just wouldn't eat them anymore so I offered pinkies and he ate those. He would also strike fuzzies and sometimes pinkies and try to eat them for a bit but give up and so far he's only taken 3 or 4 fuzzies. Well now he has started refusing fuzzies and pinkies. Every night he waits in strike position regardless of if it's feeding time or not. He gets super excited when I go to feed him, he stares at the rat, does the sort of tense up thing, and then just completely looses interest and tries to slither out of the tank. It's been over a month since he last ate and his spine is showing. He's only shed once since I've had him.

Here is everything I can think of on how I care for my snakes
I have another bp in the exact same kind of set up, the only difference is her tank is bigger and she has never refused a meal.
The ambient temp is 79, the warm spot is 90, he has a hide on the warm side and cool side and a climbing tree in the middle that also acts as a partial hide. There's fake leaves along the sides for clutter. I generally only hold once a week unless the snake is calm with being handled then I sometimes take them out another time but I haven't held him since he started refusing all food. I heat the rats up in bags put in warm water for around 15 minutes and if I feel they're too cold still I hold them in front of a heater.

I've thought of everything and just can't come up with why he isn't eating. Feeding him is so stressful. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Zincubus]

I would stop handling until he’s feeding regularly to be honest .

I photo of the layout would be useful for us visual types ..

If you’ve got a few ‘suitably sized ‘ and ‘identical’ hides plus plenty of branches and fake foliage ... that’s s start ??

As regards feeding.. this is a Royal Python isn’t it ? As such I’d be feeding small mice .. never pinkies !!



Anyways my feeding way in a nutshell is to feed at night , dimly lit room , wait until he’s settled UNDER a hide .. have a hairdryer plugged in close to the viv / rub ... open the viv / rub then pick the mouse up in tongs and heat well with the hairdryer then INSTANTLY dangle the mouse in front of the hide entrance..

If there is any interest even a tongue flick then just kept reheating and offering ..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Moose84]

Ok.. There is a lot going on here. My first thoughts are:

1.) Why are you feeding a 9 month old snake rat pinkies or fuzzies? That snake should be on adult mice at minimum at this point.

2.) How often are your trying to feed this snake? From the post it sounds like you are trying every couple days or every night.

3.) If a snake is striking at something you are dangling in his cage he is more than likely being defensive and it has nothing to do with food. My guess would be because the prey is WAY too small. I have snakes younger that are already on small rats.

Here is my recommendation:

-Try to feed the animal once a week and appropriate sized prey... (Fuzzies and pinkies are too small.) From your post you were trying every night.. That's way to often and you will stress him even further into not eating..

-Get a weight on the animal so you can make sure that when the snake does feed it is gaining weight appropriately.

-If the snake continues not to eat when you are offering him frozen thawed and his weight is dropping I would definitely go to a LIVE mouse until you have some consistency once a week.

-Also, like zinc said.. Leave that snake alone until he starts eating consistently. The more stressed that snake gets as well as the more hungry he gets you will start getting bit. He has no clue what is coming into his cage if you are dangling prey in their all the time.

It doesn't sound like your cage set up has anything to do with this. Wrong prey size and feeding too often are more than likely the culprit. Fix those and you should be fine.

[Bogertophis]

Agree with both posts above: You need to be offering the correct sized prey...pinkies just get stuck on their teeth!

Absolutely don't handle a snake that's not eating...it disrupts their instincts with fear instead of hunger. And don't offer food all the time, not more than once a
week, & it might even be better offered once every two weeks for better success while this snake calms down & concentrates on eating.

Just because you get away with handling one snake doesn't mean another won't be stressed into not eating. You need to put their health first...and when that's
all working, only then consider them a "pet" & be gradual about it.

[ballpythonsrock2]

.... I generally only hold once a week unless the snake is calm with being handled then I sometimes take them out another time but I haven't held him since he started refusing all food.

Sometimes I wonder if people read what is posted very carefully. He said he hasn't handled since it has started refusing.
Also please quote to me where he said or even implied he fed every night. I didn't see that, he didn't say how often he fed at all.

I agree about the feeder size. And I agree about maybe feeding live for a while. Feeding at night and in front of the hide with dim light is good.

To OP, I would wait a week since your last offering. Maybe feed an adult live mouse. When doing f/t you could try what I did with great success last night. I laid the frozen feeder above the enclosure for an hour. My snake came out smelling and reaching upward toward the feeder. Which is usually always does. Then after that hour with the feeder still pretty frozen and having got my snakes attention. I just dropped it in an old ice cream bucket with cool water, (faucet cool ) after about another half hour with the belly now soft and defrosted I heated it up real good with the hair dryer till the fur was real dry and warm and the feeder was up to about a hundred. Using my temp gun I waited till it dropped to the upper 80's and put it in and it was bam.

I use to leave it out till total air thaw but I have compromised with Bogertophis one hour air which gets my snake out and hungry then cool water thaw away from the enclosure (in old ice cream bucket set inside bath tub) and then the hair dryer. Worked like a charm. I didn't use a bag I just put it in cool water but you can use a bag if you want. PS This new method of air/cool water cuts thawing time about an hour. This feeder chart is great to use.

[Bogertophis]

Sometimes I wonder if people read what is posted very carefully. He said he hasn't handled since it has started refusing...

Can't speak for others but this caught my attention & suggests there was too much handling prior to the snake going off-feed:

OP: "So my 9 month old super mojave paradox bp that I got when he was about 3 months old has always had problems with eating."

[RyanTheNoodleMan]

I don't mean to sound rude but a lot of people skipped over what I wrote and started assuming things that I didn't do. I need actual help and I don't want to explain what's already written many more times. Thank you for replying but I'm not answering all of those.

[RyanTheNoodleMan]

Sometimes I wonder if people read what is posted very carefully. He said he hasn't handled since it has started refusing.
Also please quote to me where he said or even implied he fed every night. I didn't see that, he didn't say how often he fed at all.

I agree about the feeder size. And I agree about maybe feeding live for a while. Feeding at night and in front of the hide with dim light is good.

To OP, I would wait a week since your last offering. Maybe feed an adult live mouse. When doing f/t you could try what I did with great success last night. I laid the frozen feeder above the enclosure for an hour. My snake came out smelling and reaching upward toward the feeder. Which is usually always does. Then after that hour with the feeder still pretty frozen and having got my snakes attention. I just dropped it in an old ice cream bucket with cool water, (faucet cool ) after about another half hour with the belly now soft and defrosted I heated it up real good with the hair dryer till the fur was real dry and warm and the feeder was up to about a hundred. Using my temp gun I waited till it dropped to the upper 80's and put it in and it was bam.

I use to leave it out till total air thaw but I have compromised with Bogertophis one hour air which gets my snake out and hungry then cool water thaw away from the enclosure (in old ice cream bucket set inside bath tub) and then the hair dryer. Worked like a charm. I didn't use a bag I just put it in cool water but you can use a bag if you want. PS This new method of air/cool water cuts thawing time about an hour. This feeder chart is great to use.

Thank you for reading everything! I used to feed every week when he was actually eating since he didn't move up to appropriate sized rats but now that he's stopped completely I just offer whenever I go to feed my other snake which is every 10 days.

I've considered feeding live but I really hate having to do that. I'm going to try what you said with the f/t but if I'm not able to get him to eat after all of this I'm going to try live.

[Moose84]

I don't mean to sound rude but a lot of people skipped over what I wrote and started assuming things that I didn't do. I need actual help and I don't want to explain what's already written many more times. Thank you for replying but I'm not answering all of those.

We provided you with an answer of what we feel the main problem is. You are attempting to feed the snake too small of prey. We also informed you, (our opinion) to leave the snake alone until he eats.. I don't really care if you haven't touched him in a year I would continue to tell you to leave him alone until he eats. We don't need an answer from you.. You asked for our opinion and we gave it to you. If you want to try and continue feeding the snake something way too small you will probably get the same results you are getting now. With all due respect, don't ask people for their opinions and then say "I need actual help..."

In closing and in basic terms you aren't feeding the animal an appropriately sized meal. I would try and feed the animal what is appropriately sized for its age and weight..

[RyanTheNoodleMan]

Can't speak for others but this caught my attention & suggests there was too much handling prior to the snake going off-feed:

OP: "So my 9 month old super mojave paradox bp that I got when he was about 3 months old has always had problems with eating."

I wasn't handling constantly but I know even a little handling will stress them out. I always put him back if he seemed really scared (not moving, tongue not flickering..). If that is the case, what else can I do to help him calm down? I've completely stopped handing since he quit eating.