When to get a vet involved?

[Sygyzi]

I got my ball October 21st 2018. I would guess she is about 1 year old. I’ve fed her once a week every week since then and she has always eaten. I’m on frozen rat 7 of a 15count bag of food and she won’t eat. She’s now missed two feedings; has not eaten since aug 1st. I’ve double and triple checked her temps and everything is the same as it has always been 80cool 90hot. I use two thermostats and two heat pads. Her last shed was ~3wks ago. How long should I wait before getting a vet involved?

[Luvyna]

It's normal for BPs to go off feed. Do you know how much she weighs? Most BPs will start fasting periodically after passing around 800g. For a year old BP, not eating for 2 weeks is pretty much nothing. I would say it's only necessary to see a vet if she starts losing weight, or if she's showing any other signs of distress besides not eating.

If she is significantly less than 800g (like half of that or less) you may need to do some troubleshooting as there is probably something wrong, since BPs usually eat voraciously until they are around that weight.

[Sygyzi]

Okay! I’ll keep an eye out for other signs of distress. I would say she is about 800g. She outgrew my scale and I have yet to replace it. I’ll get on that ASAP. So do I continue attempting to feed every week until she eats?

[Bogertophis]

I got my ball October 21st 2018. I would guess she is about 1 year old. I’ve fed her once a week every week since then and she has always eaten. I’m on frozen rat 7 of a 15count bag of food and she won’t eat. She’s now missed two feedings; has not eaten since aug 1st. I’ve double and triple checked her temps and everything is the same as it has always been 80cool 90hot. I use two thermostats and two heat pads. Her last shed was ~3wks ago. How long should I wait before getting a vet involved?

First, she's been eating great for you up until now. It might be time for you to not feed weekly...there's nothing wrong with a snake eating every 2 weeks anyway...
snakes in the wild mostly get along with far less food than our pets, & often the first thing to do (with a snake that is refusing) is not to even offer food so often...let them
get hungry. We aren't seeing your snake compared to the size of the prey you're feeding, but maybe you've been over-feeding without meaning to. It would help if you
can get an accurate weight on both your snake & the average prey being fed.

Just because she shed 3 weeks ago, doesn't mean she might not be going back into another shed. They don't shed on an exact time-table.

Vets don't have a crystal ball...so if you take in a snake (especially a BP) with no symptoms except that it's not eating, it might not help much. You could take in a stool
sample but I think it's too early for vet help unless your snake shows signs of illness (bubbles in mouth, open-mouth breathing, crackling or whistling noises, or other odd
behavior like being unable to turn over if placed on back, etc.). If you're thinking that it's a good idea to have a vet force or tube-feed your snake, I can tell you it's not-
first, just going to the vet adds stress & reduces the chance your snake will eat on her own, but then if a snake is fed by the vet, the motion (handling + driving) on the
way home will likely cause her to regurgitate, so that serves no point at all, & can make things worse.

I'd be patient... Retry -if she isn't in shed- & then only if she looks like she's looking for food- about every 2 weeks.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

2 Weeks is nothing depending on the size, weight it can last a few weeks to a few months.

The first thing to do is to re-assess your husbandry sometimes things work for a while and then they don't so making so changes may help if this behavior persist.

You also have to remember that 800/1000 grams is when they hit the wall which is common for BP, considering the size at less than a year I am not surprised to see some refusal, you might want to feed a little less and skip a meal every now and then.

As for a vet I don't see why a vet would be involved with an animal weighing at 800 grams at a year.