Bp Weight Loss....not Eating

[snakemum]

My 7 month old male hasn't eaten since Nov. 10 and has gone from 342g to 313g (weighed today). I see him drinking water from time to time so that's good....but I'm wondering how much weight bp's can lose before I should take him to the vet? And is it OK that he's not eating and losing weight???

[Adam_Wysocki]

It is extremely rare for a ball python that young to refuse food ... especially with that size on him ... it is most likely a husbandry issue ... temps and security are a good place to start.

-adam

[Stewart_Reptiles]

My 7 month old male hasn't eaten since Nov. 10 and has gone from 342g to 313g (weighed today). I see him drinking water from time to time so that's good....but I'm wondering how much weight bp's can lose before I should take him to the vet? And is it OK that he's not eating and losing weight???

Often food refusal is husbandry related as Adam already stated so here is what you need to do

Check temperature 80-84 on the cool side, 90-94 on the warm side
Check humidity 50%-60%
Make sure the enclosure is in a low traffic area
If you handle your BP a lot stop until he resume feeding
Make sure the hides are tight enough (If you can fit something in the hide with your BP then the hide is TOO BIG)

[uro1001]

he may have intestional parasites

[rmune0750]

he may have intestional parasites

i wouldnt have put a after that statement but whatever.....

its most likely because of your temperatures......

[snakemum]

Thanks for the advice Adam and others....I appreciate your help!.....the only thing that is a bit "off", is the humidity....it's at 41% (it's been around 40% since I got him in October)...the temps are: 84.6 and 92.3 and the warm hide is small enough that he fills it up......anyway...the humidity is always a bit low.....but I bump it up when he is going to shed (to 50-60%)....my other two female bp's have similar cage conditions and are eating great. So that's why I'm perplexed about it.....he just shed a week ago and had a good shed....so I thought he'd eat after that...but no luck. I told the breeder about the situation and he told me that my bp will eat when he figures out that there is no one to breed with or when the weather starts to get warmer....but I'm still concerned......I don't handle him excessively....I've been limiting handling to moving him out of the way to fill his water dish, or just to quickly check him over to make sure he's OK. He's in a low traffic area on a shelving unit (he's in the middle and the two females are on the shelves above and below him). Is there anything obvious in my setup that I'm doing wrong?????? I'm still concerned about him...... How long should I let him continue this way before I take him to the vet??

[Stewart_Reptiles]

my other two female bp's have similar cage conditions and are eating great.

Well even with the same exact enclosure it does not mean they experience things the same way.



You did not say how big or what type of enclosure you had, by shelving did you mean you have a rack system?



How your hides tight enough meaning he barely squeeze in them?



One of the things you can try is to add crumble newspaper in his enclosure for more security.

[snakemum]

The hide is big enough for him to be in comfortably....but small enough that his body touches the sides...it doesn't appear to be too small for him. I've tried the crumpled newspaper strategy....but that hasn't worked either. All 3 snakes are in individual 10 gallon tanks on a wooden shelving unit (not a rack system)...each has their own UTH and heat lamp (to keep the correct ambient temps)...the UTH's are controlled by a thermostat...the lamps are controlled by rheostats...they have aspen chips on the bottom of the enclosures.....2 hides (a warm and a cool hide) and a water bowl. All three snakes spend most of their time in their warm hides....at night they will come out and explore their enclosures...and very occasionally they will go in the cool hides. I am frustrated because I can't figure out why my male is not eating.....now I'm more worried because the breeder led me to believe that it was OK that he wasn't eating...but Adam says it's very unusual for a young male bp to stop eating......so do you think I should be concerned and should take him to the vet...or wait it out a bit longer???????

[Stewart_Reptiles]

One last thing I would recommend to try is to switch him to a plastic tub and wait a week for him to settle and try feeding again. That could do the trick.

[snakemum]

He ate!!!!!!!!! Yey!!!!!! I usually put a sheet of newspaper down under the warm hide and then leave the rat on the paper.....this time I didn't put any newspaper down....just put the rat inside the hide and left it overnight.....and he ate it! I usually put the newspaper down because I'm concerned that the bp's will ingest the aspen....so hopefully he didn't get any (or much)....maybe I'll have to change his substrate to newspaper all of the time so I don't have to disturb him before eating??