When to force feed

[RosiesBoa]

My Rosy has just stopped eating, she will strike at the rat but won't take hold of it and eat it. Nothing has changed, no temp changes, no bedding changes, no hide changes, nothing at all. She usually eats like a champ, sometimes taking two rats at one feeding, but all of a sudden she has just stopped.
She is not in shed, under any stress or sick (that I know of). It has been two weeks since she has eaten and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to try and force feed (which was recommended by someone at a petstore).
Any BP Vets think this is a good idea or would this be too soon?

[dirty ric]

Better hold off on that idea, some very exp people will be able to give you great advice very soon!

[dirty ric]

But not knowing for sure if your ball python is sick, can make things a little difficult. They can choose to go off feed, when they feel they need to catch up (sometimes over 6 months). How large are the rats you are feeding? Do you feed live or frozen? If live, was there a possible bite incident the last time your bp ate? These are just a few of the questions the more exp breed/owners will ask. Also, I would post my setup, including temps.

Eric

[recycling goddess]

wayyyyyyyyy too soon to even begin considering force feeding.

chances are, you over fed your snake and now it's taking a break. but i'd just do a double check on your temps just to be on the safe side.

i would wait months before even considering a force feeding on an adult. how old is your ball? how old are the ratties you are feeding?

[Gooseman]

Excellent advice Aleesha, but even if down the road your snake DOES need to be force fed, you NEED to take your snake to a proper, experienced herp vet and have them perform the feeding and if needbe, teach you the proper way to do it.

But again, established snakes can fast for many months for many reasons. Some of which we do not understand. It's something that worries the owners tremendously and the snake may be perfectly healthy at the same time.

[Chuck]

I had a little jungle carpet strike on me for 8 months. Then one day it started eating again. Just leave it alone for 2 more weeks and then try to feed it. there is nothing to worry about yet thats for sure. I would like to add that force feeding is the worst idea out there IMO. TO have your snake associate fear and stress with food at the same time is more likely to really put it on a I don't like food anymore strike. Tube feeding is far better alternative than force feeding mice or what have you. You are a longgggg way from that though, so no stress.


Chuck

[rabernet]

My Rosy has just stopped eating, she will strike at the rat but won't take hold of it and eat it. Nothing has changed, no temp changes, no bedding changes, no hide changes, nothing at all. She usually eats like a champ, sometimes taking two rats at one feeding, but all of a sudden she has just stopped.
She is not in shed, under any stress or sick (that I know of). It has been two weeks since she has eaten and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to try and force feed (which was recommended by someone at a petstore).
Any BP Vets think this is a good idea or would this be too soon?

Well, there are no BP Vets on this site that I'm aware of.

However, 2 weeks in the life of a ball python is nothing. You say she eats 2 rats at a feeding. How often were you feeding her and how large were the rats?

The striking at the rat, but not holding it and eating it is a defensive strike, not a feed response strike, so something has her tweaked, and you need to figure out what it is. I suspect that she's probably self-regulating from having so much food previously.

For what it's worth, my very first ball python fasted for 8 months. Not once did I ever consider an assist or force feed.

[muddoc]

My Rosy has just stopped eating

This is the key phrase, to me, in your entire post. If your snake stopped eating, then it has eaten before. I would never, under any circumstances, force feed an animal that has eaten before. Like others in this thread, I had a female go 55 weeks without eating, and another go 51 weeks without eating. They both decided it was time toi eat again when they were ready. I did have both of these animals checked out, and administered treatments for internal parasites, just in case. If you get too concerned, say after 6 months, then have that snake checked out. I don't believe a snake would ever die of not eating, without having some other problem that is causing your snake not to eat.

So, to summarize, never force feed a snake that has eaten on it's own previously. I have only force fed hatchlings that would not eat on their own, and were not receptive to assist feeding. The force feed also did not occur until the animal was 3 months old, and still without a meal taken.

Hope that is of some help.