bp won't eat

[mkysgrl85]

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to get my bp to eat. He hasn't ate in 5 month and i have tried frozen mice and live.

[cinderbird]

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to get my bp to eat. He hasn't ate in 5 month and i have tried frozen mice and live.

how old is he, and have you double checked ALL your husbandry stuff?

[Adam Chandler]

Need more info on your BP's setup.

If your BP is not eating I can think of 4 possible things it may be:
1. Husbandry is somehow not right. Is her warm side over the UTH about 90 degrees?
2. Your BP does not feel secure and is stressed.
3. Maybe your BP doesn't like mice. Maybe try an appropriate sized rat.
4. Your BP is simply not hungry. Older BP's can go a long time without eating. During the breeding season my males typically don't eat for about 6 months with no ill effects.

Also to increase the chance of you BP eating try offering the meal during either dawn or dusk. In the wild this is usually when BP's come out look for food.

You also may want to check out the BP.net caresheet, it has a ton of useful information:http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

[Domepiece]

If all your husbandry is correct. Try a smaller prey such as a hopper and leave it in overnight with him if he is a young ball python. This has worked for me. Otherwise you may need to assist feed him. I currently have a female that wont eat and have to assist her. I just push the nose of the mouse into her mouth and she wraps it up and takes it from there. Snakes can go a long time without eating but 5 months would start making me a little uncomfortable. Good luck and I hope he starts eating for you.

[mkysgrl85]

he is 2 yrs old and he hasn't ate since oct 29th. and we were feeding him rats so maybe that is what he wants.. i just don't get how they can tell the difference lol! and what is husbandry? sorry...

[displacedinbc]

Husbandry means how you keep your snakes home in a good controlled atmosphere. Read up on the sticky at the top of the page on BP Husbandry....its good info to know and follow thru on for your snakes sake.

I have a 2.75 year old male that hasn't eaten for almost 4 months now (1st time). He was a robust eater every 5-7 days with 1 frozen weiner rat. He is almost 4' long and he has only lost 17 grams since he has stopped eating. I think that he is in breeding season. His partner in crime Lucy eats like theres no tomorrow and she lives right beside him in a split tank.

I have tried frozen rats, mice, even back to live mice to get him to eat but to no avail. Earlier tonight I put a nice heated rat in front of him for 1 hr. He sat with his mouth about an inch away and wasn't interested. So I heated up the mouse again and gave it to Lucy.... Lucy climbed 2/3 up her tank to get the rat when she was offered it. She has a "Great" feeding response.

I'm sure he'll eat when he's hungry. In the meantime make sure he has water and watch his weight ( get a kitchen style digital scale and keep aware of his weight week to week). Not to alarm you, but you are getting closer to a point in time where more drastic action may be needed, and there are alot of good people here to help you out if needed.

goodluck....I know I need it....lol

[Johan]

he is 2 yrs old and he hasn't ate since oct 29th. and we were feeding him rats so maybe that is what he wants.. i just don't get how they can tell the difference lol! and what is husbandry? sorry...

Can you tell the difference between chicken and turkey. Same thing.

Animal husbandry refers to the kind of setup you have for your animal.Includes temperatures, heat, humidity, feeding schedule etc etc etc

[Homegrownscales]

I would definately be weighing him. If he's losing alot of weight you have a serious issue and if he's not it's a winter fast. I just had a male come off of a 6month fast. He lost maybe 20g if that. In winter fast their metabolism slows way way down. They have a slow metabolism anyways but you get the point. Husbandry is the care of your snake. That's a pretty common word that is tossed around alot. You need to make sure your husbandry is spot on like others have said. If you are handling it is now time to be totally hands off. Grab a notebook and write down weekly weights. This will help you establish if there's an issue. When my balls are eating I weigh only monthly if someone should start refusing I weigh bi weekly and if the go over 3 months of refusals I weigh weekly. And I write it all down as well as any feeds, sheds, and defecation. This record will help you see a pattern in your animal, if a
Problem Is beginning you will recognize it way way ahead of time. It take two min for me to grab the binder and do the activity logs each day. Having one will take you seconds and you probably won't have to do it every day. Those seconds, it takes will save you a ton of heartache and worried days and nights. Good luck!
Morgan

[fluffy3]

Im newer to snake keeping and my baby ball eats like a pig But I have read on here people dip the rat or mouse in chicken stock so they smell good Also I read to rub the prey with dirty hampster shavings so they smell real bad (ask your pet store for some) hope it works and your snake eats

[Homegrownscales]

I've never dipped the prey in stock nor do I think a snake that has never eaten chicken or turkey would be interested in that. I've housed rats in dirty mice shavings so they smell like mice that's only for the snakes are having issues switching over. I guess it all depends on what your willing to put the snake through. I prefer low stress, weigh ins, and waiting, if drastic measures do need to be taken it's only as a last resort.