Frustration TO THE MAX!!

[Mitch21]

I've had this picky eating pastel 08 female that went off feed in the beginning of May. She was in a rack with my other BPs and they pound their food every single week. So I figured it had to have just been her... not the husbandry. I took her to the vet and she was deemed perfectly healthy. Finally almost 3 months later, she started ferociously pounding ASFs again (she'd been on ASFs almost her whole life too btw). So since this past July 20, she has been growing and wrecking her prey.

Today on feeding day, she seems to be back to what she was doing before... Here's a picture...

[IMG][/IMG][IMG][/IMG]

Just like always, after prescenting and dropping the ASF in her tub, she is 100% alert and ready to rumble. She's breathing heavy and S curve in the neck... But nothing!! Literally nothing. She just follows it with her eyes wherever it moves...

What the heck does that mean? She seems like she wants to eat, but she just isn't striking. After her last time of being off feed, I would have thought there was going to be a bigger spread between her next lapse...

Thoughts??? (Please don't say 'move to smaller bin', 'add crumpled newspaper'... I've tried everything from many breeders' advice.) I'm more or less looking for some sort of explanation...

Thanks!

I think I've torn out a cumulative of a pound of hair because of this girl...

[tank4102]

hmm have you tried cutting a little bit of the mice's nose or any part to make the mice bleed alitle i heard that this method works for ball pythons on strike

[Mitch21]

She ONLY strikes at live... sooo there's no way on God's green earth I'm going to cut its nose....

[Patricia]

hmm have you tried cutting a little bit of the mice's nose or any part to make the mice bleed alitle

Gosh, that sounds so cruel!

[Spaniard]

Have you tried giving her a hide? Its worth a shot if you haven't.

[NorthernRegius]

Have you tried giving her a hide? Its worth a shot if you haven't.

Bingo! I've some that will only feed from their hides, like true ambush predators- especially with girls.

[Mitch21]

She's got a hide 100% of the time. I just took it off to get a better camera shot of what she does/looks like while she's doing her aggressive pose.

Any thoughts on what that means though? Why would a snake get into feeding mode, but not strike? She just sits there S curled and breathing heavy. It's almost like she just forgets that in order to eat, she's got to strike first... lol I don't know....

[Danounet]

How ols is she? how much does she weight? maybe she just doesnt want to eat.

[Mitch21]

She's 13 months old and 1000g...

I would think she'd be ready to eat after her last fast... And I only feed her an appropriate sized ASF every week..

[dr del]

Hi,

How close were you when you were monitoring the feeding?

Just wondering if it might have spooked her slightly.

This might be completely counter productive but could you try offering her fresh killed and closing the tub as soon as you put it in?


dr del