Advice on fasting girl

[aarondm]

I have a girl that hasn't eaten for a couple months. Now I know that most if not all snakes go off feed at some point in their life... but what kind of expectations should I have about it?
should I try to feed her every week still like normal? or should I try extra measures~ braining~prescenting~ASF's~all three.

Can I force her out of it or will I just repel her more??

Right now she is just very intent on getting out of her bin. Any advice from those experienced with this?? Thanks much

[Big Gunns]

It all depends on how big she is. Is she is fat and healthy, you can just wait it out. If shes losing weight and looks unhealthy, you may need to try some other methods to get her to eat.

Changing what you feed her is something simple that can work. For example....from rats to mice. Giving a hide can work. Changing the substrate can also work, and is very simple.

When a healthy snake is refusing food though, it's best not to try and continually feed it in Big Gunns opinion. This can lead to a scared snake, since the rodent(if live) will be continually bothering the animal.

You might wanna weigh her every couple weeks while she is off feed. Balls are weird, they seem to lose a lot of weight overnight it seems. One day they look fat, the next day they look skinny. Keep an eye on the weight of your snake.

[aarondm]

Thanks BG, That all makes sense. I'll try changing her substrate first, and let her sit on it for a couple weeks. She is 1200g and is looking lean like a breeder male, which is alot leaner than I would like my females to look. Then when I try feeding her i'll try a mouse. But I would REALLY like for her to not switch to mice. BG in your experience, will this just trigger her feeding response to get back on normal feed, or will she switch to mice??

[seeya205]

If she is always trying to get out, it sounds like she may be stressed! Check temps and humidity and provide good hides. Make sure you are reading your temps with a good digital thermometer!

[J.Vandegrift]

Thanks BG, That all makes sense. I'll try changing her substrate first, and let her sit on it for a couple weeks. She is 1200g and is looking lean like a breeder male, which is alot leaner than I would like my females to look. Then when I try feeding her i'll try a mouse. But I would REALLY like for her to not switch to mice. BG in your experience, will this just trigger her feeding response to get back on normal feed, or will she switch to mice??

Many BP's will hit the wall at about that range and go of feed for quite a while. I would just wait it out.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Add a better hide box, and try moving her to a darker part of the room if possible. I'd have a fecal check done too, just in case. Always rule out A) parasites and B) the snake being unhappy with some aspect of husbandry before assuming the snake is just being finicky.

[Vilenica]

I agree with PFfan151 and in my experience girls will go through a no feed phase at 1000+ grams. I would wait it out before offering other prey items. Wait for a shed or a few weeks before offering her more of her normal food. Some times the feeding of other snakes in the same room or rack system can trigger a positive feeding response.

[cinderbird]

i have a girl that has gone off feed for me every year since i got her. It started when she was 990 grams (so just shy of 1000). I was offering her food every 2 weeks, but honestly, i can tell when shes hungry. What i do now is defrost food for everyone i know will eat, if the ones that arent eating start looking hungry when i prescent, i offer them a rodent meant for someone else, if they take it i go defrost another for the original meals owner and everyone is good, they don't take it, it goes to its intended owner and i dont have to worry about wasting rodents.

This girl just went off feed for me this year (3 weeks in a row no food) so now she'll get offered 1x a month, or not at all if she dosen't seem hungry. She is a night time cage roamer, and my biggest one. she is ALWAYS moving around her cage at night.

As long as your snake is active at night and not during the day its all fine and dandy as long as her weight is keeping up.

[Hypnotic Exotic]

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread but I've got 7 that have been fasting now for about two months. Only one is a male who I actually got checked out by the vet and all is well. They are a bit over a year old. Not surprised on the male but a bit surprised on the 6 females. Weights are all 550+ grams. There are 3 others in the same rack that are eating reliably so they have basically the same conditions as the ones that aren't feeding (temps, humidity, etc.). Everything seems fine as far as I can tell. There is no sign of mites, RI, stuck sheds, nothing. Wasn't sure if this is normal for females or not. I've got other balls in the same room as well including some adult females that are eating like champs. The only thing I can think of is all the cold fronts we've been having down in Texas. Any ideas or just ride it out?