Breeder Girls Still Refusing to Eat!! Need Help!!

[cschub13]

So about 6 weeks ago, I purchased two big breeder sized normal females. One is 1700g and the other is 1900g, and the guy I bought them from said he had been housing them together because of lack of space. They look and have been very healthy aside from not eating. The guy said that he fed them one rat each once a week with no problems. I have been housing them together for the time being because I am in the process of getting a new rack. I have tried to feed them several times and each time they get up close like they might take them and then just go about their business. I know it could be possible that they are still getting used to their new environment, but I thought it had been a while and they should be good. Is there any other reason they might not be eating or anything else I should try. I was going to start trying to breed them in a month or so, can they still breed if they have not eaten in a few months. Please give me some feedback. THANKS!

[don15681]

that's a good weight for breeding if they are not older snakes that was some length to them. good pics would help in seeing weight to length ratio and how the snake looks. I had a female that was over 2500 grams last season that I did not breed because she should of been over 3200 grams +.

[SnakeGirl3]

I agree with the above--pics will help, but if they are that size with a nicely rounded body, I would not panic about them missing a few meals, and they should be able to breed without issue. If they are rather skinny, I don't think I would be considering them for breeding at all unless they gained a considerable amount of weight.

In any case, if you are housing them together, they should be separated for feeding (and sorry if I missed where you might have stated this). Should they decide to eat and go for the same feeder, you'll be in trouble. Housing them together can in and of itself cause them to go off feed, regardless of whether the previous owner did so or not. If he had done so already, they might have had enough time co-habbing that one has officially established dominance over the other, and that's where your feedings issues arise. Even if they have not been housed together long by the previous owner, just having a cage mate could cause stress in addition to moving to a new home. I am not trying to jump all over you, as it sounds as though you are trying to solve the co-habbing situation--just trying to explain what might be going on with the pair of them to try and get to the bottom of the feeding issue.

[cschub13]

As far as pictures, I will try and get some posted tomorrow. They both seem in my opinion to be pretty good with the weight to length ratio and they are definately nice round girls. Also I realize housing them together is usually the wrong way to go and I want to seperate them as soon as possible and hopefully in the next week or so. I hope that the feeding issue has something to do with that so I have less to worry about. Thanks for the help and if anyone else has an opinion please share. Thanks!

[loonunit]

They are probably stressed from the move--I had one breeding male take 6 weeks to start eating after I brought him home. And it was JULY. Let them settle in. As said above, they're already a good breeding size, and it might be several weeks before they're acclimated.

(While I would certainly separate them during feeding, I would not house them in separate enclosures until they start eating again--in my experience, it's not living together that stresses ball pythons, but any change from what they're used to. But do feed them separately.)

[snakesRkewl]

Ok but say it takes a month to get them to eat, and you feed them for a month, then your going to separate them and possibly stress them out later towards breeding season?

IMO I'd separate them now(as soon as possible) and then work on getting them settled in for breeding season.
They have good weight and when they do get settled they should start eating ravenously and be ready to go.

[don15681]

Ok but say it takes a month to get them to eat, and you feed them for a month, then your going to separate them and possibly stress them out later towards breeding season?

IMO I'd separate them now(as soon as possible) and then work on getting them settled in for breeding season.
They have good weight and when they do get settled they should start eating ravenously and be ready to go.

I agree, if you want to breed at the beginning of the season, and the season is right around the corner, you need to do what you're going to do with the enclosures now.

once that they settle into their new enclosures, putting a male in with a female sometimes will get her feeding again. it's like they know they need more weight for their eggs.

[Miko]

If you want to breed, I've heard you're supposed to have around 500 grams per foot. Please correct me if I'm wrong, because I just got this information off of a website.

As for feeding, you could try many things. Feeding live, feeding gerbils/rats/mice/hamsters/chicks, changing the gender of prey, pre-killing (Expose the brain), raising or dropping temperatures, putting them in a dark place before feed, making the mice if F/T do a dance, separating when feeding, etc.
Side note, when feeding live please stun the prey by bumping it against something and use tweezers if the prey item looks as though it could harm your snake.

Those are just some ideas, hope that helps.

[DemmBalls]

They are probably just settling in. I picked up a new breeder female 2 months ago and she just ate a few days ago. The older/mature snakes seem to take more time to adjust in my opinion.

I agree with the above. If you are going to separate/move them again...i would do it sooner than later. I have heard of females not producing clutches after being moved before breeding season.