need some advise

[ARBallMorphs]

hey guys i really need some help,

I am kinda stuck atm,

it started a few months ago when my OG female decided to stop eating i was like ok, you know it is a bp so don't worry, at the time she was around 750 grams and feeding on live rats.
after a few months of trying to feed her every week and see her as if she was afraid of the rat i decided to try a mouse and she slammed it, at first i was happy ofcourse but now i am stuck with a +/-1000 gram bp that only eats live mice....

then (now a few weeks ago) my Piebald lady who is +-/ 450 grams also decided to stop eating, she was on f/t mice and now only seems to want live mice.

and as if that wasnt enough to put me off now my Pastel het Piebald lady who was 751 grams stopped eating also and now in 2 weeks has already lost 23 grams and i have tried everything today,

f/t rats (wich she was feeding on before), live rat, f/t mouse and live mouse and she didnt want anything, and my Genetic Stripe Pastel who was in shed last week (i dont feed them when they are in shed) also didnt eat today.

now i am really comming to the point in wich i dont feel happy with my bp's anymore, every week there seems to be something else the matter and i am wasting money by throwing away rats/mice after thawing them leading me to thinking about stopping with the hobby and selling my bp's.

Thing is, if it where all snakes around the 1000 gram i wound't be so upset cause then i know it probably was just that 1000 gram wall every1 talks about but they are all way lighter then that/ where lighter then that when they started with their feeding problems... and to be honest I just dont know what to day at this moment.

Feeding day used to be my favourite day of the week and now it is starting to be the day i hate the most.

any advise/ idea's on if i should indeed stop the hobby sell the animals or keep trying would be appreciated

[BPSnakeLady]

There's a thread on feeding & dietary requirements on bps. Might want to give it a read. Some really fascinating stuff there.

There's a post on getting bps to eat, I think it's a sticky. I can't locate it on my phone atm. Very enlightening I'd give it a read too.

Snakes needs are different than ours. And I've noticed many comments about ball pythons going off their feed this time of year. In fact I've got one who is being a brat and ignoring his food (has only eaten once since november).

Me, personally, I wouldn't call it quits. I would double check the husbandry, read those other posts. Nor would I stress too much about it. Someone stated on a post 'snakes will snake.' This seems to be a common thing with ball pythons. And something probably every keeper will come up against at some point in time.

(This is just my thoughts on it)




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[BPSnakeLady]

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=210216

This *should* be the link to the psychology of problem feeders sticky ( i'm on my phone hoping I'm doing this right)


[edited to add another link]
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=221659 This is the dietary requirements thread. Very interesting post.

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[ARBallMorphs]

thanks,

i already know those articles, thing is, ok my OG might quallify as a problem feeder but my pastel het. pied and G-Stripe Pastel never gave me any trouble nor did my piebald female.

but i have to apologize for this thread, i have had a very bad couple of days (lost someone very important to me) and i have been holding it all in to be strong for my sisters but i guess i had to vent a bit and in the aftermath of that i started this thread.

so i am very very sorry

Andrew

[BPSnakeLady]

**nods** {{hugs}} sorry things have been rough. Sometimes it hits all at once.


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[BumbleB]

I know how you feel my bee is off feed now she's right around 1000 grams so I'm not sure if I hit the "wall" or if its just the season. She was my first and I was really hoping she would be my first breeder at the end of this year but I'm not sure if it'll happen at this rate. It's really disappointing but I wouldn't call it quits just yet I've put too much time into my animals to give up on them. There's weeks that I'm pissed off that I'm wasting money as well by throwing out nice size perfectly fine feeders but I try to tell myself snakes will be snakes all the time. Just spread out your feedings more, switch up some enclosures and I'm sure they'll all be back on track with some patience.

[ARBallMorphs]

**nods** {{hugs}} sorry things have been rough. Sometimes it hits all at once.


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hey thanks

i do feel the need though to close this thread on a happier note,

today was the day my Pastel het Piebald MALE took a F/T rat for the second time in a row last week was the first time he took a F/T and today the second time before that he only ate live rats

@ BumbleB

You still have a very good chance for her to get to breeding size by the end of this year as she is already around 1000 grams, she only needs 500 grams more to get to the minimum size.

depending on when you wanna start the 2015/2016 breeding season you'll have between 10 and 12 months, even if she stays off feed for another 3-4 months you should be able to get her that last 500 grams

[goddessbaby]

Congrats! an uphill struggle I'm sure but I like to think its all worth it in the end. Now lets see some pics to make us all feel better!

[ARBallMorphs]

Congrats! an uphill struggle I'm sure but I like to think its all worth it in the end. Now lets see some pics to make us all feel better!

hmm could do that

My Pastel het. Piebald female







Super Fire female





Genetic Stripe Pastel female





Clown male



I hope you like them

[goddessbaby]

I have heart eyes for that super fire!!! <3