Eight Month Fast Advice

[Galaxygirl]

We have a 2500g Female Ball python that hasn't eaten for us for eight months now. She's maintained her weight for the most part but we've noticed her spine is starting to become visible now. She is refusing live and F/T rats. She shows no interest at all, wont look at them or flick her tongue. We thought she was going to lay four months ago as we had been breeding her and she was showing signs (follicles were felt and she was bowl wrapping all the time), so we thought that was why she was not eating. She's in an inclosed rack with belly heat in the back. The other snakes are in the same rack and eating fine. She has a shoebox hide in the back that she doesn't use often. She's on newspaper substrate and has always been kept in these conditions. Suggestions?

[Felidae]

Justin Kobylka made a good article about that.
http://jkrballstreetjournal.com/2014...-eating-again/

[John1982]

How long since she's been with a male? What makes you think she isn't still going to lay a clutch?

[Galaxygirl]

Thanks for the article! I guess we had just sort of decided that she absorbed the follicles. They seemed to very big four months or so ago (we thought since they were so large that she was going to ovulate then), and we figured she would have ovulated and laid by now. We started breeding her about 9 months ago and ever since then have been crossing our fingers with her, so I guess after all this time we just concluded that she wasn't going to lay this season since we haven't been able to feel the follicles for a while, we never witnessed an ovulation, and she's not displaying any signs of being gravid for at least two months now.

Edit: We last paired her 1/27

[BumbleB]

Have you tried mice? I know you probably don't want to risk her never going back to rats but sometimes that's what they need to jump start their eating again

[Galaxygirl]

Have you tried mice? I know you probably don't want to risk her never going back to rats but sometimes that's what they need to jump start their eating again

I think at this point we're going to switch her to a different tub again with a different sized water bowl and a new hide (has been done in the past), try mice, and maybe change the substrate too.