Force Feeding

[amcgltdchix]

Anyone ever had to force feed their BP? Mine is losing weight and my vet is having me force feed her every 3 weeks to make sure she is not losing weight since she will not accept food.

I am assuming this is a winter problem, but she went from 220g to 190.

What do you all think?

[tigerlily]

Could it be a temperature problem? I would check, then triple check your temps. (with digital thermometer at floor level) If it's too cold your bp, might fast. Has it had a fecal performed, and gotten a clear on the parasites? What are you offering? You probably have answered a lot of these questions else where, but I just wanted to clarify the situation.

[Adam_Wysocki]

99% of the time a fasting ball python at that age is doing it because of a husbandry related issue ... ball pythons in their first year of life should be voracious eaters that never turn down the opportunity to eat ... I am almost certain that their is a problem with your temps, humidity, or security (or all of the above) ... force feeding it will compound the problem and that could lead to the animals death.

82-84 on one side of the cage, 92-94 on the other (measured with a digital thermometer) 24 hours a day ... no drafts near or around the cage ... humidity 50%-60% 24 hours a day ... several small tight hides that barely cover your ball python on both ends of the cage ... crumple up some newspaper and fill the cage with it ... keep the enclosure in a quiet out of the way area of your home (like a spare bedroom or walkin closet) ... and make sure the animal has a distinct day and night period or total darkness.

-adam

[amcgltdchix]

Thanks for all the replies.

My ambient tank temp is 85 degrees. The cool side is 80 degrees while her basking area is at 95. I do sprey the tank twice per day to keep the humidity up as well as giving her a soak once per week.

She has made 2 vet visits, fecal is negative(and I'm a licensed vet tech and I do take her to her OWN repti vet!). They do not seem overly concerned. BUT the breeder I got her from was adiment against a UTH, which I had origionally. Then had to switch to all OTH.

She looks great otherwise. Her skin is beautiful, she is not dehydrated, she is active. She goes to dance class with me everyweek (she is my belly dance snake along with a corn snake), she just is like "uh no...." when it comes to food.

She is also the BEST for force feeding. The bad thing is my friend would kill me if she found out that I use the chop sticks she brought back from China for me.

[Adam_Wysocki]

She goes to dance class with me everyweek (she is my belly dance snake along with a corn snake)

There's the problem.

-adam

[amcgltdchix]

Ok, why is it a problem? I just need this clarified.

She is only handled by me. She is well handled at home and enjoys comming out and hanging around with us while we watch TV. I assume you can judge that by their comfort level the way they sit with you. Not curled tight, but relaxed.

The corn and the BP are housed seperatly at all times and travel in containers kept at 45% humidity and at 85%.

It is once per week.

If she is not going to be the kind of snake that is willing to hang out and be a partner, then the corn will. I have no problems with him.

I just want a happy snake

[joepythons]

Why is the breeder against UTH? Taking your snake to dance class is putting alot of stress on your snake.Ball pythons are not used to being bounced around as such when you are dancing.Leave your ball python alone for a week or two to allow it to stop being stressed out.Then try to feed it and see how it does.One more question in your first post you said your ball was 220 grams right? How is 190 grams a weight scare for the vet to be concerned to force feed the snake? Your vet is putting even more stress on the poor snake.I am not wanting to sound rude here but i think you might want to get another vet.Just because the snake lost maybe 30 grams is no reason to go straight to force feeding it .

[Adam_Wysocki]

I agree with Joe.

Ball pythons are shy, secretive animals that in the wild spend much of their lives hidden in small tight burrows ... when they do leave the burrows, they try to do it in the dead of night to avoid detection. They are not the type of animal that does well being frequently pulled out of it's warm safe cage to be played with, handled, shown off, transported around in the cold winter air, and danced with.

It's certainly possible to build a trusting relationship between you and your animal that allows for short periods of interaction, but that is only recommended after a succesful pattern of consistent eating is established.

A happy ball python eats ... if the husbandry is correct, and your snake is not eating (especially at that size), it is stressed ... Over handling is certainly something that can stress out a small shy ball python.

-adam

[frankykeno]

I have a baby BP about the same size (mine is 310 grams but basically near the same stage of life). If your snake is clean on all it's fecals and it's environment is correct, I'm pretty confident in feeling that these weekly trips out are probably what's wrong.

Think of it from the snake's point of view. It cannot conceive of why it suddenly leaves it's place of safety (it's home and it's hides)...suddenly it's in an environment of music, fast movement, strange smells and so forth. For any snake that might be disturbing, for a small ball python that's got to be very terrifying and a scared, stressed snake is a non-eating snake usually. At such a young age and small size, it is more prey than predator in some ways and unknown environments are stressful to any snake really.

Personally I'd let the baby settle in more, cut back on any handling till it's eating consistently and then work back up slowly but then that's just me.


~~Jo~~

[iceman25]

Ok, why is it a problem? I just need this clarified.

I repeat what others have said. Ball Pythons are very secretive and shy creatures. I would carefully read and follow what Adam and others have said in this thread. It outlines the Happiness formula that you seek for you companion. Good luck with him