Reptile & Amphibian Forums

if any of you have been following my story, just gotta say the assist feeding is working on my female. well finally, today i got the chance to get a live adult mouse. put it in with the female and she very enthusiastically struck and constricted it. very pleased with that, very good response. however, once it was thoroughly dead and mangled, she lost interest. went off cruising for more. even dangling it didnt make her gain interest. soooo after a bit i tried to assist feed it to her, like i did with the much smaller fuzzy mice. well what works with fuzzies does NOT work with adults. guess maybe it was too big, but after 10 tries and her keep spitting it out, i gave up. stuck her and it back in the container, and am gonna leave them alone together overnight and see if that works (doubt it though!)

Question is. How can I get her to eat willingly?!?!?! This is driving me absolutely batty. Stuffing it down her throat is stressful for her, I know it is, but she wont even eat a live mouse on her own. She is not a wc not as far as I can tell, but I do NOT want to have to assist for the rest of her life. What do I do???? Im not letting her die
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Sign of the Serpent

Sorry - I don't remember the specifics behind this girl - how long have you had her, how long has she not eaten, was she a good eater prior, how is her body eight proportionate to her length, what is your concern that she is not eating (at this time of year most balls are still off feed)?

Sorry again if you already discussed this, just cant remember your situation.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

11.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

"Sorry - I don't remember the specifics behind this girl - how long have you had her, how long has she not eaten, was she a good eater prior, how is her body eight proportionate to her length, what is your concern that she is not eating (at this time of year most balls are still off feed)?

Sorry again if you already discussed this, just cant remember your situation."

Had her about 6 months. she had not eaten for about 4 months when I finally tried assist feeding a mouse fuzzy (before that i had tried nearly everything else, ever species, every trick, every time of day). Got her weight back up even though assist feeding is a PITA. She is still at an ok weight but id like to see her fatter and i dont want to skip any meals until shes up to par
my concern is that she will NOT, in the 6 or so months I have had her, eaten willingly. she has never even shown interest in food until the live adult mouse today. she is aggressive and disinterested in surroundings. she doesnt explore and wont be tamed
my concern is her health
i want her to eat of her own volition and not be stressed
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Sign of the Serpent

I forgot to ask is she an adult or baby?

Unless she is a baby, it really sounds to me like she is most likely just off feed for the winter - nothing you can do about it. Unfortunately if this is the case and you have been assist feeding her - you've probably stressed her out quite a bit - it may take some extra time for her to feel comfortable with feeding. Be patient, give her some time off and wait a couple of weeks before you try feeding her again, tossing mice in her cage every couple of days is going to further stress her. She'll eat when she is ready - if she hasn't eaten by April, looses more than 20% of her body weight or looks particularly lethargic then you start to be concerned.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

11.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

she is a baby, which is why i finally started assist feeding. she is around 400 grams right now

so no. she cant go the next 3 months without eating
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Sign of the Serpent

I would try another live mouse in a couple days and as soon as she strikes and constricts shut the light and leave the room for an hour. I bet it will be gone when you come back.

ill try that thanks
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Sign of the Serpent