Reptile & Amphibian Forums

...Her job would be to gain weight! She is hovering around 1230g, is almost three years old, and last ate on January 10th. This is most aggravating as I would really like to breed her in the '06-'07 season!

I do realize that females go off of their feed in the winter when they hit puberty and what not, so yes, I do kind of see this as a good thing. However, I would sure like to get her weight up over 1500g before I try to breed her!

I have somewhat given up offering her large meals (that is what would be her regular size - medium juvenile rats), as with my humble collection, I don't have any snakes that are of appropriate size that they can play 'clean-up' after her when she refuses yet another meal; so I have been offering her thawed adult mice, which I can turn around and feed reliably to my young Dumeril's boa. My thinking is that something smaller than she is used to might just tease her into trying to eat again - maybe more appealing than something she has to put too much effort into eating.

Any suggestions or comments? I realize that 3 months off of feed is not so terribly uncommon... I would just prefer that she gain some more weight!

Thanks
~Rebecca
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1.1 Ball Pythons (1.0 '05 Ghost, 0.1 '03 Normal)
0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40 lb darling lap dogs)

Has she always been a bad feeder or is it a winter thing? If during the warm month she is usually a good steady feeder - then you shouldn't have any problems getting her up to size for breeding next season. If she is a hit and miss feeder - I think you'll still be able to get 300 grams on her in the next 6 months.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
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
0.0.1 Lizard of unknown origin

No, before this going off of her feed thing, she has hardly EVER refused a meal - which is probably getting me more aggravated than I need to be.

This is my first female that I will be attempting to breed - and the suspense is just about unbearable!

Thank you for your prompt reply!
~Rebecca
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1.1 Ball Pythons (1.0 '05 Ghost, 0.1 '03 Normal)
0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40 lb darling lap dogs)

How long should I wait before I actually get concerned?

Do you have any techniques to get the young girls back on feed after the winter break? What have you seen in your females? Do you see them just casually return to feeding, or do they usually launch back into their old behavior after a fast (if they were great feeders, are they great feeders again right away when they decide to eat)?

Sorry for all of the questions. I'm impatient with her.
~Rebecca
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1.1 Ball Pythons (1.0 '05 Ghost, 0.1 '03 Normal)
0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40 lb darling lap dogs)

I think it's very snake dependant - some will just start eating when they are ready - some it takes some encouragement. Mostly I wait to see them out of their hides and looking for a meal around dusk. I offer a size smaller than what I would normally feed - especially if they have been off feed for more than a couple of months. If they look interested but dont take it I'll try a live wean rat. I normally feed f/t - sometimes even the best f/t feeder needs a live one to kick start them back to eating. I have one female that needs a couple of mouse meals before she'll go back to rats. Most of them just decide one day to eat and you go from there - sometimes they have to work themselves back onto a schedule and will eat sporatic - some will just pig on anything that is put in front of them. It all depends on the animal. But I wouldn't worry just yet - offer once a week or every other until she gets in a rhythm.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

6.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi)
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
0.0.1 Lizard of unknown origin

I think I might wait until it's time to feed my other two and buy a small enough live rat that my Dumeril's boa could manage if my female Ball still won't have it. My female Ball has eaten f/t, but markedly prefers live or freshly-killed.

Thank you for your suggestions, Tosha - it gives me something more constructive to think about rather than mulling around in frustration!

~Rebecca
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1.1 Ball Pythons (1.0 '05 Orange Hypo, 0.1 '03 Normal)
0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40 lb darling lap dogs)

This is what i do. i'm only working with 1.4 so i have the time. My female was feeding on f/t rats and one day decided to snub her nose at them. so now what i have to so is defrost a mouse and a rat. She will take the mouse no problem and when she is about to take her last "gulp" i gently insert the rat head first into her mouth. it take times cause you have to sit there and be ready but she is getting proper meals and is gaining weightlike she should as opposed to the one mouse she takes once a week. i have a video of my self doing it. next time i feed im going to take another cause the orig is to big and i cant host it. email me if you want and ill try to send you the vid.
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Thank you,
Dave

At 1230g she should have no problem getting up to 1500 for Oct. She could gain that in a couple months easy and you have 6 months. Not to mention all but one of my breeding females continued to eat until just before ovulation so I wouldn't be concerned about her weight gain.
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Nita Hamilton
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Ball Pythons
ballpythonworld.com

Thanks everyone for your advice!

I've been awfully busy with this being the end of the spring semester and all (I'm an older college student), but back on the 18th I got my female to eat finally... and again since then. She's back to being ravenous. Yay!

That was 3 months and 8 days she spent fasting. Now we can worry about getting down to business this next winter.

~Rebecca
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1.1 Ball Pythons (1.0 '05 Orange Hypo, 0.1 '03 Normal)
0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40 lb darling lap dogs)