Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have a 3month old royal, who is just not eating and has shown no signs of wanting to. She fed before I got her but hasn't since. she has a really placid nature, will freely venture out of her box. I have tried most thing with her, including getting some used rodent bedding and putting it in a container with a Rat pup. In the morning she was nicely curled up inside the container around the rat pup. Any other suggestions whould be appreciated.

Sorry forgot to up these.

Why is that snake outside? Why are you holding him?

Put that snake back in its enclosure, ensure proper temps and many hide spots all along the thermal gradient and then leave him alone. For a long time. I mean weeks or months, not hours or days.

I wouldn't take him out again until he took 4 or 5 consecutive meals.

Don't take his cruising around a positive sign. The positive signs are when he eats consistently. And when he hides. A happy snake is a hidden snake.

Ensure the environment is perfect. Use a digital temperature measuring device to be certain. Make sure your hides are plentiful and the right shape / size. And then just leave him be. Try feeding him 10 days after the last time you touch him. Follow the books for their tips on what to feed. Only go into his enclosure to add water and clean waste.

He'll live for more than 20 years, so you have plenty of time to play with him. In the mean time, leave him alone.

Joel
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0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Leopard Gecko

Sorry if I gave the impression that she is outside and handled all the time, she was only out side for the photo's rather than using Flash. I appreciate the advice and will give it a try and see how she goes. The snake's well being comes first as with any pet.

do you feed it f/t or live or p/k...... was it eating mice before? or was it eating rat pups.

She had been eating prekilled rat pup's once a week approx.

Assure you have correct temps (90-95F basking area) and (78-82 cool during day), correct humidity (60-65%), and you're measure the temps with a digital thermometer. All I use is digital thermometers, and have a temp gun for back up.

My cages have at least one hide in them, and honestly the only time I handle them is maybe twice a month. BP's by nature are shy animals and they need their space but they are great snakes to work with nonetheless. For one, BP's not only teach you patience, they demand it! You are finding this fact out right now.

My female just finished a mini three week fast but she's five years old (approx.). For you however, I suggest offering food once a week, and if your snake refuses, try again the following week. The key with BP's is being consistant, especialy with feeding.

Also, you say it's been eating P/K rat pups? Sometimes snakes need live prey to jump start their feeding regime but feeding live is the absolute last resort. Note that, please. Sometimes scenting with hot Chicken broth works or feeding in a paper bag. For me, I've used rat urine as scenting because let's face it, rat's reak. The scenting with rat urine almost always works for me but yes it's a little gross but I've had lots of success with that meathod.

Also, what time of day are you feeding? BP's are nocturnal. Have you tried offering food at night?

Make sure he/she has access to fresh water, and from what I saw the snake appears to have good girth. You might want to purchase a digital (food) gram scale and start moderating weight loss. This way you can keep track, and if it's a dramatic weight loss, feeding live (with supervision on your part) might be the last option.

Best of luck.

alot of good info there, but I have one question. Why do you say feeding live is absolutely the last resort? I, along with ton's of other breeders feed almost exclusively live prey animals. I have never had a BP injured from a proper sized prey item. The key to feeding live is supervision but to say it's a last resort is wrong. The last resort is force feeding because some people wait too long and animals get too weak to feed on their own. I do have a few animals that eat pre-killed but if they miss 3 meals, they get live for a few feedings to get them back on track and some never go back to pre-killed. Again there is nothing wrong with feeding live, and it is even safer for people with a very small collection as they are able to monitor the cages alot closer than people with hundreds of animals.
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Josh Hutto
J&K Reptiles

Various Ball Pythons:::

1.0 striped vanilla
1.2 Citrus Ghost and hets
1.2 Albino and hets
2.3 het Pied
1.1 Pastel (male has additional gene going on with him)
a bunch of female holdbacks and several rescue normal males

0.1 columbian boa, she's a feeding monster, controls my
over production of rats, lol
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa, another rat eating monster
1.1 corns

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrier as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

Feeding live is like playing with fireworks. As long as nothing bad happens to you you think it never will. I know that supervision seems like enough, but it takes less than a second for a poorly grabbed rat/mouse to bite the eye of a snake. And if that happens it will be too late for you to do anything. Granted, it may not kill the snake outright but you will have to worry about infections and the possibility of the snake becoming scared of feeders.

When I have to feed live larger than fuzzes I stun them and never leave unattended. Personally all my snakes and lizards eat F/T. But if it took robing 3 banks and knocking my motherinlaw
in the head to get my reptiles to eat ,then I'll Bi a ski mask
and some aspirin for dear ole mominlow.
just my 2cents!!

As I said feeding live should (and if I could I would italic 'should') be the last resort. If a Ball missed three meals, there still should be no reason to offer live prey unless the snake is losing dramatic weight. Remember these are Ball Pythons, and they are capable of going nearly a year without food and no internal damage to their health.

For example, my female finished a eight month fast, early in July. Never once did I offer live, and her weight loss was only minor. A few days before she broke her fast, she weighed in at 1786g's.

Force feeding I'm afraid should never be attempted. If the snake is really is at that point, and the situation is that crical, chances are the animal requires a visit to a qualified Vet because clearly something more acute is going on.

"Why do you say feeding live is absolutely the last resort?"

Injuries should not be the only concern. Live prey can harbor internal paracites, and thus can be passed on to your animal. Frozen food is the safest bet all around, and it's nutritional value the reason you're feeding live, a good dusting with a proper vitamin supplement should suffice.

Thanks for all the advice you have given, I am currently leaving her to herself for a week and will try again. I would prefer her to eat prekilled, but she will get what she wants in the end ( typical female basically ). Will post again soon hopefully with good news. Again thanks for you advice and suggestions, they have been taken on-board and are very welcome.