Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a little gal that is about 150g that I picked up about a month ago. He has refused every meal that I have offered (2 feedings per week). He seems to be on the healthy side....what are some of the tricks that you all have used in the past. Thanks to all!!
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Nick

0.5 Normals
1.0 Poss. Het for Carmel Albino
1.0 Dbl Het for Green/Yellow Ghost
1.0 Het Albino
0.1 Snow Corn

FYI...I am offering her small mice
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Nick

0.5 Normals
1.0 Poss. Het for Carmel Albino
1.0 Dbl Het for Green/Yellow Ghost
1.0 Het Albino
0.1 Snow Corn

I would suggest trying small rat pups.
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1.0 Bumble Bee
1.2 Pastel
0.5 Normal

rotate between mice and rats. try pinks, fuzzies, and hoppers. Feed at night. Sometimes they'll eat prekilled, a little blood can get them going. you may have to assist feed.
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Jesse Jeffcoat
Gopher Hill Herps
http://mysite.verizon.net/resuyda8/

Thanks for the advice....I grabbed three pinkies got them up in temp and pretty much opened her mouth a laid the pinkie in the back of her mouth. It almost looked as if she was unsure what to do with the pinkie (it was like she didn't know how to un-hinge her jaws and pull...weird)She ate 3 small pinkies, I am so glad to get some food in her belly. Do you think this will stimulate her to feed more often. Thanks again for your help!!
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Nick

0.5 Normals
1.0 Poss. Het for Carmel Albino
1.0 Dbl Het for Green/Yellow Ghost
1.0 Het Albino
0.1 Snow Corn

I had to assist feed a baby for 4 months. I always tried to let it do it on his own first. One day he took a fuzzy, I cont with fuzzy for a few meals and slowly up the size he now eats mice no problem. Keep trying and be patient some are slower than others.Best of luck to you.
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1.0 Het for pied
0.1 Het for Pied
1.5 normal balls
1.1 bearded dragons
1.3 kids
1.0 husband
To many little critters list

Patience Patience Patience…..I never thought I had any until I started collecting Ball Pythons
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Nick

0.5 Normals
1.0 Poss. Het for Carmel Albino
1.0 Dbl Het for Green/Yellow Ghost
1.0 Het Albino
0.1 Snow Corn

shoving three pinkies down the throat is only going to stress the animal. you don't need any "tricks" you need basic knowledge on feeding baby balls.

get Kevin's Ball Python book, at least the $11 version.

baby balls eat hopper and small adult mice, or good sized rat pups. baby cornsnakes eat pinkies.

if you gave any kind of detail as to cage setup, temps, hides, substrate, etc, then perhaps someone would have some background to offer you specific advice.

stop force feeding, discover proper husbandry, get the book.

best of luck.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

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Tosha

I appreciate your opinion...however I did not FORCE-FEED my snake. I said that I simply opened her mouth and laid the pinky in the back of her mouth. After I laid the pinkie in ther mouth I let go of the pinky, if the snake did not want to consume she could have easily spit it out.(is that considered force feeding?) I don't think so.I believe that is called assist feeding (check it out it's on KS home page under feeding and its free) As far my setup I have her in a rack system, temps 90 on hot end 76 on coole end. I use hides and provide Fresh water on a bi-daily basis. I clean there cages once per week. Here's the bottom line she was on the verge of potentially loosing her life if I didn't get food in her. In this situation would it be better to stress the snake out or keep her alive, I don't know I guess I had to ask myself that question.
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Nick

0.5 Normals
1.0 Poss. Het for Carmel Albino
1.0 Dbl Het for Green/Yellow Ghost
1.0 Het Albino
0.1 Snow Corn

I'm glad I have a baby cornsnake and had pinkies on hand for this feeding. The reason I tried pinkies first was to start of small (trigger the feeding responce).
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Nick

0.5 Normals
1.0 Poss. Het for Carmel Albino
1.0 Dbl Het for Green/Yellow Ghost
1.0 Het Albino
0.1 Snow Corn

whether force or assist feeding, that is a last resort option. you are stressing the animal period. baby balls are already shy, defensive, and can be knocked off feed easily. the measly calories you add with pinks are not going to offset the stress, nor are they going to get you closer to a healthy, feeding snake.

small prey items, much less SUPER small, are not going to entice a feeding response. a properly sized food item will. when in doubt, go LARGER, as balls have greedy eyes, and are more likely to strike something a bit larger than normal, and not likely to strike something very small.

there are 6001 choices to go through before the stress inducing choices you have already made. the advice given is right, you should be on step THREE, or maybe TWO, not the last ditch effort choice (which should be with a good sized hairless rat pup and not a pinkie mouse anyway).

day feeding, night feeding, rats, mice, live, fresh killed, thawed, in a small container, etc.

check out the FAQ at our site, specifically the feeding related FAQs, including one about force feeding. also get the book. proper husbandry and patience, combined with a sensible, low stress approach, is what is going to give you success.

again, best of luck.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Thank you for your reply...

In the previous feedings I tried hoppers/small mice live, pre-killed & F/T. I did two hours of research before I even tried to assist feed this particular snake.

I'll check out your feeding page and gain some knowledge
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Nick

0.5 Normals
1.0 Poss. Het for Carmel Albino
1.0 Dbl Het for Green/Yellow Ghost
1.0 Het Albino
0.1 Snow Corn

try rat pups of appropriate size. that is one of the first, easiest, and most readily accepted (by the ball) steps.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

I will try rat pups....do most of your balls prefer live,pre-killed or f/t. Robyn, I truly appriciate your feedback to my post. Thanks again
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Nick

0.5 Normals
1.0 Poss. Het for Carmel Albino
1.0 Dbl Het for Green/Yellow Ghost
1.0 Het Albino
0.1 Snow Corn

we start all babies on rat pups, live for 2 meals. rats because that is the final diet of adults, so best to start early. 75% start on rats right away.

after 3 or 4 rat pup tries with no response, we try live mice, hoppers and small adults. mice are tougher live, as rat pups are harmless, and adult mice are definitely not.

after 2 live meals, we switch to thawed, and most make the transition well.

that gets 95% well started. for the other 5%, you have to play the game.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Just so you understand where (at least) my response is coming from ...

You have had the snake for 1 month - you should not have offered it food for the first week to let it settle in. Which means it should have only been offered three meals thus far. If it did not accept a meal the second week you should have waited another week to try to feed it. And then again a week later and so on and so on. In the mean time you should not be disturbing this snake until it has eaten - limit your contact.

For a ball to go off feed (even a small one) for a month especially given that it has just been relocated and that it is winter - is not uncommon or a big deal and certainly not life threatening.

The twice a week feeding attempts as well as the assist feeding is extremely stressful on the animal and you are basically shooting yourself in the foot.

Have you contacted the previous owner and found out what and how they were feeding it and are you feeding it the same way? Was it feeding well for them? I am assuming if you have been spot cleaning that means it had nourishment in it and you shouldn't have any worries?

Anyway - at this point you know it has food in it's belly - leave it alone for a couple of weeks - find out (if you don't already know)it's feeding history and go from there. Unless there are other underlying issues assist feeding should be a last resort.

If there were other issues you didn't include in the initial post (like the snake hasn't eaten in 6 months, is bone thin and flopping to the side) then you can't fault the responses you received.

I hope this makes sense.
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Tosha

Just to clairify a few things here....the reason I choose to feed twice per week (sun & wed) is that I feel it is better for the snakes to eat smaller meals and more of them than to have one big meal once per week. I feel that my smaller snakes are more active when fed twice per week.

Tosha thank you for your reply and I appreciate your knowledge brought to this forum.
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Nick

0.5 Normals
1.0 Poss. Het for Carmel Albino
1.0 Dbl Het for Green/Yellow Ghost
1.0 Het Albino
0.1 Snow Corn

Heres my two cents...........
It is very common for balls to go off feed especially during the winter. I like to read and reply to this board from time to time. Thats the great thing about this forum.......Its a great resource of other breeders and keepers. Sometimes others can get a bit judgemental of the situation........The purpose of the forum is to try to help your fellow herper regardless of his or her experience level. Heres a few things I would consider...........First of all going off feed is very common but you want to keep an eye on the animals health. A monthly weight chart is a must in my opinion. You can refer to your chart to see if the animal has actually lost weight and that would be a good indication of health. Its sounds like your doing a decent job of monitoring temps but not sure of your technique. Would recommend a temp gun for accuracy. His eyes glazing over is due to a shed cycle and normal. Here are a few tricks ive used in the past for noneaters with a weight loss. Try mice and rats of different sizes..........Leave a prekilled rat and mouse in a paperbag in his inclosure overnight..........Brain a rat pup and leave in his hide overnight.........A gerbal offered is a good choice for a large animal and will usually get him feeding. Different color and sex of rat or mice........Force feeding should be a last resort but sometimes required to save an animal in distress. This does stress the animal but a fed underweight animal is better than a dead one. Hope you get him feeding soon but I would not be too freaked out unless he starts to lose weight. This is my two cents and although my opinion its not the only opinion .............You show you want to take care of your animal by your post and I admire you for that. Some of us forget the first time we posted (My snake wont eat) Please keep us posted on his progress and what worked and what didnt and maybe we will learn something from your situation. We love what we do so we share with others!!!!!!!!!!!!!