Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My last holdout has refused food for quite some time. I recently noticed that she does not stick her tongue out and I have never seen her do it. I decided to take a look. I see two tiny strings that look like they could be the forks of her tongue. But nothing definitive. She clearly has a tongue issue: no tongue, shortened tongue, no tongue muscle, etc.

Has anyone seen this in a Ball Python before? Did your animal live. She is not feeding so her future looks bleak, but I'm trying to figure out if she can be saved. I've tried live, F/T, in a bag, out of a bag, rats, mice, dogs, cats, etc.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

I have the same problem. I did a trade with someone a few months back that had an albino ball. They said the albino wasnt eating on its own yet and that he had to force feed it a couple of times (it was only 7 around weeks old). I told him I didnt mind that that I had balls not eat before but they always come around. Well after a couple of weeks and a couple of trys at feeding it I also noticed he had no tongue. So to make a long story short the only way I can get it to eat is gently stick a thawed rodent in it mouth and set him back in his tub. He continues to swallow every time, but I have yet to get him to take one on his own.
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Greg Power
B.O.A. Inc
boainc@gmail.com

Yikes! Hopefully, it will learn so you don't have to do that forever.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

exists?
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

I know this isn't want you specifically asked for but I have an Amazon tree boa with the same problem. It took some force feeding but he finally realized that the warm thing in front of his face is food (whether it actually is food or my hand it doesn't matter) just be patient and he may come around...

>>I know this isn't want you specifically asked for but I have an Amazon tree boa with the same problem. It took some force feeding but he finally realized that the warm thing in front of his face is food (whether it actually is food or my hand it doesn't matter) just be patient and he may come around...

Did you force feed live prey or heated F/T?
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

john ,

I had a columbian Boa that never showed it's tongue , but ate like there was no tommorow . I assumed the neglecting owner cut it off for fun , or he was born withour one . Either way it did not affect the snake one bit . i know you asked about Ball Pythons , but sometimes similar stories ease the mind .

Rich-OSC

Unfortunately, this one does not eat on her own. I'm going to need to try a few assist feeding methods I guess.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

I have an adult female ball that never shows a tongue. She eats live mice well but will not touch a rat. You would think without a tongue they would be less likely to be able to tell the difference.

Jay
I have heard of several ball pythons that have had no tongue that had feeding issues- my question is if you get a male to feed(forced or otherwise) can or will that male breed? Without a tongue can he "smell" a female that is ready to breed?
Special K Reptiles
Tim Koppenhofer

I'm not sure if they would breed or not. The bigger question - at least for me - do you really want to breed? Could this be a genetic trait that can be passed or a one in a million anomaly?

I have a visit Monday with my local vet. Sadly, if the snake doesn't feed on its own, it's going to die.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles