Reptile & Amphibian Forums

She is showing interest in the gerbil.She will not eat.Should I leave it overnight? I would put food in for it(the gerbil).
I don't believe forced feeding is the course I should take.That is what everyone is telling me. She Is not loosing weight, and she has just shed. What do you think? She is a WC female....
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1.0 albino Speckled king
0.1 speckled king
0.1 desert cali king
1.1 ball python
65 common rats
25 african soft hair rats
49 mice
7 degus
2.2.10 girbils
1.0 blue and gold macaw
1.1 orange wing amazons
0.1 tin african grey
1.0 sugar glider
.1 beagle
1.0 pink toe tarantula
1.1 borneo bloods (comming soon)
0.1 hell spouse
3.2 children (kids)
myspace.com/midknight_fantasy

Why do you have a WC female? There are plenty of breeders! Dont take the poor things out of the wild please. No offense...
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Got Balls?
1.0 Pastel BP (George)
0.1 Spider BP
0.2 (1 Huge) normals(Beladona,Mystery!)

0.0.1 Gray Banded king
0.0.1 Red phase Eastern Hoggie
1.0 Cat(Higgens)
2.0 Dogs (Boomer,Andrew{Andy})
1.1 Iggys (Bart, Lisa)
1.1 Beardies
0.0.1 Anery Red tail Boa
0.0.1 Savannah Monintor

she was the most responsive one of the bunch. there is a pet store that says as is no guarantee on them. If they die they die. I am trying to save one.
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1.0 albino Speckled king
0.1 speckled king
0.1 desert cali king
1.1 ball python
65 common rats
25 african soft hair rats
49 mice
7 degus
2.2.10 girbils
1.0 blue and gold macaw
1.1 orange wing amazons
0.1 tin african grey
1.0 sugar glider
.1 beagle
1.0 pink toe tarantula
1.1 borneo bloods (comming soon)
0.1 hell spouse
3.2 children (kids)
myspace.com/midknight_fantasy

You should never leave a live mouse rat or gerbil anything in over night they can do some serious damage
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B Sleeper

1.0 Chocolate Lab
0.1 ?? Normal Ball python (yet different)
1.0 04 Het Albino
1.1 06 Het Albino
1.0 06 Het Pied
1.0 06 Pastel(Screamer)
1.0 07 Pastel
0.? 07 Pos Het Albino (Momma has not laid the eggs yet)

Aslo this just poopped into my head u think maybe she is gravid (knocked up) it would explain why shes not loosing weight while not eating.
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B Sleeper

1.0 Chocolate Lab
0.1 ?? Normal Ball python (yet different)
1.0 04 Het Albino
1.1 06 Het Albino
1.0 06 Het Pied
1.0 06 Pastel(Screamer)
1.0 07 Pastel
0.? 07 Pos Het Albino (Momma has not laid the eggs yet)

Ditto with B Sleeper, don't leave the gerbil overnight! You might regret it in the morning.

How much does your ball python weigh? How long have you had her? maybe she needs time to settle in?
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Tristan

1.0 Argentine Black and White Tegu (Roy)
1.1 Pastel Ball Pythons
1.0 Spider Ball Python
0.2 Normal Ball Pythons

I see you have ASFs - have you tried them yet - they worked like magic on mine that hadn't eaten in a year and a half. Also balls can fast for several months without loosing weight (mine only dropped 50 grams in the course of that 18 month fast) - depending on when she was imported - you might just have to wait her out.

Don't leave any live food in with her overnight unless it's a last resort.

Good luck.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

Insert Silly Quote Here

LOSING not LOOSING!

As for the ball-have patience and get a book(which will give you lots of options to try). It sometimes takes months for a wc ball to eat. And for god sakes dont leave a rodent in the cage unsupervised!!!
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Brad Chambers

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

Yeah but if u hit reply and did not rename the subject it would say loosing wouldnt it?
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B Sleeper

1.0 Chocolate Lab
0.1 ?? Normal Ball python (yet different)
1.0 04 Het Albino
1.1 06 Het Albino
1.0 06 Het Pied
1.0 06 Pastel(Screamer)
1.0 07 Pastel
0.? 07 Pos Het Albino (Momma has not laid the eggs yet)

LOL - tho I readily admit spelling is not, and never has been my forte - I do enjoy the irony that comes from seeing post like yours in which you condemn ones spelling while simultaneously displaying a few of your own grammatical errors.

If I'd a known there was going to be a spelling police I'd a paid closer attention in fifth grade English - my bad!
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Tosha
JET Pythons

Insert Silly Quote Here

Actually that was sort of a joke post-that particular juxtaposition is one of my pet peeves-but do you mean me when you spoke of "grammatical and spelling errors"? Because I don't see any in that post.
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Brad Chambers

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

Do NOT leave a live gerbil (or any adult rodent) in with a snake overnight -- regardless of whether you put food in there, they will bite and chew in defense and they cause MAJOR damage. If you've ever seen the pics out there of what happens, you wouldn't even contemplate it. They chew down to the bone.

Gerbils are often too fast and freak the snake out. They also tend to be very mean and will fight back. Offer an ASF rat in the pitch black (turn the light off in the room but stay in to listen) -- odds are she'll take it. There are also ways to make her feel more comfortable to take domestic rodents -- ask Ron Billingsley, he has great experience with this.
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~* Jen *~

Pink Lady Constrictors

I received a couple full grown gerbils from a reptile store and the one i tried to feed so far was the meanest rodent I've seen. The gerbil ran around a lot and bit my snake even though my snake wasn't moving. Then the gerbil bit me...then it died.

I always watch live prey because you don't know what could happen. If she isn't losing weight then she's probably fine. Good luck to you
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1.1 Normal Ball Pythons (Snakerton and Mathilda)
1.0 Het Albino Ball Python (Walter)
0.1 Albino Ball Python (Perrie)
1.1 Pastel Ball Python (Jasper and Trudy)
3.4 Breeder Rats
1.0 Red Ear Slider (Rufus)
1.0 English Bulldog[Red Brindle] (Jones)

He has had great success with WC. There was also a thread that he posted a few months back that explained, step by step, how he worked with WC to get them to settle in and eat.

Good luck!
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Alice Cobb
Florida Reptile Room

We deal with a lot of imported yellow belly during the year, and have tried a lot of different ways to get them started.
Below is what we do, and what works for us. It is a combination of tricks and tips from many different people's advise to us.

First we give them the appropriate dose of flagle to clear up and extra flagellates that could cause problems.
Next is to put them in a small dark box, usually for anything between 800-1800 grams we use a 28 quart sterilite box from walmart, with a few air holes drilled in for venelation.
Make sure to have a nice thick layer of cypress mulch in the bottom to keep them humid and comterable. We heat our snake rooms to 84*-86* so no additional heat is required, if you have to use a heat pad/tape back heat is best as it creates a more ambient temp that they seem to prefer.
A 10" deli cup with a hole cut in the front works great for a hide spot as it touches the snake on all sides so they feel safer. We wrap ours in black electrical tape to add the xtra security for the snakes.

We put the box in a dark area of the room, and leave them alone for 2 weeks other than offering water. After 2 weeks if you open the box and they have there head out and are looking around we offer a small rat around 9pm. Most of the time when we check them around mid night they have fed. If they dont look to be out and about, give them another week and check them again.
The main idea is to get them feeling acclimated (safe and happy). Once they are acclimated, they are usually not a problem. Most take any where from 3 weeks- 6 months but in time they all come around.
Be patient and leave them alone. No handling , check on them 2 times a week to keep the stress down, and you should be good to go.

Hope this helps.
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J&J REPTILES
www.jnjreptiles.com
sales@jnjreptiles.com
(207)479-6658

She finally ate...A weanling gerbil.I have had her for over a month, and surprisingly she is very active today.Not hiding all day like usual.Thank you everybody that responded.I knew that she ate when I went to remove the gerbil before retireing for the night, and couldn't find it.
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1.0 albino Speckled king
0.1 speckled king
0.1 desert cali king
1.1 ball python
65 common rats
25 african soft hair rats
49 mice
7 degus
2.2.10 girbils
1.0 blue and gold macaw
1.1 orange wing amazons
0.1 tin african grey
1.0 sugar glider
.1 beagle
1.0 pink toe tarantula
1.1 borneo bloods (comming soon)
0.1 hell spouse
3.2 children (kids)
myspace.com/midknight_fantasy

In future don't leave any live prey in, without supervision, unless its still nursing.
A weenling can rip your snakes face off, and if your snakes not hungry 10 to 1 it won't even defend it's self. DONT do that again you'll wake up to a nightmare. Sorry to be so blunt, but thats the truth.

I didn't leave it in overnight.When I went to remove it before going to bed I found that she had eaten it because I could not find it.I use unprinted newsprint for substrate so it was easy to tell that it was gone.
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1.0 albino Speckled king
0.1 speckled king
0.1 desert cali king
1.1 ball python
65 common rats
25 african soft hair rats
49 mice
7 degus
2.2.10 girbils
1.0 blue and gold macaw
1.1 orange wing amazons
0.1 tin african grey
1.0 sugar glider
.1 beagle
1.0 pink toe tarantula
1.1 borneo bloods (comming soon)
0.1 hell spouse
3.2 children (kids)
myspace.com/midknight_fantasy