Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last thread, my 10yr girl had mites and was raspy. I cleaned her up, no more mites, seems happy and healthy. Had a good solid shed the other day. FINALLY ate.

I figured I'd give her another food item at the two week mark, and if she ate again we'd be golden. No dice. She looked a little interested, and would make passes of sniffing the body, but just passed on by the food and kept looking for where food could be. Then, went back to sleep. I tried everything with that rat, from dancing to tossing it around the cage to laying it down right in front of her. Then I left her completely alone for 24 hours. Nothing. So I tossed the rat out, figured I'd try again in a week.

Third week mark, today, I try a new rat. The python is super excited, active, cued to ANY movement and zips right over. I toss the rat in, sure that she'll nail anything that comes into the cage.

Nothing.

Her activity seems to die minutes after the food has been put in. She sniffs at the rat, but whenever her nose gets too close she jerks her head away. Whenever I try and bring it near her, she just tries to move away. When I bought her some months ago, she came with scars from when someone fed live. Is she too scared of the food to eat it? Are there any tricks I could try to get her to strike?

Sounds like you need to switch it up a bit to see what she will eat on a regular basis! Are you trying frozen thawed or fresh killed? Try live rat crawlers that don't have teeth if you are worried about bites and try mice or chicks for something different. If you are trying frozen thawed rats try putting it in some very hot water for about 5 minutes before offering it and try it wet and then try it hot but dry it off first. It sounds like she is hungry but not liking what is offered. Is she an import? That could also explain the scars! Does she have a hide box? Are you trying at night or during the day?

CB, bought her as a retired breeder. So far I've been offering dry f/t, I'll try soaking. The rats are also pretty fresh, I might try warming up something older so it's warm but more obviously dead. The two week offer was in the mid day, today was in the evening when she seems to be at peak-activity. She had hides for a long time but always opted to drape on top instead of go in, so I removed 'em in favor of a humidity bowl with a sponge in it.

Not sure where I'd get chicks, since this is the middle of the city...? I'd be willing to offer if I could find one, though.

I would try a fresh killed rat first that may do the trick. Have you asked the breeder what he was feeding her? If she really is a retired breeder with bite wounds it must have been live rodents, so I would give that a go. Also a hide might help. Good luck with her. What's the setup like?

He had said large rats, which is what I'm trying. I've also tried really fresh (I didn't do the deed, but a local snake place kills locally and freezes their own stock so I picked one up before it was frozen with the rest and offered minutes later), but it has the same success/fail rate.

I can try the hide again, but she doesn't seem afraid of it beyond the pulling her nose away? Her head will jerk away but then the rest of her body will get snugly and all around ignore it.

Tank currently has a 75-(90-95) gradient, she usually plops somewhere in the middle. Near the hot side is a bowl with a sponge I keep for moisture, and she has a water bin on the cold side that she could fit her whole body into if she wanted. I also take her out once a week for bathtub time, where she's allowed to free swim if she wants and usually does for 20-40 minutes before she wants out (I've never heard of anyone doing this freeswim time, but most photos I see of water pythons in the wild show them swimming in a river, so I want to give her that option).

Sounds like she's interested, but jerks her head away when she smells something not to her liking. One thing that's worked for me has been offering a live rat crawler or hopper like Tom suggested, but then immediately following it up with a p/k or f/t rat as soon as the crawler's tail disappears. This is how I switch over all my stubborn feeders.
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"He who would stifle debate rather than engage in it, does so at the expense of his integrity and credibility"

Mike Curtin

Billy,
Your fuscus sound like my male fuscus.

Sometimes, he comes over rearing to go like my female, but once he gets a sniff of the rat, he heads the other direction.

What's worked for me in the past is offering him smaller food items, and from another batch.

The female on the other hand would eat a big mac if I offered it to her!

You could also try a severely wounded live rat, but I'd try dropping the size down...

//Todd

I remember years ago, thawing mice out in my wife's microwave...until one exploded from being in there too long. Wife was NOT happy, to say the least
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1.1 Blackheaded pythons
2.3 Woma
4.2 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.1 Bloods
2.2 IJ Carpets
1.0 Coastal Carpets
1.3 Macklotts
1.2 F2 Carpondros
2.0 Jungle Carpet
0.1 Carpondro
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow boas
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

I was curious if any meds were given for this RI? , and if so, what it was. If I remember correctly, this python was also given ivermectin for the mites. There is contradictory evidence on the safety of Ivomec use with snakes, and most agree that the risks outweigh the benefits with this type of chemical treatment. There are other more effective and safer methods to deal with mites. That said, if this vet was using Ivomec, that is what generated my first question about any antibiotics that may have been used. If so, do you know the antibiotic used, and the dosage that was given?

Kelly

I think I mentioned several times that we tried everything on the mites, from the bathing daily to spraying her down with Relief to relocating and switching her tanks to using PaM for several weeks in a row. NOTHING was working, and the 'mectin was a very, VERY last resort. And, well, it worked. I hated to use it, but now she's clean (and hasn't been on the mectin since), and my entire collection is safe. So... yeah. I know it's not safe, but we weren't being given much choice.

The vet couldn't find what was giving her the RI, but we were given an injection electrolyte fluids. But since that ended a while ago, I don't have the stuff around anymore. She had eaten after that, so I'm not sure if all these things are related.

Was a culture done on her to determine the organism that caused the RI? Then you can use the appropriate drug. For mites, I've always had excellant luck with the WalMart bed lice spray, and it HAS to be repeated 4-6 weeks later to break the mite's life cycle.
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1.1 Blackheaded pythons
2.3 Woma
4.2 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.1 Bloods
2.2 IJ Carpets
1.0 Coastal Carpets
1.3 Macklotts
1.2 F2 Carpondros
2.0 Jungle Carpet
0.1 Carpondro
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow boas
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

Yeah, they did a culture and a float. Came back completely clean.