Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i posted on here a few months ago about my bp not eating, well here it is, i've had him/her for 7 months now, still snappy as ever and hasn't eaten a thing, i'm beginning to worry, i have tried everything you have suggested from live to ft to fresh killed, mice, rats, gerbil, different colors, sex, i have spent almost 300 bux just in rodents that have not been eaten. therefore, i again am asking for help. i have been wondering if a bigger cage might help. he is in a 29 gal aquarium laid on it's side right now, but i have a 3x3x2 enclosure i was thinking of putting him in, he/she is 3 ft long. the temps are good, the humidy is good, two hides one on each side, though it's been on the cold side an awful lot, uth under one side of the tank, heat light on same side...two water dish's (one small to keep humidity up and one large with hole in lid and fountain to circulate the water) is there something i'm missing? and he/she has still not calmed down even with handling. when we try feeding, he/she snaps at the rodent continuously, but will not grab or hold on to it or even curl up at all with it...i don't know what else to try and your help would be greatly appriciated....thanks in advance

ill be honest, that snake is stressed and you handling it isnt helping. the last thing you should be thinking about doing is handling it, it hasnt even eatten yet! first thing is tanks make insecure easily stressed snakes, and yes ball pythons fall into this catagory, even more insecure and more easily stressed. and on top of that youre handling an animal that is probably scared to death...but there are a few things you can try out that might help. first, aside from cage cleaning, do not, i repeat, DO NOT! handle that snake until it is a good solid feeder! and im not talking one or 2 meals, im talking 6 or more meals. this is a very important thing, the more you handle a stressed out snake the less likely it is to feed. second, move it into a rubbermaid or other similar plastic storage box, nothing huge, actually, a kind of tight one would work best, it would make the snake feel quite a bit more secure. also not a tall rubbermaid, again, something on the tighter side. something in the area of the 23 x 16 x 6 inch high latchtopper by rubbermaid would work, especially in the darker blue version. i currently keep a problem feeder irian jaya carpet in one and she has only missed one meal, and thats cuz shes in shed. i know alot of people dont like rubbermaids because they cant see the animal, well, get over it, its not about whats best for you, its whats best for the snake...sure you want to be able to see it, and give it alot of room, and play with it....but, it wants to hide, it wants to be secure, and honestly, how would you feel if a giant thing picks you up and fiddles with you for awhile, probably pretty scared. i cant claim to be an expert, i can only offer tips that have worked for me, with species ranging from ball pythons to scrub pythons to whatever else ive worked with. give the rubbermaid a try, make sure its ventilated, easy enough to do, just melt a bunch of holes in it. a heat pad works well for heat, and some nice tight fitting hides, so tight the snake almost cant fit in them. and leave him totally alone for atleast 3 days, a week woudl be better. then try a nice warm mouse or rat. its not guarenteed, but, in my expierience its worked alot more often than it hasnt.

J
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Jaymz
"got a bowlin ball in my stomache, got a desert in my mouth. figures that my courage would choose to sell out now..."

thank you, though i have not been handling him as much as one might think, it was only like twice a week for about a month, and that was two months ago, because of his aggression he hasn't been handled much at all, he hides constantly and is only out for about 10 min's at the most a nite, and that seems to be to jus go to the water n back to hiding....i don't think i explained myself as the handling as i should have...sorry....

im talking about any handling aside from moving him to and from something to hold him while you clean his cage, but since its been well over 6 months since he last ate im doubting you need to clean his cage very often. id still move him into a rubbermaid, give him atleast a week alone and then under cover of darkness slip in a nice very warm defrosted mouse and then leave him alone till atleast the next morning. it might not work, he might only want live, or something scented with a gerbils butt. but a rubbermaid is a step towards making him feel secure which will go a very long way toward getting him to eat.

J
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Jaymz
"got a bowlin ball in my stomache, got a desert in my mouth. figures that my courage would choose to sell out now..."

ok, i'll try that...though, he has been pooping n p'ing at least once a month, and shedding every 30 days or so.....which how can he go to the bathroom if he's not eating? lol...i'm unsure...

It seems that everything possible about food has already been done, trying the rubbermaid is a good idea about housing, but also have you already try anything about the general health? I'm not talking about mites, I suppose it's done for a long time, but may be some internal parasites? Just an idea... Hope it will help...

i have thought of that though i am having trouble finding a qualified vet where i live, one that knows more than..."he looks good".

You can try to deworm him. It couldn't hurt if you respect the correct quantity for his weight, and you don't need a vet to do that...
Honestly I'm not sure that parasites are the problem with your snake, but you've already try so many possibilities that there're not many left, except may be making him feel more secure or may be something wrong inside the animal...

PS : Panacur is not enought. Give him Flagyl too against amibians and something else as Telmin KH againt ascarids and tenias, to be sure that any kind of parasite will be killed.

thanks, better be safe than sorry...i'll try that...

Both of the other ideas are pretty good advice. Don't give up! How often do you offer prey to your snakes? I have found out that sometimes I can freak out my ball by offering food too often....not for 7 months, but still...what I do is simply leave him alone for 14 days without offering any food. By the time feeding day comes again he's good and hungry, and has completely forgotten about being scared of food 2 weeks prior. Although, I have not gone through any lengthy fasts, whenever my snakes turn down a few meals this is what I try and its never failed.

Good Luck!

PS: Sometimes I've heard scenting a small mouse with a dead lizard works. Or actually feeding small lizards. --not sure if thats at all acurate, but you can look into it.

how old/big is your snake? does he have spaghum moss in his hide? is the temperature and humidty right? adjust the humidity to 60-75 percent and heat to about 85 on the ground. But a pile of damp semi-warm spaghum moss in his hide (id figure about 5 gal bag worth, pretty small) if you leave him alone for about 2-3 weeks he should want to eat becuase he would feel more secure. is it a CB? or Wild Caught? and when you said the 29gal is turned on its side do you mean its standing tall? if so, these are not arboreal species. Put your aquarium back on the bottom. make sure his hide spot is about 85F and a little more humidity about 75%. i did this with mine and he mellowed out and doesnt notice me anymore.

Snakes are very sensitive to ground vibrations. I built a fountain into my vivariam though I was warned against it with the rationale that snakes are sensitive to ground vibrations and the constant vibration from the fountain pump would "drive the snake crazy" (stress her). I did it anyway with plans of disabling the pump if the snake had problems. Mine's doing fine, but maybe it bothers yours. Just a thought.
Paul

I had the same problem with one of my previous snakes. I tried every trick in the book and I finally got him to eat twice with the brown bag method(place a fresh killed rodent in a paper grocery bag, put it in a closet, and leave it 30min-1hr). I found out later that he was w/c and one of my professors offered to buy him. i told him my trick and he says he hasnt had any probles with him as of yet so maybe it just takes a couple times to get them back "in the mood". just a thought though.