Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Its been a few years since ive posted here, and I would greatly appreciate some input.

I have been keeping ball pythons for years, as well as some boas, coloubrids, and venomous.
I recently recieved a female normal ball python that has a cleft upper lip. She hadnt eaten since she hatched out, and was starting to lose some weight.
I made sure her enclosure was correct, and left her completely alone for over a week.
When i attempted to feed her, she didn't act interested at all, and really didn't act like she knew the food was there.

Over the course of about 3 weeks, i tried every trick in the book to try and get her to feed with no luck at all.
I finally made the decision to assist feed. I got a couple small fuzzy mice, and as soon as i put the head of the mouse in her mouth, she curled up on it and took it down like a champ. She did this twice over the period of a week.

I tried feeding her again today, same thing. I had to assist feed, but she took it like a champ as soon as the head of the mouse was in her mouth.

This got me thinking... I wonder if her heat receptors are working properly because of the cleft lip?
She doesnt't act like she knows that food is there, and there is very little tongue flicking, if any at all.
I would like some input on what others think. I really hope she will eventually take food on her own.

Thanks for any input at all!!
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0.1.0 albino burmese
1.0.0 normal burmese
1.0.0 redtail boa
1.0.0 albino corn
0.1.0 creamsicle corn
0.1.0 okeetee corn
1.0.0 black rat snake
1.1.0 leopard geckos
0.0.7 northern copperheads
1.0.0 southern copperhead
0.0.1 broadband copperhead
0.0.1 timber rattler
1.0.0 green iguana
0.0.1 veiled chameleon
2.1.0 ball pythons
0.0.1 mexican red knee tarantula
0.0.3 emperor scorpion
0.0.1 cobalt blue tarantula
0.0.1 orange baboon tarantula
and a bunch of breeder mice and rats

I received an albino female with this same problem. She had ribs showing and was on her way out when I got her but over some months she came around feeding like you described. Once she got some size on her she then started to eat on her own but struck more like a Spider with bad wobble. I feed FT and sometimes Id have to reheat and try again as she would lose interest but she would eat. Her lower jaw was only half the length of the upper causing the heat receptors to curl inwards which is why she struck so sporatic. Unfortunatly she got a RI, stopped eating, and I went back to assist feeding and she suffocated herself in refusal to eat.

Im sorry to hear that! I know how it is to lose an animal a fter you've done so much to save it's life.
Luckily, the only visual deformation on her is the split in her upper lip. When i first got her, i was worried that she may not have upper teeth, but i checked her out and everything was fine.

I am going to continue to try and get her to eat on her own, but if it comes down to me assist feeding her for the rest of her life, or her dying, ill assist feed.

I thought about heating up a small mouse way more than normal with a hair dryer to see if she can sense it, but i dont want to get it so hot that it could hurt her.

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0.1.0 albino burmese
1.0.0 normal burmese
1.0.0 redtail boa
1.0.0 albino corn
0.1.0 creamsicle corn
0.1.0 okeetee corn
1.0.0 black rat snake
1.1.0 leopard geckos
0.0.7 northern copperheads
1.0.0 southern copperhead
0.0.1 broadband copperhead
0.0.1 timber rattler
1.0.0 green iguana
0.0.1 veiled chameleon
2.1.0 ball pythons
0.0.1 mexican red knee tarantula
0.0.3 emperor scorpion
0.0.1 cobalt blue tarantula
0.0.1 orange baboon tarantula
0.0.1 brazilian salmon pink birdeater tarantula
and a bunch of breeder mice and rats

I always just used hot tap water before feeding FT. With pinks you obviously dont have to thaw them that long but mine was eating small rats. She would miss it a few time, wrap but not always eat so reheating and repeating always works. Its a lot of work for a deformed animal to eat properly or normal as we call it. Eventually I see her eating on her own its just the infant stage thats the hardest because of the low amounts of restores they have. Hope the best for her and you

Defect like that are often not a single problem. I would suspect a defect of the tongue/vomeronasal organ more than heat pits, but I suppose both are possible. Often snake without a functional tongue/smell won't recognize food but will eat when placed in their mouth. Some eventually learn to eat on their own anyway, others never do and eventually succumb. I saw a boa once that had its tongue amputated by a live rat go a whole year without eating on its own, then one day it just started striking and eating. If only tease feeding worked better with balls...