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4 month old won't eat....

pythonnewbie Oct 13, 2003 06:49 PM

I have a ball that is about 4 months old and she hasn't eaten for the past two months. I was feeding her f/t rats and she stopped eating. I just tried giving her a pre-killed mouse and she won't eat that either. I'm worried because she is so young and not eating. Should I try feeding her a live mouse? Her room and cage are very comfy and the humidity and the temps are great. She just had a beautiful shed. She doesn't appear to be unhealthy. Her skin looks good, she doesn't feel boney, she's still very active. Any advice?

Thanks,
Jessica

Replies (2)

reps-r-us Oct 13, 2003 08:38 PM

Doublecheck the temps and make sure she can thermoregulate. If she is really active, it might be a sign that she is restless, something is bothering her.
Does she have hides in both the warm and cooler end of the cage? I find that hides are very important for Ball PYthons.
Also, if she just shed, she might not have been hungry because of that.
Since she has not eaten for 2 month though, i would think there is something else going on.
If the husbandry is correct, perhaps you are handling her to much/to often?
I would just leave her alone as much as possible till she eats reliably again.
Try to put the frozen/thawed prey into her hidebox with her at night, and then don't disturb her till morning.
If that doesn't work, leave her alone and try again a week later.
Don't try to feed to often, you might stress her out more.
Sometimes ball pythons just stop eating for awhile for no particular reason, so if everything is as it should be and she STILL won't eat...just try every week or so, and don't worry about it to much UNLESS she is showing signs of disease or she is losing weight.
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reps-r-us

serpentcity Oct 15, 2003 05:50 PM

Definitely try a live preferably dark-colored LIVE mouse at night. Balls can be pretty fickle and 1 or 2 live mice will likely be all it takes to jump-start her. If you don't have access to an appropriate-sized live mouse (large hopper to half-grown) try warming the thawed mouse, offer using a 12" forceps, and offer in subdued light in the evening. If you don't have the forceps, get a set of chop-sticks from a chop suey place, and order a set of forceps from a herp supply dealer. I couldn't function without my 12" forceps and 18" hemos. Good luck!
Scott J. Michaels DVM

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