Reptile & Amphibian Forums

does anybody know how i can get my female ball to eat? ive had her for over a year and she has eaten 2 small rats and 3 mice all f/t now she wont eat at all can ne body help?

try peircing a mouses head and squeeze the brain juice out, make shure it is warm. HOPE THIS HELPS!

Are your caging requirements all right? Is your BP not losing weight? Have you treated it for parasites or gone to the vet recently? Sometimes they go off feed for months on their own free will, and this is normal. I'd hold off feeding and handling for a week or so, to let the snake calm down. Then try placing a completely dead, appropriately sized prey item in the cage for the night and see what happens by morning.

Do you feed frozen/thawed, prekilled, or live, and are they micec or rats you're using currently? I have found that stubborn eaters may go afer a freshly (but thoroughly) killed rat or mouse more readily than they'll go after a thawed one. Is your BP adult sized? You may be using too-large prey items; my female BP would actually get scared of a prey item if it was too big (in her opinion) but then go readily after a smaller one.
I have gotten stubborn eaters to feed, by placing a fresh-killed (make sure it is 100% dead!!) rat in the cage overnight. even my WC rescue case male ate this way.
Also, if you're using f/t, maybe you are not heating them to a high enough temp? If all your husbandry/feeding issues are being done right, then it is probably just a self-imposed fast on your BPs part, which is not usually a bad thing.
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