Reptile & Amphibian Forums

buy a royal that hasent eaten in almost 7 months? cos if anyone would even consider it then iv decided im going to get rid of myn. im fed up with him and i want to put lizards in his tank But i wont try if people recon no-one proper will take him. i want him to go somewere good to someone who actually knows what their doing, and im just worriyd that no-one who knows what their doing would buy a underwight not feeding snake, and i dont want to let just any random retard have him. does this make sence? what do u all think, would any of u buy a non feeder?(not an offer,u all seem to live in the usa where im not going)i just want to know before i try.

well in answer to your question. i might consider it since i've done that before. well not actullay purchased a non-feeder but rescued. one very thin male was given to me by a friend. he had somehow caught really bad IBD but after a little treatment and care. he has now gone from not eating anything for several months to eating 2-3 small rats a week. he's gone from 3' about 400 grams to now being 3' and around 700-800 grams and still growing...and i still have a 4'7" female i'm still working with, but now that the weather is getting warmer i should have no problem getting her to eat. so let me know what you decide.
red

As in Inclusion Body Disease?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that there was no cure for IBD, and that it is horribly contagious. In fact~ I recall hearing that IBD is sometimes tested for in Boids by putting a ball python in with them. The BPs metabolism is faster and it will show signs of the disease and die before the boids show signs.

I've never dealt with IBD, so my information may not be correct~ but you might want to look into it~ if you really do have a snake that " somehow caught really bad IBD" then I hope it was quarintined VERY well or the rest of your collection will soon catch "really bad IBD"
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Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
Check out my website at:
The Red Dragons Den

Red,
Care to give some advice to a person with a great female that hasn't eaten since Thanksgiving 03 (well, that is when I got her and she has never eaten for me) She was about 800g when I got her and she is about 750g now.. I have tried just about everything to get her to eat with no luck.. I actually maybe set her back by trying to feed her a live gerbil that as soon as I put it in the box it attacked and bit her (did not break the skin but freaked her out).. I have left her alone for weeks just changing her water ever other day and the opening to her hide is turned to the back of the box.. Any advice or tricks would be much appreciated!!

Thanks,
A

the only advise i can give is what i did with a bp that i was taking care of for a friend of mine. he had left his snake in my care in june of last year and the snake had never eaten for him. but his snake wouldn't eat for me either, he went 5 more months with me without eating. so i decided to up the temps. the hot side was between 90-94 degrees and the cool side around 85. after being in those temps i beleive his digestive system kicked back in cause he sure enough started eating again. so right now the snake is back with his owner and doing great. another method i tired with some baby cornsnakes was braining the prey. so i made a cut on the top of the head exposing the brain which released a scent that attracted the snakes to eat. let me know if these attempts work for you. remeber that the heat is coming and the snakes will be warming up again, i know i had some snakes that didn't eat this past winter and are eating like pigs now.
red

well when i had the snake i was told by a trusting friend of mine whom has also work with a vet and been working her own rescue for over 10 years that my snake had gotten a really bad case of an internal bacterial disease. she gave me some meds and i treated the snake as best as i could. the disease has gone away and like i said he is well on his way to breeding next year. i do hope to breed him because he has absolutly no yellow on him. he looks like a faded red axan but there's only one way to find out right.

Not to be a smart a$$ or anything, but I think you should be careful with those abbreviations. I could be wrong, but when people say IBD, at least in a Boid forum, they are most likely referring to Inclusion Body Disease. It's incurable and eventually results in death. Only transferable between Boids and extremely contagious. It can also be passed on from mother to offspring. Sometimes snakes that have it, don't even show symptoms till they die unexpectedly and a Necropsy shows IBD. At any rate, snakes that show symptoms of IBD and that are tested and found to have IBD(Inclusion Body Disease), are immediately euthanized. Hence, the importance of a quarantine period when acquiring new snakes. Anybody can correct me if I'm wrong, but when you spit out the abbreviations IBD in a Boid forum, people really turn their heads. It's a terrible terminal disease. Thanks for reading!
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Cathy Hrusa
poetichusky@hotmail.com
Future Ball Python Breeder
~My Ever-growing herp Collection~
0.4 Normal Ball Pythons
1.0 Albino Green Burmese Python
0.1 Bearded Dragon
1.0 Red Eared Slider
0.1 FL Cooter
1.0 Sunburst X Blue Veiled Chameleon
0.0.2 Firebelly Toads
0.0.1 Pixie Frog

I'd consider it. I have a lot of time & patience. However, I've never had problems with a BP not eating so in that arena, I'm not experienced.
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Kane

ok, first of all a ball pythons temps SHOULD be 90-95 hot side and 80-85 cool side at ALL times (unless brumating for breeding).

Second of all my male bp JUST (as in yesterday) ate one small rat (he is 4.5ft) after 9 months of fasting.

7 months is nothing, and neither is 9 months, I've heard of bp's going off feed for 1yr or more.

Have you taken it to the vet? Checked husbandry. If all else fails what about tubing or force feeding until they start to take it on their own.

If you think owning a non feeding BP is rough, wait till you get a lizard that is or becomes sick!
Are you just going to go through reptiles because they don't do exactly what you want them to?

If so get a dog or cat. They eat unless REALLY ill. Plus you don't have to provide hot side/cool sides.

If you had done any research at all on your bp then you would know that they go off feed for any reason at all, or none at all.

Have you tried putting it in a NO traffic area (closet or something) news paper/paper towel, hides and water bowl, towel around the cage so he can't see out.

how are you measuring temps?
whats the humidity?
what size is the snake
what size is the cage
and again, have you take it to the vet?
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1.1 Ball Python, 0.1 motley amel corn, 1.0 western hognose, 1.0 red blood

i have tryed things like braining the food, iv tryed different colors of rats, differnt sizes, mice, live and prekilled and a hamster and i was lucky if he even looked at it. his temps were wrong but i asked on here and iv correncted them now and his humiditys anywere from 30 to 60 and he has a wet hide as well. id rather get a active lizard that i can see rather then a retared, suicidal snake who stays in his hide all the time.hes making me insane!rrr

If you would have done ANY research on these snakes you would have found that

they are nocturnal, they come out (and eat) at night, not day.
They hide most of the time
are shy
They need a CONSTANT 50%-60% humidity

and that they will often go off food for seemingly no reason at all.

And you never answered me, did you take the snake to a vet? If not you really should.

Otherwise I hope you don't get another reptile. Because it will likely end up sick and you will just "get tired" of it not eating and not playing with you.

Reptiles are not cuddly little lap animals, if you want something to watch and play with get a dog.
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1.1 Ball Python, 0.1 motley amel corn, 1.0 western hognose, 1.0 red blood

You would just get rid of an animal because it isnt what you want? Thats such a shame. You really shouldnt get any lizards,chances are youll get tired of them when they take a rest and get rid of those too.Maybe it is better if you find another home for the snake, poor thing deserves better. Im sure all she needs is a little TLC.

so im hated now? i did the researh, i was going to get a corn snake but my mate offerd me him so i sayed ok. iv had him for almost 3 years now and im not board with him, and i dont want him to do what i want, im just realy fustrated and yes, worried for him so dont go thinking that im just some stupid goon that dosnt care about my animals. if i dint care i would not have sliced mice and rats haeds open for him!and also i had a dog. so dont go thinking ur all better than me ok?