Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my female that i seperated 3 days ago upon the opinions of tasha and a couple others did not eat the mouse i threw in there last night. she is DEFINATELY losing weight but still shedding, is that possible? i picked her up this morning and i could tell that she was thinner.....please help i dont want her to die, if i have to i will tube feed her tonight. does anyone have an experience like this??? has been 2 months that i have had her that i know for a fact she hasnt ate anything, pet store said she was there for 2 weeks and hadnt ate anything, so that is 10 weeks no food.......HHHEEELLLLPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She'll eat when she wants to eat. And ten weeks is nothing. She can go a lot longer without eating. Be patient.

Chris
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“Next time don't buy $10K worth of snakes out of the back of a van!” -- Toshamc

Since she was dropped off in front of a pet store, my guess is the previous owner could not cope with the fact she did not eat. Now is the time for you to decide if that's a road you want to go down. If not, you might think about placing her with someone that has expereince with problem feeders. I had a rescue several years ago that didn't eat for like 16 months, I actually got him started again by feeding him lizards I caught in my backyard. So they can go for quite a while without feeding, if she's on a fast, you just have to make sure she is properly hydrated and otherwise comfortable and she should start eating in her own time, do not force feed her. Then there is the possiblity that she is a wild caught ball and she does not recognise the mouse/rat as a food item. In which case you may need to find someplace that sells gerbils or hampsters to feed her (and eventually switch her to rats/mice). But what you don't want to do right now is stress her out. Leave her in her new cage for a week or even two, don't handle or disturb her. Just check on her, check her water, her cage temps, etc. but basically leave her be, cover up her cae if it's in a busy room. Then offer her a small dark food item. And see what happens, but be prepared for the rejection, it happens. You've had the fecal done and she's clean inside, which means it's just a matter of time until she starts eating. Don't try feeding her too often you'll stress her out, one try a week is fine. If she's visibly lethargic or dehydrated, then you need to start thinking about assisted feeding (which is different than force or tube feeding). But give her some settle in time. Hope this helps

Oh, here is a very good link to look at regarding WC balls and their feeding issues: Link

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Tosha

8.13.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

I hate to say it, but I don't think you are doing this right.

Here's what I think you should do:

Step 1 - Simple Enclosure:

1) Ensure the temps are accurate in your enclosure. Use a digital thermometer or temp gun to measure and a thermostat to control temp.
2) Ensure the enclosure has LOTS of small, dark, tight hides (1 hot, 1 cool, 1 in the middle at the very least)
3) Use a non-particulate substrate.
4) Appropriately sized water bowl
5) That's it.

Step 2 - Leave snakey alone for a month

1) Do not look at him, do not handle him, do not reorganize his enclosure, do not try to feed him
2) The only contact you should have with him is removing waste and refilling water. If he's in a hide, do not lift it up

Step 3 - Learn about Ball Pythons

1) The KS.com forums are an OK source of information ... is OK the quality of life you want to provide?
2) Find and buy The Ball Python manual ... read it 2 or three times start to finish, then leave it in the bathroom and read it every time you're in there (Since you aren't seeing snakey for a month, you've got plenty of reading time).
3) Find and buy another ball python book, like the one by the Bartlets, and read that many times too.
4) Read 100 caresheets from RELIABLE sites on the internet. Check out Ralph Davis' site, NERD ... all the big breeders, and then all the small breeders, and then all the kids who had to make a website for a school project.
5) Read and re-read the entire proexotics.com FAQ
6) Talk to people who you know have ACTUAL experience with ball pythons (none of that "I heard from a guy who knew a guy who said mustard makes rats taste better"

Step 4 - Feeding
1) Get snakey to eat something (you will have learned all the tricks to doing this during your intensive research)
2) Repeat Step 1 four times before you consider handling snakey
3) DO NOT FORCE FEED OR TUBE FEED YOUR SNAKE
4) 10 week fasts are very common, I'm sure many people here would rather a 10 week fast then whatever it is they are dealing with.

Note: A healthy ball python will live way more than 20 years. The best thing you can do now is leave this guy alone. Even if you don't look at him for 6 months, you'll have 19.5 years left with your happy, healthy snake.

Good luck,
Joel
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0.1 Ball Python
1.0 Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Leopard Gecko
1.0 Berber Skink

Not saying you are wrong but - this guy has a ball he's has been raising him for I think he said 3 years. I'm sure he knows what he's doing for general care. The snake he refers to is a rescue that was left in the snow in front of a petshop. I guess if you didn't bother taking into consideration the history of the animal in question the person making the post might sound a bit uneducated, but not worthy of your little "lecture". Personally, I have learned more from the herpers here than any manual I've read. Unless they've changed in the past 20 years. But that's just my opinion.
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Tosha

8.13.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

yes i do know about snakes and lizards, i've had a ball for 2 years now and i have been breeding and raising beardies for 3 -4 years now...but i do appreciate the "lecture". i think i was getting a little over-worried about it, i dont want her to die, but i dont want to kill her with my worryin' either ya know? well i gotta go for now i will try to get back on later....THANK YOU ALL FOR THE HELP AND INFO!!!!

Just a little extra input...............The record for a ball going without food is 22 months, I believe. And it resumed eating after as if nothing was wrong. That's just short of two years. My female goes almost religiously without for 7-9 months out of each year, but when she's on feed she thinks she's a burm . I don't presume to know what that poor thing might have gone through before it wound up with you, but if you have a scale keep track of its weight and keep us up on what's goin' on. I don't think it's time to panic yet.

Quig

I agree with everyone on here about relaxing. Some of mine also go several months without eating. I also have some additional input. Make sure your heat is up to at least 90 F 24 hours a day on the hot side. Wait at least a week in between feeding attempts (write it down on you calendar if you have to). That way you will stress less about it and so will your snake. Step 2, if you have no knowledge of what the snake was eating before, go with the sure thing. If you can get gerbils for a reasonable price, go for it, if not try hamsters, you can always try to switch him back to mice or rats later. If you don't want to do that, at least try putting some used gerbil bedding from a local pet store in the tank when you try to feed him. It really does help stimulate an appetite. This is the time of year they usually start eating again, so be patient and just when you are about to give up...it will happen.

calm Down i had my male go six months before he for me for the first time.The people that had him neglected him and fed him frozen whereas I feed live and they would just throw the mouse in there in the tank and leave.But now he is eating well getting fatter and looking to breed.I am very proud of what I was able to accomplish with him.It was a slow process of beeing gentle giving him his space and waiting for him to come around.You have to remember that Ball Pythons are known for being picky eaters and sometimes it just takes a little patience