Reptile & Amphibian Forums

back in April of this year i bought a female wild caught at the hamburg show up in PA.... my boyfriend and i were buying some ball pythons because we want to start breeding..... but at the time we really didnt know much about how much "work" wild caughts really are. (i guess thats what you could say?).... so i walked over to someone's table and saw a hole bunch of females that were wild caught.... at that time we both had limited amount of money with us so the $25 dollar sign caught my eyes...lol... the sign also said that the females laid eggs..... most of them were really bad looking but i notice this one girl who was at the buttom of all the others who was really neat looking and she didnt have that many scars and nicks on her.... so i picked her up and looked at her eyes and was like.... i feel bad for you, youre coming home with us.... i checked out her overall health and only found two ticks, one in her heat pit near her mouth and i think another on her belly? i forget.... after we brought her and the others home we let them all settle down.... i tried offering her food so many times and she wouldnt take.... i figured that she was really stressed out from being taken from her home and the plane ride or whatever imported balls travle in....that was 7 months ago, and we both still try to offer her food.... nothing is working....we've tried f/t, mice (all colors and white ones) rats (all sizes and colors) gerbils (sizes and colors) everything!.... my boyfriend and i moved here to North Carolina 5 months ago and i got a job at a petstore. the petstore had its own personal vet so the vet took a stool sample to see whats going on.... i found out that shes got Cockzitima (i cant spell worth a crap) and round worms..... so we are treating her every other 3 days and 12 drops of this liquid supliment to kill them.... so i hope this works for her.....cause as you can see in the pictures she doesnt look well at all.... she is just skin and bones, and she just looks depressed....there is no body fat on her at all....and i feel HORRIBLE because i feel like iam the cause of her being like this...ive have tried everything that i can think of....ive tried other peoples adivce...but nothing is working.... im not about to give up on her because i know that one day shell be a really pretty girl....
i may not make to much sence when i say this but this is how i personally feel.... i guess id like to say how hard this is, not only for the her but for me aswell.... i know these snakes can go awhile without eating....and i know some of you guys have wild caughts as well that may or may not be going through the thing... but it worries me alot, it upsets me that she was taken from her home.....the wild....
if any of you have any adivce or anything id like to know cause im willing to do anything to get this female healthy again....
im sorry for such a long story....just wanted you who read this to know the whole background....
well thank you all for reading and thank you for your time.... thank you in advance for any help or information that you can give.... here are a few photos of her.... first ones are of when we first bought her and the bottum ones are of her now....
thanks again and sorry for being long.....
then..


now...




thank you for looking.
-----
Under a dead ohio sky,
Eleven has been and will be waiting,
Defending his light,
And wondering...
Where the hell have I been?
Sleeping, lost, and numb.
So glad that I have found you.
I am wide awake and heading home.
TOOL

Hi there,

I'm assuming you tried live rodents as well as FT.

I'd probably assist feed her a rat pink. Wait a week and offer her a live gerbil.

Let me know if it works!

Christy

i have tried force feeding her a small mouse. some people tell me that that will stress her out even more. a few days after she had the mouse i offered her a small baby gerbil and a small mouse that one of my other snakes didnt eat.
thanks for responding
-----
Under a dead ohio sky,
Eleven has been and will be waiting,
Defending his light,
And wondering...
Where the hell have I been?
Sleeping, lost, and numb.
So glad that I have found you.
I am wide awake and heading home.
TOOL

Hi,

I was suggesting that after the one assist feed meal you offer her a normal sized prey item (not a small mouse or baby gerbil which she might not really recognize as prey).

What I am suggesting may not work, but I've had a lot of luck with force feeding a very small prey item like a mouse fuzzy or rat pink (minimum stress b/c the item is so small), then a few days later offering a live full sized gerbil.

Nothing works with all animals, but you don't have much to lose. Of course, by now she may be heading into a winter fast and you might have to wait her out until spring.

Are you in Ohio, out of curiousity?

Good luck, Christy

a B12 shot to enduce a hunger response. You should ask a vet to do the honors. I had the same situation years ago with a wild caught adult and he started to take rats after the B12 shot. Ask your vet. Give the animal alot of quiet time to relax as much as you can with fresh clean water and a nice warm area to rest on.
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Kyle Stevens
Royal Variations

Many a false step is made from standing still.

May I ask how she is being housed? A picture of her cage, substrate, watering dish and description of her heating method and the rest of her environment would be helpful.
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With a name like Scrotbelly, it has to be good ;o)

i did the same thing, i got a male from the hamburg show, the guy told me he was feeding and didnt say anything about w/c. i also found two ticks on him but after i left the show. now i have a male that refuses to eat and i have tried everything to my best ability. its so hard when everything you can do still isnt enough.
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1.0.0 bearded dragon
1.1.0 green iguana
0.0.1 black and gold tegu
1.0.0 knight anole
0.1.0 green anole
1.1.0 golden gecko
1.0.0 ball python
0.0.5 oriental firebellied toad
0.0.1 green treefrog
0.0.1 barking treefrog
0.0.1 cuban masked treefrog
0.0.1 gray treefrog
0.1.0 gulf hammock rat snake
0.1.0 eastern kingsnake
0.1.0 siberian husky

w/c ball python group hug..
lol....it is hard when they dont eat....cause to me it feels like im doing something wrong... having a pet is making sure its feed and healthy and safe and stuff... i get upset when she wont eat...
is yours still not eating? keep me updated if yours starts eating okay...
thanks everyone!
-----
Under a dead ohio sky,
Eleven has been and will be waiting,
Defending his light,
And wondering...
Where the hell have I been?
Sleeping, lost, and numb.
So glad that I have found you.
I am wide awake and heading home.
TOOL

Argh!!! I've got a non-feeder too. Sold to me as feeding CB, at a premium price for 1600 grams. This girl hasn't taken live or f/t since I bought her in February. She is housed similar to all my other snakes and just doesn't eat. She only pooped a tiny bit a few months ago, and I completely forgot to collect it for a fecal. I tried a force feed, and she spat it out after about 20 minutes. I just keep offering food hoping eventually she will take it. She doesn't even act interested in the food, promptly sticks her head in her coils, like I'm trying to poison her.

cypress chips
41 quart tub in a rack system
flexwatt under one corner
lg dog bowl for water

I wouldn't force feed unless it's absolutely necessary..... that only stresses them out further. If condition gets worse, take her to the vet. Good luck.

Eric