Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I obtained a pair of 05 blood pythons from a friend.
I have not had any problems up until a
few weeks ago, when only one of them completely
stopped eating.At first I thought it was a housing problem.
But why is the other not having a problem?
I need help as soon as possible.
ANY help would be appreciated.
-daniel

It still could be a husbandry problem. i assume youre keeping them together in the same enclosure...it could be the stronger snake is dominating the lesser or the stronger will soon start to show the same symptoms. A more complete description of your setup might help. Does the anorexic animal have any other symptoms?

No, I have them in seperate identical sweater box things.
with newspaper as a substrate. And a desent sized water bowl.
-daniel

Hey Daniel-
Well if the environments are equally good (you didn't mention temps and hides); both animals were eating and otherwise fine, and then one, for no apparent reason ceased eating, it does point to an individual problem. How many feedings has the animal missed? Is the snake getting ready to shed? What were you feeding? Have you tried any alternatives? And there are there any other symptoms?.
BTW: I don't know of course how experienced you are as a keeper,and I don't mean to be too directive. Just trying to help. Blood culture is not in any major way different than that of other tropical boids...
Bill

Hey,
I would relax and not begin to worry this early in the game with your newly acquired charges. The most obvious symptom of what could be happening is that your non feeder, is going into a shed. This is typical of bloods, and particular with most juveniles. Wait for a few days and resume feeding trials with him or her, if the obvious signs of shed are not apparent to you. I.e., opaqueness. I have a few gluttonous juveniles and even adults that will feed during this period, and there are others that steadfastly refuse food until after they have shed. If your set up and all parameters are within appropriate limits, then the aforementioned is probably your culprit. If however, there are no obvious signs of shed, then maybe changing something in your set up might be your answer. There are no grey areas with bloods, as they are quite the fussy critters and like very much what they like and that's that.

They are ambush predators, and enjoy a good hide, and I am not necessarily speaking of a hide box, but a cypress mulch. A substrate like cypress mulch, allows them to burrow and hide beneath the top layer, and gives them the security and ambush advantage that they would normally find accessible in their natural habitat. So providing them with something other than newspaper or what ever you're using might just be the key to eliciting a positive feed reaction and response from a shy blood. Also, if you're feeding frozen thawed rodents, having a small container filled with warm water to heat the mouse in can also, help in eliciting a strike response as the heat gives them the heat signal necessary for identifying the item as food. I find that when I don't get a strike from my feeding short-tails or bloods, that warming their food immediately changes their lacklustre interest and they immediately strike and constrict.

Remember to feed with a long pair of tongs or forceps. I use a pair that is at least 12 inches long. I keep several around for different feeding sessions with different animals requiring different needs and tactics.
-Angel
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In life you can fall many times, but you're only a failure, if you don't try to get back up!
Evil Canevil