Still not eating

[graffitiraptor]

i know that the males go off food in winter and he did it last year but this is insane, and its driving me insane(er) too!. He hasent eaten since august! thats like 5 months! hes lost loads of wieght, he looks like a cornsnake!i feel guilty just lookin at him but its him thats refusing the food.i know a lot go a lot longer than this without eating but he wasent eating that well before. just for a mesuerment he can easily fit thru the cardboard bog roll tube.
im thinking of getting a live gerbil only im scared hes just goning to ignore it and it will hurt him cos hes realy thick.iv tryed feeding him a live mouse before and they just smelled each other then the mouse actualy sat on his head!if he dos eat it will i be able to get him to eat any thing else after?cos i heard they like them to much.(oh i already tryd asist feeding once dident work)

What if the tank is to big?it just came to me now, i know young ones get scared in a big tank, his is 3foot by 2 by 1.5 is this to big? i spent a bomb on it!

[Auskan]

Does he have lots of hides? I.e., can he virtually go from one end of the tank to the other without being seen? (Or think he can). You might try a smaller enclosure for awhile, but you don't need to spend a lot. Try a much smaller rubbermaid container, and see if that makes a difference.

Gerbils - if he eats the gerbil, you might find it difficult to ever get him to eat anything else, and feeding gerbils will get real expensive, especially as he gets bigger. Its also not that easy to breed them for food as they can take up to six months to get around to breeding, the gestation period is longer than for mice and rats, and they also won't let embryos implant while they are lactating, so in other words, they won't start growing a new litter until the first is weaned or gone. So you would probably need several colonies to have enough to feed one BP.

[graffitiraptor]

oh i forgot to say hes about 6 years old now so he wont be getting much longer now, like only a few milimetres a year, if i can get him to eat!hes a bit over 4 foot now pretty small.oh and theres no way i would/could ever keep one gerbil alive never mind a colony.. i dont know why, all rodents just seem to hate me, and show it by dying:confused:

[tHeGiNo]

I am just going to quote one of my last posts.

The key to getting a ball python to eat is to achieve correct husbandry. I am a firm believer in this, and I deem the ball pythons insecurity as the reason behind not eating. First, the basics. I am a fan of replicating native conditions, so I keep the ambient humidity low with humid hides. Where as the ambient humidity is relatively low, the hides boast humidities of up and over 80%. Temperatures on the basking spot are between 90ºF with a temperature of 75ºF on the cool side.

With all the aside, it is essential to shelter the ball pythons security. Key is the hides. Being thigotropic, hides that make contact with the back of the snake is mandatory. Best results will be acheived under these conditions. Have at least two of these available, one on either side of the tank. Of course, be sure to include an adequately sized water bowl.

Once proper husbandry has been achieved, and of course after warranting a period of acclimation, attempt feeding again. My suggestion is to leave it in the enclosure, in the dark, overnight. Trying multiple methods over and over does nothing but further the stress on the animal. If consistently unsuccessful, attempt feeding a live prey. A live hopper often employs their natural feeding instincts. As I've mentioned in the past, and will continue to mention, the health of the snake is what is most important, especially with young ball pythons. Once healthy, you may then worry about switching to f/t prey items. It is important not to allow the python to get to the point where it is too weak to eat.

[sapphire_moon]

ya what tHeGiNo said. also what "tricks" have you used? As someone else said don't do gerbils unless you want to be spending TONS of money for like 6 gerbils a week to feed a 4ft bp. I don't think 4ft is small for a bp, rather more average. But the weight thing is bad, try to get get a fecal, and take it to the vet. If he lost that much weight.

my 2.5ft bp has been off food for going on 5 months and she is still ROUND (not bad round, but healthy bp round, lol). So if he has lost that much weight then there might be something else wrong.

[tHeGiNo]

Well basically, there are two different kinds of 'going off feeding' with ball pythons. One, is where they want to eat but do not like what is being offered to them. In this case, they lose weight when they are not eating. The other kind would be voluntarily going off feeding, for one reason or another.

[tHeGiNo]

i know that the males go off food in winter and he did it last year but this is insane, and its driving me insane(er) too!. He hasent eaten since august! thats like 5 months! hes lost loads of wieght, he looks like a cornsnake!i feel guilty just lookin at him but its him thats refusing the food.i know a lot go a lot longer than this without eating but he wasent eating that well before. just for a mesuerment he can easily fit thru the cardboard bog roll tube.
im thinking of getting a live gerbil only im scared hes just goning to ignore it and it will hurt him cos hes realy thick.iv tryed feeding him a live mouse before and they just smelled each other then the mouse actualy sat on his head!if he dos eat it will i be able to get him to eat any thing else after?cos i heard they like them to much.(oh i already tryd asist feeding once dident work)

What if the tank is to big?it just came to me now, i know young ones get scared in a big tank, his is 3foot by 2 by 1.5 is this to big? i spent a bomb on it!

Ok, I guess I will reply directly to your post. If he is loosing weight, we have a problem. However first things first - correct your husbandry. Make sure everything is exactly up to par with what I mentioned above. The three foot tank isn't the best idea ever. Get yourself a rubbermaid, the one that is approximately 20 inches long. Get the shorter model, the height is unecessary and ball pythons prefer tight environments. Once you have obtained this, again make sure your husbandry matches what I suggested above. Most importantly, that you have a basking spot in and around 92F, a cold retreat in and around 75F, and a hide which is snug and makes contact with your ball pythons back. The enclosure and hide, in my opinion, is the most important aspect in regius husbandry, especially with the problem feeders.

Once your husbandry is corrected, give your ball python two weeks of alone time. Leave him alone, don't handle, and especially do not attempt feeding. After this two week period, leave a freshly killed rodent, approximately equal size to the snakes girth, and leave it in there over night. If he does not take this, give him another week of isolation, then attempt feeding a live white mouse.

[graffitiraptor]

he has two hides, one on the hot side and one on the cool side.he spends about half his time in each, the cool part is at 22c the warm part is 24c to 25c and his hot spot is at 29c but he has plenty of space to choose his idal temp. it gets cooler at night cos the lights go off and the humidity gos up to about 60, its at 50 in the day.i would have it in farrenhiet(?) but i carnt work it out.

[marisa]

I am not an expert but I would first, raise his hot spot to 31-33C. (which is 90-92 or so) 29C (which is 84-85F) is not really hot enough.

Marisa

[tHeGiNo]

I agree with Marisa, definitely raise the hot spot to 33ºC. Also, what are your hides like. Do they, as I mentioned, tend to the ball pythons thigmotropic nature? In that it makes contact with the snakes back and is overall a tight fit to the snake?

[graffitiraptor]

iv raised his temps and given him a 3rd hide there all cork bark and all but the new one tuches his back, but he just went in an coiled up higher so it did, its probaly just me but he alresdy seems happyer now the hot spots temps r up:D

[tHeGiNo]

Thats awesome. Give him a week or two then try feeding again.