White Lipped Python

[SnoopySnake]

He killed the rat tonight and didn't eat it. I'm really upset.

[Derek Roddy]

Remember, it's starting to cool down outside which for a snake means that breeding season is coming and they often go off feed for several months at a time...esp imports (which is what yours looks like.)

If he's killing and not eating....it's season and he wants to breed. He didn't get that big by not eating. haha.

As far as weight, he may look thin compared to captive animals but, rest assure he's fine. Any wild caught or short term captive will be "thin" in the eyes of captive keepers who aren't familiar with their average size in the bush.

Find him a girl .lol.

Cheers,
D

[SnoopySnake]

He was a healthy weight when he got here, its just when he went off food that he started dropping. The visible weight loss is alarming if he was just wanting to breed. He had mites pretty bad but were getting it under control now, could the mites have made him drop weight faster? He did get taken out a few days ago and was out being soaked/treated for awhile, I suppose that could have stressed him to the point he didn't want food.

No females for this guy...yet Have to get this one under control first.

[Derek Roddy]

I wouldn't sweat the weight loss as of yet. I've seen them much thinner in the wild. So much so that most people would freeze (euthanize) an animal if it look like that in their captive environment. Haha.
He'll be fine as far as that is concerned. like I said if he's wrapping and killing and not eating....he wants a girl and will resume feeding normally in a couple months.

Now, if there are mites involved, etc....being an import (which I'm 100% sure of) all of that will make him a "picky" eater until he becomes secure in a captive environment. but, you most likely won't see normal feeding behavior until after the breeding season.

D

[SnoopySnake]

Awesome, thanks for the reassurance. He ate decently up until the mites flared up, so hopefully he'll be good after they're gone. I'm eventually planning on building him a 4'Lx4'Hx3'W bioactive enclosure for him. Do you think that'll be big enough? He's very unusually calm for a WC white lip, too.

Snapped a few pics of him while I was getting the rat out. He's a feisty guy in his enclosure for sure.

[Zelg]

After he kills the rat, do you leave him be? Leave the room, turn off the lights, etc? Is it night? Day? Do you watch him to see if he eats?

I got mine about a month ago. Calmly took my F/T from my tweezers, pulled it to the ground, let go and circled around it for about 10 minutes, flicking his tongue. After 10 mins or so he began eating it.

10 days later, poke the rat in its cage and he didnt even come out for a sniff. I left it in his cage and it was there in the morning.

10 days later, I open his cage, hold the rat, doesnt come out of his hide so I left it at his front door, watched tv, went to bed and when I woke up it was gone.

That leads me to believe they really dont like being watched when they're eating. Also, I can go into my balls cage, move stuff around etc and my ball wont hardly move. I walk into my room or shine a light on WLP's cage and immediately you can see his coils tighten up inside his hide. Any bumps of the cage or loud noises like shutting a window will spook him.

I mostly ask this because in that one picture his mouth is bloody so I'm wondering if you watched him kill it and waited to see if he'd eat it and he didnt want to be watched or something. They easily stress too.

[SnoopySnake]

I watched him kill it to make sure nothing went wrong and then left the room as soon as he got it. Same thing I did last time he ate. It was about 8:30, so later. I don't watch him because I know he'll drop it and watch me. I took those pics when I was taking the rat out of his enclosure, so he'd already killed it and had let it go for some time. If I dangle a f/t in front of his hides he just strikes it defensively, and if I leave it in there overnight he just ignores it.

[Zelg]

Ah ok. That sounds terribly frustrating. My ball went off feeding for like 3 months last year. It really freaked me out at the time. Not that the situations are the same. I wish I could offer up some assistance. Been watching your thread a while now and I'm hopin things smooth out for you and your WLP.

[reptiledude987]

How is your feeding issue coming along?

I keep looking at your pics here in anticipation Of mine coming in, in the summer of 2016. I dont know if i can wait that long lol.

[SnoopySnake]

His last meal was October 13th. I'm going to try again this weekend and see how it goes...I'm hoping with the mites clearing up and having left him alone these past couple weeks that he'll eat for me.

[reptiledude987]

good luck I hope it works for you.

[SnoopySnake]

This guy was looking kinda crappy yesterday, his tub has been a bit too dry since we're still treating for mites, and he's still losing weight. But I offered him a weaned rat since he was out, he struck and coiled, then put it down and went in his hide. I sprayed down the tank really good and this morning he got all of his shed off. I took the rat out, brained it, left it in his hide overnight but he didn't eat it. I dangled it again when I was taking him out and he coiled, dropped it, then started sniffing around to eat it. So apparently he likes smelly brained rats. I'm going to see if he'll take another one in 2-3 days since this was a really small meal for him.

[Sylphie]

So glad to hear that he finally ate! Hope he'll start to eat more frequently now.

[SnoopySnake]

He was acting much more like a typical white lip should last night I had to clean his cage, so I took his hide off of him and put it on the other side, but instead of going in it he got really angry and started climbing the hook. He climbed up the hook, which was keeping the lid of the tub open, and then just sat there staring at me looking very defensive and well in striking distance of my face. We sat like this for about 5 minutes and I didn't want to move and spook him, and I couldn't push him back in with the hook because if I moved it the lid would crush him. So I very slowly and carefully grabbed the paper towel roll next to me and pushed his head away and the rest of his body back into the tub. It was intense and he's much more intimidating than my little retic

And for the mites, I didn't get a good look when he was staring me down, but there were TONS of dead ones on the paper towels. So it looks like the problem is in control I am really curios to see whats still on him and alive, but I'm trying to keep handling to a minimal so that he keeps eating for me.

[SnoopySnake]

Albert took a f/t large rat tonight with vigor. Woot woot! First meal since Nov. 17th. Hopefully he starts eating regularly now.