Blood not eating

Jacob1750 · 12-06-11, 12:54 AM

Hey guys, I just added a new member to the family about a month ago. Shes a four foot blood named petunia. She is gorgeous and is very docile. I got her from a close friend who was thinning out the collection of her reptiles. I had her checked out by the vet and shes in tip top shape. Theres one problem.....SHE WONT EAT!!! I first tried her on frozen rats but she didnt take so then i tried her on live and she still wont eat. She hasnt eaten since i got her and that was about eight weeks ago. Im getting a little worried.... Please help, thanks

minibrat · 12-06-11, 04:09 AM

Have you tried different animals or sizes? That was the trick to get my little brothers to eat.

Jacob1750 · 12-06-11, 06:12 AM

What do you mean by different animals? Like different mice?

Gungirl · 12-06-11, 06:35 AM

What are your temps? How was your friend offering food? What was she being fed before you got her? How often was she eating? Do you know her past? All of this information can help us help you.

CDN_Blood · 12-06-11, 06:40 AM

A 4 foot Blood won't be eating mice. Was the thawed rat warm enough? Most Bloods are absolute gluttons when it comes to eating, so even if the rat was a little cold (which I don't recommend) it should go for it.

Seeing as it's only been 8 weeks, I really wouldn't worry about it. Just keep trying it once a week or so (not more) until you find the key that gets it to eat.

They're such insecure snakes that it may not eat in front of you. You can try offering it a hide first, or even a sheet or two of newspaper to hide under and then putting a thawed rat in it's enclosure, or try covering the enclosure with a towel so it's not disturbed when it's feeding time. That will sometimes do the trick.

Bloods aren't like other snakes, so you might want to ask the original owner if there were any tricks he may have had to perform to get it to eat. Here's hoping that he wasn't tong feeding the thing; that can get very dangerous with a big Blood.

They can be stubborn (it took over 5 years to convince my oldest Blood to take dead food, but now he'll suck a pre-dispatched 3 pound rabbit through a straw), but they can go months and months and months without food, just as they do in the wild while they aestivate, so don't worry about it too much just yet. Keep trying the once a week thing and let us know how it goes

shaunyboy · 12-06-11, 06:56 AM

could also be a breeding season thing mate

ask the guy you got her from if she was prone to stop eating in winter

8 weeks not eating is nothing to worry about,especially with a big chunky blood python

cheers shaun

Jacob1750 · 12-13-11, 07:24 AM

The temps and humidity check out but I think it might be where she is just getting used to her enclosure. I also heard that they will go off food when they get too fat. When I got her she had deffinately been over-fed. Thanks for all the info everyone.

CDN_Blood · 12-13-11, 07:27 AM

They certainly can be a little put-off by new surroundings. You'll notice that once she's settled-in and you add something new or change something in her tank, that she'll spend quite a bit of time checking out the new item, or where things have moved to. They're *very* insecure, so stability in environment goes a long way with a Blood.

I've yet to see a Blood go off it's food unless it's a gravid female, but I have seen many that are what I consider unhealthily overweight and some that are just plain obese. You'll find a Blood Python Size Guide image on my Blood Lines page that may help you gauge her ideal weight. Are you able to post an image of her for us?

Keep us posted

Jacob1750 · 12-13-11, 07:50 AM

Very true about the surroundings. I put in a larger soaking dish and it took a week before she felt comfortable going in for a soak. As for the pics, I can have some uploaded later today. I can show a picture of when I first got her and I can show one of her now. She has slimmed down a considerable amount.

ZARADOZIA · 12-13-11, 08:40 AM

Don't worry yet, just keep an eye on (monitor) weight / weight loss, activity, reflexes, condition of the scales, etc. Make sure she has plenty of fresh water and continue offering food on a regular feeding schedule. Like Shaun said..it's winter. A lot of our leggless family members stop eating this time of year. My Sasha is now going into month 2 of not eating. But she did this last year also and didn't eat for 7months. I kept an eye on her weight, made sure she still had good reflexes and reaction, she didn't show any ill affects from it and then when spring came she ate normally again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

could also be a breeding season thing mate
ask the guy you got her from if she was prone to stop eating in winter
8 weeks not eating is nothing to worry about,especially with a big chunky blood python
cheers shaun

CDN_Blood · 12-14-11, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jacob1750

...As for the pics, I can have some uploaded later today. I can show a picture of when I first got her and I can show one of her now...

Jacob1750 · 12-14-11, 03:01 PM

Sorry for the wait lol

018.jpg

Jacob1750 · 12-14-11, 03:05 PM

Heres another one with a cool blue filter effect.

027.jpg

CDN_Blood · 12-14-11, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jacob1750

Sorry for the wait lol

No problem, just keep in mind next time that I'm an old man and my attention span gets shorter with each batch of meds my nursemaids bring me :P

Well, she certainly looks like she's either in a moult or has lost a considerable amount of weight (judging by the baggy outfit she's wearing), but she's still not anywhere near being emaciated or anything. As a matter of fact, judging by her size, it could simply be a combination of new surroundings combined with her first period of sexual maturity that has her not eating. She looks about the right size for that.

The substrate is a good start to making her feel safe and secure, but the hide in the corner looks a *tad* too small to be meant for her, lol. Since she can dig in the substrate, a hide isn't as important to getting her to eat, but you might want to try throwing one in there anyhow, if she doesn't have one we're not seeing. Anything will do, really - a shoebox, a sheet of newsprint she can curl-up under, whatever. You'll know when she's feeling cozy with it, and that'd be a good time to turn-off the lights, drop her a big thawed (and warmed) rat, cover the tank and leave the room for 1/2 hour or so.

Let us know if this works, or if you've already tried all that and it didn't...

Jacob1750 · 12-14-11, 03:11 PM

Will do, thanks for the advice man.