My 2 and 1/2 month (f) ball wont eat

C.Phillips · 07-14-10, 07:35 PM

Hey i bout a male about 1 month and a half ago he is now 3 months and one week old eats two to three hoppers a week. I have a female about 2 and 1/2 months old, She is big enough for small fuzzies, They said that she ate about a week befor I got her. I have had her three weeks this SAT 7/17/2010 I have tried every thing I can think of I have read the forums on older snakes going 10 and 14 months without eating but my male eats every week like I said. Im just worried cause she is still a babie Ball.
Does any one have any ideas or suggestions??

Nafun · 07-14-10, 09:38 PM

Tips for getting a ball to eat.

1> If offering live, offer dead.
2> If offering dead, offer live.
3> If offering rats, offer mice.
4> if offering mice, offer rats.
5> expose the brain of the *dead* prey. (wrap the rat in a towel, gently crush the skull with a hammer/piece of wood/meat tenderizer, then pierce the head with a knife.
6> Feed him in a quiet, warm, dark room.
7> Take a paper bag, using a hole punch, put lots of holes in it. Place an unweaned (eyes closed) rodent, and the snake in the bag. Place the bag in the snake's enclosure. Leave over night in a warm, dark, quiet room.
8> Get a cardboard box. cut a round hole in the top. Place the rodent inside the box, place the box inside the snake's enclosure, put the enclosure in a dark, quiet, warm place.
9> Try offering gerbils or hamsters (dead only unless unweaned. They can be vicious)

Balls are notoriously picky eaters, I wouldn't be worried yet. I don't recommend even trying to feed a ball until you've had it for two weeks. If she's still refusing, she could be going into shed.

citysnakes · 07-14-10, 11:21 PM

make sure your husbandry is spot on, do not handle the snake at all, leave it alone for a week or two and then try offering the the same type of food that it was eating previously to you.

shaunyboy · 07-15-10, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.Phillips

Hey i bout a male about 1 month and a half ago he is now 3 months and one week old eats two to three hoppers a week. I have a female about 2 and 1/2 months old, She is big enough for small fuzzies, They said that she ate about a week befor I got her. I have had her three weeks this SAT 7/17/2010 I have tried every thing I can think of I have read the forums on older snakes going 10 and 14 months without eating but my male eats every week like I said. Im just worried cause she is still a babie Ball.
Does any one have any ideas or suggestions??

dont panic pal i bought a 4 month old carpet it took me 6 months to get her to feed.shes now pounding anything i offer her.dont get me wrong shes a lot smaller than she should be for her age.that said shes starting to catch up now.

all the best in getting her eating
cheers shaun

shaunyboy · 07-15-10, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by citysnakes.com

make sure your husbandry is spot on, do not handle the snake at all, leave it alone for a week or two and then try offering the the same type of food that it was eating previously to you.

forgot to say go with the above advice.

i put my non feeder in the quietest place i could find.i only changed her water every 3 days.after trying her say 3 weeks in a row i'd leave it for 2 to 3 weeks then try again.make sure she has plenty hides at both hot and cool ends.

i down sized her tank to a tiny wee 11 inch legnth,6 inch wide,4 and a half inch high tub.i blanked out every side with brown cardboard.i cut a 4inch by 4 inch window in the front.this was to make her feel secure.

i even tried different heat sources.first was a mat under the tub.then i placed the tub in the centre of a 2x2x2ft viv i had sitting empty (put it in a quiet place ).i used the vivs ceramic set up as the heat source.imo this gave more of an ambient air temperature than a ground temperature.

as a last resort if you have the experience you could try an assist feed.but thats a long way off for now.

its only carpets i work with so im unsure how a ball would react to the following.

i tried all types of food items frozen/thawed.rats,mice,multi mammots,chick leg,also tried braining them all.

i then went onto live rat pups,live multi mammots,live pinkie mice.always stay where you can see whats going on but the snake cant detect you watching.theres a chance of a rodent bite when feeding live.

i then tried scenting with chick blood and chick yolk sack.

in the end dropping a pinkie mouse into really hot water for 6 to 8 seconds (imo takes away the scent).i then applied 2 drops of lizard maker to the pinkies head and back.its a man made scent that makes the food item smell like a lizard.in the wild young carpets often start feeding on small lizards.this worked for my carpet.might work for your ball.

she started eating lizard scented mouse pinkies.all i had to do then was gradually use less and less of the lizard maker until she was taking unscented mouse pinkies.i then put her on small mice,then onto rat pups.shes now eating small weaner rats every time shes offered them.

all the best in getting her to eat

cheers shaun

dragunov.762 · 07-15-10, 08:58 AM

snakes can go longer than you think without eating. i would not worry too much and follow the advice mentioned above. the snake will get hungry enough to eat for you eventually.

C.Phillips · 07-16-10, 09:56 AM

Thanks you guy I will try this advice and see what I get. Thank for all the help guys

C.Phillips · 07-17-10, 03:20 PM

She Finaly ate 2 pinkies last night about 6:30 PM and by 10:45 am this morning she had digested it the stool was normal and there were two parts about the size of a pinkie each. Just wondering if 16 hours is enough time for a ball to get the apropriat neutriants out of their food? my male does not diggest but maybe once a week usualy 24 to 36 hours after he has eaten.

Nafun · 07-17-10, 03:44 PM

Those are probably the remains of the last meal she ate.

My balls only pass stool about once a month. Sometimes they'll pass a little (white balls of hair and other undigestables) either just before, or just after eating.

C.Phillips · 07-17-10, 03:53 PM

OK but is this normal and a comon thing for that to hapen

citysnakes · 07-17-10, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.Phillips

She Finaly ate 2 pinkies last night about 6:30 PM and by 10:45 am this morning she had digested it the stool was normal and there were two parts about the size of a pinkie each. Just wondering if 16 hours is enough time for a ball to get the apropriat neutriants out of their food? my male does not diggest but maybe once a week usualy 24 to 36 hours after he has eaten.

im not really sure what youre saying or asking here but it may be possible that what you saw was a regurgitation and not a defecation. i dont think a ball will digest and pass a meal within such a short time frame. unless it was a defecation from a previous meal. i dont know, maybe reword your post for us...?

C.Phillips · 07-17-10, 10:36 PM

yes but regurgitation wouldent be crap colored would it???? (sorry but thats the only way i could put it that i could think of)

shaunyboy · 07-18-10, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by citysnakes.com

im not really sure what youre saying or asking here but it may be possible that what you saw was a regurgitation and not a defecation. i dont think a ball will digest and pass a meal within such a short time frame. unless it was a defecation from a previous meal. i dont know, maybe reword your post for us...?

as i was reading down the post i was thinking in the time frame given,thats surely too quick to digest and poo it out.i too was thinking it was a reguritation.its only morelia i work with and i know from experience that 16 hours would not be long enough for them to digest a meal.

if you had a picture it may help us decide.

it is possible it was an old meal being poo'ed out but im thinking its too much of a coincedence it happened so quickley after her meal.

shaunyboy · 07-18-10, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.Phillips

yes but regurgitation wouldent be crap colored would it???? (sorry but thats the only way i could put it that i could think of)

regurges can look like poo mate.how digested did the material look ? was there whole pieces of its meal or was it completely mush ?

if you consider the snakes stomach acids have been dissolving it for 16 hours then it brought it back up it could well look like poo.
cheers shaun

you could try feeding her again to see if it happens again or better still if you still have it seal it in a bag and pop it in the fridge.then take it to your vets for parasite and bacterial tests to see if he can find their presence.
cheers shaun

shaunyboy · 07-18-10, 09:29 AM

the following is just my humble opinion but i would be interested to hear others thoughts on it.

i found another thread with pictures of your snake on your cats back also you said your dog had a sniff at the snake licked it and walked away.

it could be stress thats caused your snake to regurge.after all your snake does'nt know the cats a big lush and the dogs a softy.it will view them as predators and will be freaked out by them.

as said this is only my personal opinion.
cheers shaun