Ball Python will not feed

[Anita]

My Ball Python still will not feed

Sorry Ted i tried your method without success. These are the other methods i have tried over the past weeks, leaving mouse in with him overnight, using different prey (rat pups, browm mice, black mice etc), dipping the prey in chicken stock, dipping the prey in tuna juices, braining the prey before feeding, wriggling the prey so he thinks its alive, using small forcepts, ive even tried rubbing the prey in chicken blood, putting him in a box with the mouse (baby chicks a way too big for him yet) and leaving him in a dark room overnight nothing is working. Its been weeks now since he has fed as ive taken all of your advice and not force fed him. He has now shed during his fasting period and i thought that he should now be staving hungry but no he still refuses food. Has anyone got any other methods i can try. Please do not suggest giving him live prey as it is illegal in the United Kingdom. His husbandry is fine i keep it as close to specification as i can temp 80 - 90 during the day 70 - 75 at night he has 2 hides one on the cool side and one on the warm side humidity is 40 - 50 % all the care sheets indicate that these are right. He has no mites and the vet says he is healthy with no internal problems. Ive even tried not handling him for several days before feeding him but he still refuses to eat. I leave week intervals between feeds so i dont stress him out. Please help as i feel i may have to take him back and give up as i will not allow him to die.

 

[Ted]

Sorry Ted i tried your method without success. These are the other methods i have tried over the past weeks, leaving mouse in with him overnight, using different prey (rat pups, browm mice, black mice etc), dipping the prey in chicken stock, dipping the prey in tuna juices, braining the prey before feeding, wriggling the prey so he thinks its alive, using small forcepts, ive even tried rubbing the prey in chicken blood, putting him in a box with the mouse (baby chicks a way too big for him yet) and leaving him in a dark room overnight nothing is working. Its been weeks now since he has fed as ive taken all of your advice and not force fed him. He has now shed during his fasting period and i thought that he should now be staving hungry but no he still refuses food. Has anyone got any other methods i can try. Please do not suggest giving him live prey as it is illegal in the United Kingdom. His husbandry is fine i keep it as close to specification as i can temp 80 - 90 during the day 70 - 75 at night he has 2 hides one on the cool side and one on the warm side humidity is 40 - 50 % all the care sheets indicate that these are right. He has no mites and the vet says he is healthy with no internal problems. Ive even tried not handling him for several days before feeding him but he still refuses to eat. I leave week intervals between feeds so i dont stress him out. Please help as i feel i may have to take him back and give up as i will not allow him to die.

am so sorry to hear that you are still having problems.
at least you are trying!
dont fret, and dont give up!
snakes can go super long periods without food, and generally wont starve themselves to death, if suitable prey is offered now and then.
at this point my only advice[unless i can recall more methods ive used] is to just keep trying what is working even the slightest for you.
i'm not sure who would have advised that you dip the prey in stock or tuna juices.
they arent fish eaters, so thats a bit odd to me.
theres a good chance that the snake is over stimulated right now and would like to be left alone a week or so.
i would try leaving it totally alone for a week or two and then re-introducing a fresh killed mouse that is smaller than its head[width].
my fingers are crossed for you!

 

[Mushroom Spore]

70 - 75 at night

This is really cold for them, I've never heard of letting temps get THAT low. Maybe this is your problem? I keep my boy at the same temps day and night (undertank heater). If they're getting too cold, they won't eat--instinct tells them not to, because they won't be able to digest if it's cold, and the food will rot inside them.

 

[Anita]

am so sorry to hear that you are still having problems.
at least you are trying!
dont fret, and dont give up!
snakes can go super long periods without food, and generally wont starve themselves to death, if suitable prey is offered now and then.
at this point my only advice[unless i can recall more methods ive used] is to just keep trying what is working even the slightest for you.
i'm not sure who would have advised that you dip the prey in stock or tuna juices.
they arent fish eaters, so thats a bit odd to me.
theres a good chance that the snake is over stimulated right now and would like to be left alone a week or so.
i would try leaving it totally alone for a week or two and then re-introducing a fresh killed mouse that is smaller than its head[width].
my fingers are crossed for you!

Thanks for your quick response, i was surprised at the tuna juice as well it was a suggestion that was on a UK care sheet for non feeding ball pythons and at this point i am prepared to try anything. I have just tried the box method again only keeping him in it for 3 hours but no luck, although when i released him i was looking at the pictures of snakes posted on this site at the time and offered the mouse by hand again when he actually struck at my hand and bit my thumb causing me to drop the mouse but he still didnt feed i dont know if the bite was meant for me or he just mistook my thumb for the mouse but i wont give up i guess this bite is the first of many i will receive.

 

[Anita]

This is really cold for them, I've never heard of letting temps get THAT low. Maybe this is your problem? I keep my boy at the same temps day and night (undertank heater). If they're getting too cold, they won't eat--instinct tells them not to, because they won't be able to digest if it's cold, and the food will rot inside them.

I have been going by UK websites care sheets for temp guides and humidity i have an undertank heater that stays on all the time and a red reflector lamp which is on all day. If my snake is too cold why does he not use his hide on the side of the tank that the heat mat is on. He always uses the colder side of the tank to lie in. I cant say he uses his hides as he doesnt he sleeps out in the open either by the glass doors at the front of his his tank or at the back but never in either of his hides. He plays in the hides during the evening if i dont get him out but he never sleeps on the hotter side of the tank. I guess i have an abnormal Ball Python or he just feels very secure out in the open.

 

[mindlessvw]

you really may want to get him to a vet as well...they can carry all sorts of parasites or have other issues you are not aware of...i would highly recommend that...

 

[Anita]

you really may want to get him to a vet as well...they can carry all sorts of parasites or have other issues you are not aware of...i would highly recommend that...

Have already been he has been given the all clear. He is very active in the evening/night time doesnt shy away or curl up in a ball, however he did when the vet handled him but i put that down to him being a stranger so no other issues other than he wont eat. Even the vet said he expected my python to respond by curling in a ball so i had to hold him to relax him so he could be examined until he felt safe so the vet could do it properly.

 

[ShawnH]

I see you took it to a vet I hope that the vet was a qualified exotic animal vet and was familiar with snakes.

Ball python juvis are notorious for being finicky feeders. The most succesful methods I have used is to just place the mouse in front of the snake and leave the snake alone for about 6 hours with the mouse. Or dunk the mouse in chicken soup and introduce it to the snake.

As long as the snake is drinking water there is no extreme urgency to him fasting.

If the snake is kept with other snakes in the same enclosure he may be stressed , but from the way it sounds he is alone.

Is it possible that the snakes digestive tract has become impacted by a peice of bedding like a wood chip or corn cob that he was kept on while at the pet store?

Has the snake been thoroughly examined for internal and external parasites? (That includes a fecal exam.)

Try putting the snake in a larger or smaller enclosure.
I wouldn't worry so much about the snake and wouldn't consider force feeding unless the snake starts appearing very malnourished and lethargic.


Hope this helps you in some way.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

I just realized something--I did a ctrl-F search of both pages of this thread, and found no mention of whether this snake was captive bred or wild-caught. (Also this thread's been going so long I couldn't remember anyway.)

If this was a wild-caught ball python baby, we could have a serious problem. A lot of those WC babies never eat and just up and die.

 

[Thoth]

If you are using f/t prey item, oddly enough with my balls, if they don't immediately go for a prey item warming it up helps encourage feeding (I estimate about 105 or so degrees but that is just by feel).

Also mine for some reason only feed every other week.

 

[titus]

It's unlikely that it's a WC snake more likely is that it's a farm bred import. How old is the snake exactly if it's a young one your reaching a critical point where it needs to eat at all cost. The most succesful method I've used is to open the snakes mouth and place the feeder item in then pinch the mouth shut while placing the snake back in it's cage. You may have to repeat this two to three times. But most continue to eat the prey from thier on thier own. We had a hatchling from this year we used this method for three weeks, Shes been eating on her own since than. This method is less stressfull than force feeding and doesn't lead to regurgition as often. I've found it a very good meathod for snakes as a last resort for hatchlings that haven't fed for 6-8 weeks.

 

[PhilK]

Snakes are essentially a mystery as far as skipping meals randomly goes!!
If it's healthy, don't fuss!
If not, try 'braining' the rat (putting a pin/nail into the braincase. Increases smell to snake), or leaving it in over night, or as a last choice for an emergency.. try giving it live? I don't recommend that one really...
Any and all of the suggestions so far have been great.

Didn't read thread fully so apologies if I'm rambling about stuff that's been established or is now off topic!

 

[Anita]

am so sorry to hear that you are still having problems.
at least you are trying!
dont fret, and dont give up!
snakes can go super long periods without food, and generally wont starve themselves to death, if suitable prey is offered now and then.
at this point my only advice[unless i can recall more methods ive used] is to just keep trying what is working even the slightest for you.
i'm not sure who would have advised that you dip the prey in stock or tuna juices.
they arent fish eaters, so thats a bit odd to me.
theres a good chance that the snake is over stimulated right now and would like to be left alone a week or so.
i would try leaving it totally alone for a week or two and then re-introducing a fresh killed mouse that is smaller than its head[width].
my fingers are crossed for you!

Hi Ted,

Just thought i would let u and all the others that posted ideas on how to get my Ball Python to feed know that i have just successfully got him to strike feed None of you are going to believe this but i tried using a normal household peg to grip the mouse while wriggling it infront of him :? but as you said use what ever method works and this did. Thank you all for your help and i will keep you all posted on how he gets on. Thanks again

 

[Ted]

Hi Ted,

Just thought i would let u and all the others that posted ideas on how to get my Ball Python to feed know that i have just successfully got him to strike feed None of you are going to believe this but i tried using a normal household peg to grip the mouse while wriggling it infront of him :? but as you said use what ever method works and this did. Thank you all for your help and i will keep you all posted on how he gets on. Thanks again

most wonderful news!
i knew it would feed..sooner or later.

hopefully you should have no problems in the future.
I'm happy for you!
dont forget to post some pics of your snake!

 

[Anita]

most wonderful news!
i knew it would feed..sooner or later.

hopefully you should have no problems in the future.
I'm happy for you!
dont forget to post some pics of your snake!

I have posted 1 but its a bit blurred as i took it with my mobile phone camera and they dont download very successfully but will try again. Ive seen the couple of your snakes pics posted they are both lovely snakes by the way

 

[Ted]

I have posted 1 but its a bit blurred as i took it with my mobile phone camera and they dont download very successfully but will try again. Ive seen the couple of your snakes pics posted they are both lovely snakes by the way

oh!..well i better go check it out!

and thanks for the snake compliment.

 

[titus]

Great new, I'm glad you had luck getting Him/Her to feed. Hopeful the next feeding will go without problems.

 

[Anita]

Just an update on my Ball Python he/she is feeding well now havnt had a feed refused again as yet and he/she has just gone into his/her second shed cycle since i got him/her. Thanks again you guys you were great support when i needed it