Worried Mama....

Hi Everyone,

I'm relatively new to herps (just have one female BP). I've had her for approx 1 1/2 years so she's right around 2 years now. She was eating once a week and shedding about once every month and a half or so until the beginning of Dec. Since then she hasn't eaten or shed. I gave it a while knowing that living in the northeast can make bp picky eaters in the winter. I have been trying to feed her every week or so but still no luck.

I increased her humidity (it was right around "50" or so now it's around "65" or so) and I've seen an increase in her movements, and she went to the bathroom, but still no eating!!!!!

Does anyone have any ideas? I would really love some help on this as I'm about to go out of my mind

Thanks All!
~Sarah

p.s. I know there is probably a thread with this exact question in here somewhere but I couldn't find it

Keep an eye on her weight, but unless she drops a hugely significant amount of weight I would say shes fine. Its perfectly normal for balls to go off feed for no apparent reason

at her age there actually is a perfectly good reason....she might be thinking its breeding time hehe...she should be fine, will most likely start eating once it warms up...my females havent eaten either in quiet some time now...nothin to worry about to much

and with no eating...there wont be much shedding...goes hand in hand =)

I agree with what everyone else said- the only thing I do when any snake goes off feed is to simply check temps and all- if temps and everything is good, then its most likely just a fast.

reason i say to check temps is when the seasons change, i do have to slightly adjust the t-stats, but if i ever notice diff behavior or anything, husbandry is th efirs thing i check- even tho it gets checked regularly and all.

i think the snakes like to do this just to make us worry...lol.

Thanks you guys! I know I'm probably just worrying for nothing, but I just can't help it. I hadn't thought about her getting ready to breed yet, but if that is the case then she has a disappointing season coming up 'cause I'm not ready for babies yet

The temps I keep it at are 75-80 on the "cool" end and 85-90 on the "hot" end. That seems to have been good for her (at least until the last couple of months).

I don't have a scale (I did have one but it died and I haven't been able to afford a replacement yet), but I can haven't been able to see any appreciable weight lose so I think I'm ok there.

Thanks Again!!
~Sarah

I hope this information about my experiance puts your mind at ease. I had a female go almost 7 months without eating. Drove me CRAZY, her weight loss was under 10% total and happened slowly. She came around and is a fairly regular eater now. I also have a male that has just started eating regularly of late. He took one meal from May 09 to the end of Jan 10. Again weight loss has been slow and under about 10%. It drives us crazy but they can go a long time without eating if they choose to. Its just frustrating because we are not sure if they are CHOOSING to not eat or it is something else.

Keep good records and you may be able to detect a pattern in certain animals eating cycle, I know I have.

Good Luck and keep us posted.