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Help needed with my Moluccan Scrub adult female who just will not eat!

Black Adder

Black Adder

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This may or may not be the best place for this, we will see
So I have an adult female Moluccan Scrub Python( amongst MANY others,lol)
Have had her approx 2 years and ever since having her she was a very fussy picky eater, sometimes devouring instantly, others needing to be left with the prey for a day or more
Tried everything, mice, rats, chicks, quail, live, ft, thumped you name it there seemed to be nothing that grabbed instant attention.
About 7 months ago she just stopped eating period, nothing would pass her mouth!
Have kept her going by blending mice up and tube feeding and yes she is doing ok( poops, has shed etc) but this is getting very tiresome and worrying
She is in same conditions as always has been and the other 60 snakes live in, have tried in a seperate area with more heat, humidity, less heat , humidity etc, nothing seems to help
ANY thoughts or suggestions or questions are welcomed at this stage!
 
There was a method which had the preys brain leaking out?
Seven months of tube feeding might have her used to specific smells?

What about some hamsters / gerbils / African soft furred?
 
MeadCountyRats said:
There was a method which had the preys brain leaking out?
Seven months of tube feeding might have her used to specific smells?

What about some hamsters / gerbils / African soft furred?
Click to expand...

Many thanks for your replies!

Yea tried the brained prey route...nothing
Tried gerbils and soft furred rats...nothing
She is stubborn for sure!
 
have you tried dipping the prey in chicken broth? I know it sounds weird.
Long term tube feeding is no fun at all.
Might be time for a vet visit, there may be some underlying issue?
Good luck!
 
AbsoluteApril said:
have you tried dipping the prey in chicken broth? I know it sounds weird.
Long term tube feeding is no fun at all.
Might be time for a vet visit, there may be some underlying issue?
Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks April!
No i have not tried that?
Wierd? Not really!
Heck I would take anything that works!
I will give that a try this coming weekend
Yea tube feeding is not much fun, especially with a scrub python!!
 
How large is she?
Would you mind describing her setup/furnishings?
Heat source and temperatures?

I haven't kept scrubs in several years; but I do have some experience with them.

*Edited to add: Import or CBB?
 
hhmoore said:
How large is she?
Would you mind describing her setup/furnishings?
Heat source and temperatures?

I haven't kept scrubs in several years; but I do have some experience with them.
Click to expand...

Of course and thank you for taking interest.
She is approx 5 years old, about 7 feet
She was in a smaller viv (approx 30x30x18) but moved her up to a larger one ( at a suggestion from a fb scrub pythons group member) just to see if she preferred more space?
Always a difficult call...are they stressed from too little space or too much space?
She has a undertank heat pad and a lamp on top which is not used too often apart from dead of winter as I reside in Florida and it never gets THAT cold tbh.
The main room is north american colubrid temps most of year as that is vast majority of my animals so figure 78-83.
I realise this maybe an issue but I did try a different location with alternate lower and higher ambient with little success it appears.
Unfortunately she is my only scrub and yes I am probably doing something wrong, which is why reaching out for help
 
Import or CBB?
Dimensions of current enclosure?
Substrate? (Current, and what you've tried)
Cage furniture? (Hide, branches, etc?)
Is her enclosure in a stack, with others being heard in the same way?

To make sure I understand the current information correctly - you purchased her approx two years ago...she would have been about 3 yrs at the time. Presumably, she had good size then, likely 6 ft, since she has never fed consistently for you. She has not voluntarily fed for 7 months - nearly 1/3 of the time you've had her - and she was sporadic, at best, before that.

Did something change 7 months ago?
How often are you tube feeding her?
Did you ever contact the previous owner to get details on how she'd been kept & what she was eating. (Yeah, that's sort of like cheating; but it can make make things so much easier)
How does she look? Is she visibly thin/losing weight?
 
Import or CBB?
Dimensions of current enclosure?
Substrate? (Current, and what you've tried)
Cage furniture? (Hide, branches, etc?)
Is her enclosure in a stack, with others being heard in the same way?

To make sure I understand the current information correctly - you purchased her approx two years ago...she would have been about 3 yrs at the time. Presumably, she had good size then, likely 6 ft, since she has never fed consistently for you. She has not voluntarily fed for 7 months - nearly 1/3 of the time you've had her - and she was sporadic, at best, before that.

Did something change 7 months ago?
How often are you tube feeding her?
Did you ever contact the previous owner to get details on how she'd been kept & what she was eating. (Yeah, that's sort of like cheating; but it can make make things so much easier)
How does she look? Is she visibly thin/losing weight?
 
hhmoore said:
Import or CBB?
Dimensions of current enclosure?
Substrate? (Current, and what you've tried)
Cage furniture? (Hide, branches, etc?)
Is her enclosure in a stack, with others being heard in the same way?

To make sure I understand the current information correctly - you purchased her approx two years ago...she would have been about 3 yrs at the time. Presumably, she had good size then, likely 6 ft, since she has never fed consistently for you. She has not voluntarily fed for 7 months - nearly 1/3 of the time you've had her - and she was sporadic, at best, before that.

Did something change 7 months ago?
How often are you tube feeding her?
Did you ever contact the previous owner to get details on how she'd been kept & what she was eating. (Yeah, that's sort of like cheating; but it can make make things so much easier)
How does she look? Is she visibly thin/losing weight?
Click to expand...

Current enclosure is approx 48x24x24, aspen at present, not tried any other substrate. Two seperate hides, large water bowl, plenty of branches, perches etc(at least imo). She is on her own in the room at present not above or below anybody else.

Nothing changed that we can recall to trigger this event of non feeding.
Tube feeding every second week.
Unfortunately do not have previous owner details as she was bought at one of our local repticons
she does not look terrible but she is noticably thinner than wehn we first got her
still has a scrub attitude though, not lost that.

And yes you short summarization of condition, events is correct
 
When I lived in Florida I had a neighbor who fed his scrubs exclusively quail. Sometimes tuna scent works. Have you tried rabbit or guinea pigs ?

Also try removing all furniture except the hide and feed in the evening hours with a little extra humidity if possible.

Are you only attempting live feeders ?
 
Have you had a vet test a fecal sample from her? Maybe she's carrying parasites.
 
snakeman101172 said:
When I lived in Florida I had a neighbor who fed his scrubs exclusively quail. Sometimes tuna scent works. Have you tried rabbit or guinea pigs ?

Also try removing all furniture except the hide and feed in the evening hours with a little extra humidity if possible.

Are you only attempting live feeders ?
Click to expand...

As I said she did eat 2 quail in one sitting about 3 months ago but nothing since.
She has NEVER taken anything live, acts like she is scared of them even smaller prey like live hoppers.
Tried gerbil and african soft furred
And yes when attempt to feed everything is removed from viv including water bowl or she just slinks into that to hide!
Have tried extra heat and humidity but all to no avail
 
Well just an update, we discovered she had an impacted front fang which caused an internal abcess to develop, this did not become apparent or even visual until only a few days ago
She is going in for removal tomorrow (Thursday 17th) and fingers crossed it is not too late
Explains a lot.....
 
Fingers crossed - hopefully it will end her recent fast. Once she starts feeding again, we can work on the regularity of it.
 
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