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Non feeding

jcboas

jcboas

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:)Just wanted to let others know who have ball pythons that are finicky eaters not to give up. I have a het pied female who has not eaten for 11 months almost a year. I was not to worried as she only lost about 250 grams. I read some advice here on this site(thanks fauna classifieds) about how BHB used paper rolled up as a security shield and gotten non eaters to eat. I tried this about two weeks ago and decided to try and feed her again after weekly trys for almost a year. here are the results, the wrong way in but I am happy just to have her eat (this was a small rat fed live). I tried everything from colors to afs rats live/frozen/fresh killed/tongs etc.
001.JPG
 
all i can say is, welcome to the fun and patient world of ball pythons. she actually looks pretty good for going just about a year with no food. maybe a little skinny, but nothing too major. i have kept a few ball pythons over the years and have found that alot require just the right cage environment. for example, i have had a couple ball pythons, that wouldnt eat and werent active if the temps dropped below 89 degrees ambient cage temp. i had one that wouldnt eat unless she was in a tub with one hide and the humidity was at least 75%. sometimes them being picky is related to husbandy. not that it is "wrong", but just not suited to that particular ball pythons needs/wants. they are weird and interesting boid, to say the least
 
PATIENCE !!!

EXTREME PATIENCE IS REQUIRED WHEN OWNING BALLS !!
i have the bad luck that everytime i buy a grown adult BP it stops eating !!
i try everything & no results !! the longest i have 1 not eat for is 4 months after i purchased her !! & they were in perfect health !!! no mites , nothing wrong ! then out the blue they start eating like pigs !!
 
FelixatRI said:
EXTREME PATIENCE IS REQUIRED WHEN OWNING BALLS !!
i have the bad luck that everytime i buy a grown adult BP it stops eating !!
i try everything & no results !! the longest i have 1 not eat for is 4 months after i purchased her !! & they were in perfect health !!! no mites , nothing wrong ! then out the blue they start eating like pigs !!
Click to expand...

Man is that true!! I sold a baby spider last summer to a local customer. I guaranteed him that he was healthy and a good eater, as I never had a problem getting him to eat. A couple weeks later I got a message from the gentleman asking for some feeding tips. I offered several, but a week or two later received another message that he still would not eat.

Since I had offered a guarantee that included him eating, I met with the customer and offered him a couple of animals as a replacement. Fortunately for me, he took a baby boa and never had another problem. Of course wouldn't you know it though...the "non-eater" that I took back ate the FIRST rat that I offered it!! LOL...I've got a few others that I just never know if they'll eat what I offer or not!

Congrats on finally getting your girl to eat. One piece of advice that I will offer is to feed her again within 3-5 days. My more sporadic eaters give me more problems if I don't repeat the "first feeding" (after NOT eating for any extended period) soon, as opposed to waiting a full 7-10 days. Might just be a fluke, but I go with what works for me. Good luck with her!!
 
Congrats!

Three of my happiest moments in life:

1) See my child come into this world
2) Marrying my wife
3) Having a non-eating BP finally take food!
 
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