Some may know, I purchased a snake about 4 weeks ago from a large breeder. Unaware she had early signs of RI,. She ate her second night with me (FT),. She went to the Vet 4 days later. I’ve been giving her 2 shots for a little over 3 weeks every 3 days. (She has improved and has 3 single shots left). But she has not eaten since. This weekend will be 4 weeks. She has some weight but is small. She seems scared and uninterested in food. Any advice? She’s stressed out I know but I’d like her to get one down before I have to step in. I’m scared to push towards 6 weeks. I’ve only tried frozen thaw as of this moment. Thinking of going for live this weekend as a last ditch.
Can you post pictures of her? I wouldn’t force her to eat given the antibiotic shots do cause stress and pain. You know how your arm feels like it has been punched after getting a shot? That is what she is feeling, just on her back. And if she doesn’t eat the mouse you give her (don’t try rats, they don’t trigger feeding responses as much and have a really nasty bite) then you will have to kill it. Or be stuck with one as a pet. My girl Bellatrix went a little over 2 months without food straight and survived when she was a baby.
I will post one tomorrow when I have her out for her shot, just laying here stressing myself. I figured rat since that’s what she has eaten from me, I offered a ft mouse that was brained to no avail. last week.
When you post pics tell us her weight as well. And don’t stress too much, they can go a while without food.
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After a big move and then having to get bothered every 3 days for shots, I’m not surprised she’s not eating for you right now. I’ll bet that if she once the shots are over and she is back in good health that her appetite will come back stronger than before.
Unless she is in bad shape weight wise, I wouldn’t worry just yet. Best to let her stress levels come down and don’t offer food any more than weekly.
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I agree with Crypt, as long as the ball python was a reasonable weight going into the problem, missing a few meals is really not a big concern. The bigger concern is to make sure she recovers from the RI. In all honesty I wouldn’t even offer food during this time, and minimize interactions to cage maintenance and antibiotic injections only. After you’re finished with the course of antibiotics, wait at least a week before offering food. Sometimes the antibiotics themselves can remove appetite, and a RI can certainly make an animal not want to eat.
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(i’ll get a pic up and weight here shortly shot is in about an hour). Yeah I’ve limited interaction to only shots and doing maintenance during that time. Because of that I’m interacting with her more than any other snake in my colection. I’ll get the weight up here shortly,. I feel like she was under fed when I got her, not unhealthy but not being given enough. I’ll have two more shots after today. She definitely has shown positive signs of improvement and has begun using her hot spot again. I was offering once a week figuring I’d waste a meal with the chance of her eating but as you all have said I’m probably just adding to the stress while she’s feeling crummy and getting poked. I’ll get the pic and weight up tonight. Thanks
This is her Pastel, Het Red I should of weighed her in the door, or even when I knew she was sick. I don’t know how much she lost or how fast.
Currently 90 grams
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She still has enough weight on her to safely last another 3 weeks to a month. Depending on how quickly she looses the weight that is. A general rule is that you don’t want to force/assist feed an animal that knows how to eat. Especially since it is already stressed, unless it is on deaths door. She has a while to go before she gets to that point.
Ok, Her last shot will be next Wednesday, I’m thinking I won’t try to feed her until a week from then even. Let her chill a good week without me handling or bothering her. Thank you for your time.
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I’m excited to announce she has taken her meal. She was hesitant but hungry and killed her FT hard. Not out of the woods yet need to get her back on track and continue to monitor her. Thanks for all the advice.
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