eat your goddamn peas!

[thejunipertree]

So, Charlie.

Still not eating.

I got her at the very end of May, with her having eaten last on 05-24-07 (Gourmet Rodents) at the pet store she came from. The first time I tried to feed her was 06-04-07, which was right after her poop. The mites came on 06-23-07. And the only time she ate for me was 07-07-07. It should be noted that the time she ate for me was right after the mite incident when I still had everything on lock-down. All she had in the tank with her was a water dish, her one hide box, and papertowels as substrate. Her tank set-up as it currently stands is vastly similar to how it was for her in the petstore: aspen substrate, two hides, water dish, climbing stick, and plants to hide in. I make feeding attempts about every five days.

She is VERY skinny and small. Ten inches long, MAYBE twelve. She doesn't drink or soak, that I've seen anyway, so coupled with her refusal to eat, I also worry about dehydration. Again, because of her size.

I know ball pythons are notorious for not eating and can usually go long periods without eating anything, but she's so young and seems already so underweight and small. I'm really beginning to be concerned, even though it hasn't been all that long since she ate last. I wouldn't be so concerned if she didn't look so damn underweight and malnourished. The only way I can describe it is that her skin looks loose somehow.

I have held her less than ten times, counting mite treatment and helping her with her shedding. She is incredibly alert and active, zooming around her tank on a regular basis. her only reaction when I or the cats walk past her tank is to just stop what she's doing and start with some eyeballing. When I hold her, she tracks me with her head if I move the hand she's holding on to. And last night I noticed a tiny patch of weirdness on her direct snout, above her top lip. Could possibly be shed that hasn't come off or a bit of an abrasion from her tank lid. It's not bloody or inflamed. Eyes are clear, skin colouring is bright, breathing is fine. Tank levels for heat and humidity are normal. Her hot spot could possibly be a bit warmer, maybe, but I'd have to check with a surface thermometer again to be sure. She also almost always shows a great deal of interest in the prey items, immediately coming out from wherever she is hiding with lots of tongue-flicking, but then she just stares at it for hours. Since I bought her, she has pooped once (maybe twice, I'm unclear if the second time was poo), had a case of the mites, and went through a bad shed.


To date, I have tried the following methods and types of prey (everything is pre-killed and thawed):

- pinky mice from Gourmet Rodent, at night, door shut
- fuzzy mice from Artic Mice, at night, door shut, tank covered, with the "come get your dead mousie" dance, then left the mouse in the tank
- fuzzy mice from Artic Mice, at night, door shut, tank covered
- fuzzy mice from Artic Mice, at night, door shut, tank uncovered, with the "come get your dead mousie" dance, then left the mouse in the tank
- adult albino mice from Artic Mice, at night, door shut, tank covered, with the "come get your dead mousie" dance, then left the mouse in the tank
- adult albino mice from Artic Mice, at night, door shut, tank uncovered
- adult albino mice from Artic Mice, at night, tank covered, without the "come get your dead mousie" dance, then left the mouse in the tank
- adult albino mice from UPenn, at night, tank covered
- thawed, frozen, then thawed again adult albino mice from Artic Mice (with and without chicken broth)
- adult albino mice from Artic Mice, left in the tank overnight and into the next day, at night, tank covered, bedroom door left open, with the "come and get your dead mousie" dance, (ate in this manner ONCE).
- fuzzy mice from Artic Mice with brain exposed, at night, tank covered, dead mousie dance, then left it in the tank
- fuzzy mice from Artic Mice in a paper bag with the snake, at night

I read through my boyfriend's copy of What's Wrong With My Snake?, cruised all over the internet for feeding tips, and even dug out a back issue of Reptiles magazine that listed 25 feeding tricks for stubborn eaters. Everything I'm finding is stuff I already know or doesn't apply to this situation.

I don't think it's the f/t vs. live prey issue because she was being fed f/t at the store she came from. I really don't want to attempt a live prey feeding because 1. I'm incredibly against live feedings both from a mouse and snake standpoint, it's inhumane to the mouse and dangerous to the snake and 2. if she doesn't eat it, I'm stuck with a pissed off and traumatized mouse.

The other things I'm thinking of trying are (not in any particular order):

- Assisted feedings, different from force feeding, is something I've been reading about for baby snakes. You get the snake's mouth open, insert the prey item, and the feeding instict is supposed to kick in. But, I'm hesistant to try that because I've never done such a thing and I don't want to hurt her.
- rubbing pre-killed mice on a rat to transfer the scent. I don't know what good this will do because, to my knowledge, she hasn't eaten anything like a rat before, even a baby rat. But, it's something to at least try.
- even less handling than I already am, like no handling at all unless absolutely necessary.
- take her to the vet for a check-up, to be absolutely certain there's no internal parasites (despite the fact that she's pooped at least once and fed once for me, I want to be positive).
- trying the grey/brown small adult mice from Artic Mice that I currently have in the freezer. They're a step up in size and a different color than she's used to, so I don't know.
- try to track down Gourmet Rodents for her, since that's what she ate in the pet store. I tried to do this already, but the store's freezer was broken and they didn't have any. Every time I go there, the freezer is still broken. That place seems to be staffed almost entirely with morons.
- up the heat levels in her tank.
- maybe get her a smaller hide rock, since the one she has now is kind of big.
- take the plants out of her tank, maybe she's afraid to eat because she thinks something may be lurking within them.
- misting the tank to avoid dehydration.
- try to feed her in a plastic tote with paper towels as substrate.

Any other ideas or something I could be missing? I've written all of this out mostly in an effort to have it all documented in one easy to read spot, but if someone could give any input or sees something I could be skirting over, that would be made of awesome.

Comments

[meetzemonsta.livejournal.com]

Get the foot-long tweezers and do a prolonged mousie dance to see if it catches her interest?

My mousie dances have become a thing of legend in my apartment, with my boyfriend hollaring at me to leave the snake alone, that she doesn't want dinner and a show. heh.