should i try assited feeding?

[cabral]

when i first bought my snake, it was eating perfectly and i kept on doing that alot of time, then, my second snake arrived , i housed them together and she kept on feeding as it was doing, then, all of a sudden (whith snakes still housed together) she stopped eating, i changed her to a new set up , she kept not eating for almost 2 months ( she only ate 2 small mouse) then i put her back with her old room mate in their old terrarium
she kept not eating for 2 months but some small mouse.

then i tried a new way of feeding my snake, i killed a medium rat , put my snake in a feeding bin with the dead rat in a DARK room (as if it was night ) and she started feeding again, i was SO happy , she was finally eating again some nice fat rats ....

but she stopped the last week, after the feeding day i changed both of them to a nicer and bigger terrarium (both together)(im acually building another 1 for each snake) yesterday, it was feeding day, and as i feared the snake would eat, not my method, not live not frozen.

i just dont know what to do .... should i try assisted feeding??


my snake is almost 90 cm , she is not as fat as her room mate , she hasnt grown alot since she stopped feeding...

temperatures are exelent , humidity is ok, the terrarium is 1m x 60 x 60

(i know everything is good in the set up cause her room mate eats everytime.)
she is also verry active.

sorry for the long post
THANKS ALOT FOR ANSWERING ME

i just dont know what to do !

 

[Jefroka]

What's that I see right before the middle of her body, a wound that's healed? Is it from a rat bite? What is it?


...Jefroka

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

That's a scar,...but yeah I would seperate'em. From your post you said that she does better with eating when she's by herself. But when you put'em back together thats when the feeding issues start. So if you have a extra tank or something laying around, use that. Or you can try and section off the one that you have them in now (to make two halves of one), until you finish with the other two.

 

[koikaren]

ball pythons can be picky eaters...Since she is eating mice and not rats, she is probably tired of the rats try given her a hamster, gerbil, chick etc...and lay of the rats for a while...but i dont think it has anything to do with her roommate since she will eat mice but thats just my opinion...hope it helped some

 

[throneofjade]

Ball pythons are known for being a picky eater and may not eat for months, particularly during the winter breeding season. Just make sure that the snake does not experience significant weight loss.

 

[cabral]

ok
thanks to every one
btw... that scar is a burning with a light tube.... it happened in the pet shop
when i bought her it was already healed
and she is doing fine(with the burn)

she has stopped eating in both situations, alone and together with the other BP
... i dont know what can happer

i fed her a hamster once already

 

[throneofjade]

Just don't worry about it and just keep trying every week. Keep an eye on the weight and if you see her loosing too much weight take her to a vet. But I'm sure she will eat when she wants to.

 

[JohnMatthew]

Only assist feed as a last resort imo, she doesn't look underweight so I wouldn't worry too much about the eating part. One of my balls only eats every 3-4 feedings(thank god I got a girl that's ALWAYS ready to eat extra) and he's fine.. He's smaller than the others but not thin. I'm glad to hear you're building a separate enclosure for the snakes. It's a bad idea to keep snakes together even if they aren't known for cannibalism. Think about in the wild, snakes basically only get together to hibernate(shelter/den) or to mate. The rest of their life is spent alone and I think it's less stressful for the animal is kept solo. Also might want to check this out if you have any second thoughts about keeping snakes communally:

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All in all, I wouldn't worry about the feeding problem unless she gets noticeably thin. I would worry about finishing those separate enclosures. Good luck!

 

[cabral]

thanks!