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Julia is the cutest BP ever!

Nice pics! Looks like Julia is getting a bit big for her hide

You got any pics of Julia eating? Or are we not allowed to show those on here?

I want a ball python so bad. I want one of those long and tall habitats, so "she" (I want a female very bad, larger snakes are easier for me to work with, just a personal preference) has room to stretch, and room to climb.

The boa constrictor (that's the species right? I get them and retics confused a lot) reminded me of how bad I want a kenyan sand boa too. (lllreptiles.com sells animals, anyone bought from them, or know what kind or reputation they have?)

Is that rat dead or alive? Im scared to see snakes eat the rat. But I would like to see the picture.. hehe..

Awww.. very cute RES on the 2nd last pic.

I have a few old pics of Julia eating, but she's 7 months into a fast right now. I'll see what I can dig up today from the old pics.

Yep, kruegar's a boa. He won't let me take pics of him eating anymore.. If he's interrupted or distracted at all he'll drop the rat and leave it.

That mouse is dead lol

How big is Julia? Do you mean she hasn't eaten in seven months?

I guess I'm lucky with David. I have to feed him something that moves around a lot, but it literally takes seconds before the mouse is snatched. He has eaten everything except the first offering and I've had him for a year now.

That's right. She hasn't eaten since about October. Last year she went 11 months, resulting in force feeding, and the year before that it was 6 months. I'm hoping she'll snap out of it this time without force feeding.

Looks like the only pics i have of her eating are pretty old..

jenaero wrote:Looks like the only pics i have of her eating are pretty old..

Maybe you could help the fasting by trying different colored rodents, or, different kinds. Are there other types of animals a BP can eat?

One option some people have taken, and this is rather creepy, but, some ball python owners will pierce the rodent's skin, to draw out blood, which seems to entice the BP to want to eat. Sometimes people actually take a live rodent, and slam it against the wall to kill it, and it still being a warm body and crap like that seems to also entice eating.

I personally would not do any of those things, because that is just me. You could try wiggling the rodent around, if you feed thawed food, and see what that does.

I really advise people not to feed live food, since live food fights back, but, if that is the only option left, it has to be taken.

Thanks for the tips but it's all been done. She was on thawed first, then pre-killed became easier as the prey items got bigger. After her first 6 month fast she snapped out of it with live rats. After that, she was good for a while. Then came the 11 month fast.. everything was offered from pre-killed, brained, dipped in chicken broth, dripping fresh blood, live mice, rats, gerbils.. I think after not eating for such a long time that her metabolism was pretty screwed. She lost a lot of weight in that time and force feeding was the only option. She was force fed 2 pinkie rats every 5 days until she defecated and I was sure her digestive system was working properly. After about 4 weeks of force feeding I was able to get her to take live African Soft Furred rats. She ate well for about 2 months and stopped again.. won't take anything now. I'm going to wait a bit before resorting to force feeds again. Sometimes they will just starve to death and I just can't live with that.

They say ball pythons are a great starter snake. As far as care and temper, they are great, but a lot of people aren't aware of how often feeding problems can pop up for seemingly no reason. It can be quite frustrating and worrisome.

I wanted a ball python as a first snake because of the temperament and size myself. But I have also heard they can be hard to feed. I'm sorry your having such trouble w/ Julia! Will you let us know what eventually works to get her eating again? I might need to know for future reference. Also, Is force feeding hard or dangerous to do?

Force feeding should be a last resort. I waited 11 months before attempting this, and she'd lost a considerable amount of weight. Her ribs and spine were visible. I took her to a friend who is experienced with force feeding. Even after watching him so many times, I don't think I'd attempt it on my own. Seems to me it would be quite easy to injure a snake that way.

for those of you who have a snake without feeding problems it's been proven that feeding your snake frozen prey is much healthier than feeding them live. Reasons being A) freezing the rodents kills off any parasites or nasty bugs the rodent could be carrying. B) a live rat or mouse can hurt your snake by scratching it and biting it.


hopefully you can get her to eat soon! where are the pictures of Hugh!?

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