Pet snake problem

[farmerlor]

My daughter has a Ball Python (supposedly a female and very large so we think she's older than we were told) who won't eat. Two months ago they put a rat in there with her and the rat attacked her and bit her several times. Now, it had already been at least a couple weeks since her last feeding so we gave her a week or so to heal up and then presented her with another rat. At this time she acted like she couldn't see the rat. She'd pose and strike aggressively but never get close to where the rat actually was. I'm not going to elaborate on the various things that Greg has tried since then but suffice it to say that the snake will not eat dead rats. We've gotten her two rats since then and she's repeated this same behavior where she acts like she's blind. No, she's not shedding and I didn't think they needed their eyes to track prey anyway. What's wrong with her or us?

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

I'd try a mouse.

 

[CoopCrazy]

Have you tried warming the thawed rats on the micro ?? I have heard that can sometimes help.. Also you may try some other foods if need be.. Pinky bunnies or chicks..

 

[CoopCrazy]

http://www.anapsid.org/ballfeed.html I found this site hopefully it helps..

 

[farmerlor]

Quote:
She's too big for a mouse. Supposedly she has to be able to coil around it so the animal she eats has to be big enough for that.

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Quote:
She's too big for a mouse. Supposedly she has to be able to coil around it so the animal she eats has to be big enough for that.

Nah. I've been through this before with one of those. I'm not jiving you.

 

[farmerlor]

Quote:
Ummmm, well, one of the things husband tried was killing the rat and trying to feed it while still warm. Didn't help. I put my foot down at feeding bunnies and chicks. I like snakes, I like mousies and rats but I realize that there's this whole circle of life thing so I put up with that but bunnies and my chickens are not going to be snake food.

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

You might also try a hamster and/or gerbil.

Sometimes, they just don't want rats for whatever reason. It sounds like she was probably wild-caught, eh?

 

[CoopCrazy]

Maybe try some of the other tips.. Dark enclosure, taking snake out put food in and then put snake back in.. Maybe even try the different colored one..

Sorry about all i got...

 

[farmerlor]

Quote:
Well, we didn't buy her from a pet store. We got her from a lady who said she'd had her for four years so we felt pretty confident that even if she was wild caught she would be over any trauma or parasite problems. The lady bought her from a pet store though so who knows what happened before that. The guy at the pet store where Greg buys the rats is the one who told Greg that she needed bigger prey. I figured if she was afraid of the bigger prey that bites back she needed smaller prey that wouldn't hurt her but this guy nixed that theory. I'm going to see if Greg can get a mouse or smaller rat and see how it goes. I also like the idea of taking her out and putting the mouse in for her to find. We'll see......thanks guys.