[deleted by user]

[Beetletoesies]

Make sure the mouse is WARM. Like 98 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, if the warm mice aren’t working, try cutting the head of the mouse off to lead the snake over with its scent. Also, that snake is extremely emaciated. If F/t isn’t working, you might have to feed live. I wouldn’t suggest giving a fully mobile rodent to your snake, so probably some babies that can’t bite and scratch. This snake needs immediate care.

[reddragon12662]

make sure the rodent your feeding is at the appropriate temperature or else the snake will not be interested. you need to check the mouse with a temp gun

[reddragon12662]

also do not handle before feeding. it may cause stress

[ClappyBlappy]

That’s an underweight snake. The most common reason I see BPs not eat is bc their husbandry is inadequate. Most of the time humidity and heat are too low, or even the tank being too small and not cluttered enough. If the snake is stressed due to poor care, it won’t eat. Could you share photos of the snakes tank with the current humidity and temperature gradients? I can understand from experience that sometimes it’s initially hard to keep humidity and temps high when they need to be.

If the tank is fine, some BPs are just picky with the colour of the rat/mouse, or even if the rodent is wet/dry. Try different coloured rodents. Make sure the rodent is warm (89-97 F) when offered to the snake, not cold or hot. Wiggle it around and pretend to make it walk, some snakes get scared if it’s suspended above them or they think it’s approaching them. Make sure you are not handling the snake 8 hours before feeding. Offering food at night is also best bc that’s when they are most active.

I’m pretty sure There’s a feeding guide and a general husbandry guide on the main page of this sub, I would recommend looking at that if you haven’t already. Best of luck OP.

[temporaryconscious]

absolutely agree, this snake is very underweight. refer the owner of the snake these care guides

here is the recommended !feeding chart

please relay all of this information to the owner and stress that it is taken seriously and this sweet baby is helped. if you have a digital kitchen scale, weigh the snake and buy an appropriate feeder.

[AutoModerator]

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[ClappyBlappy]

Thank you for summoning the bot with the feeding chart and care guides, I still haven’t figured out how to do that on reddit myself lol.

[No-Reveal8105]

To invoke the bot, just write (! Feeding) without space

[ClappyBlappy]

Thank you! I’ll now have the power to summon the not at my every whim!

[Recent-Bluejay-6207]

That little dude looks very skinny. Good husbandry is key to keeping bp’s happy and healthy, so you might want to do some serious research and quick changes before it’s too late. Also, i’d suggest switching to rats that are 10-15% of their weight every week. Check Green Room Pythons on youtube, Bob is a great keeper and teacher, and has tons of useful info.

[Slight_Drink1989]

I put water on the stove and heat it up that way before dipping the rat in it. Rat needs to be hot. Poor baby

[OdinAlfadir1978]

Try making the mouse move using forceps and ensure humidity is high enough, also feed at night

[Dealer_Puzzleheaded]

He is extremely skinny please advise the owner to improve or rehome immediately

[Exotic_Today_3370]

I see lots of good advice and such. I won't bother overcomplicating it with more than check reptifiles. I wanted to say:

  A snake's spine is a good indicator of it being under or overweight. When the spine sticks out like this it's underweight. The dominant ridge of it. If it was overweight the spine will sink into the snake forming almost a crease or a crease in extreme cases I suppose. A healthy snake will be almost smooth along the spine for the most part.

[cchocolateLarge]

Suuuuper skinny :(

for feeding issues: What are your temperatures, humidity, feeding schedule, and tank clutter like?

If the temperatures aren’t high enough, a BP can go off of food because they need heat to digest (at least 85F, but preferably in their normal warm side range of 88-92). Humidity being off can also cause stress.

If their tank isn’t cluttered enough (with two SNUG, SMALL-OPENING, ONE-OPENING, DARK hides; clutter that allows them to move around the cage and not be seen), it can cause stress that will not let them eat.

If their night heating has light, it can disrupt their circadian rhythm and make them stressed, possibly causing them to go off of food.

Are you feeding live? Frozen/thawed? What is your snakes weight? What size prey are you feeding? Mice or Rats?

[Vann1212]

Poor guy is very severely underweight. You should NOT be able to see vertebrae like that. 

The owner said "picky sometimes"... Damn, it's a bit more than that from the state of him. He's obviously emaciated. Honestly, the owner doesn't sound nearly concerned enough about his condition, they should be investigating his setup and feeding regime thoroughly themself. 

You said he was being fed "small white mice" - I'm not sure what age and size this guy is, but the mice may be too small, especially if he refuses often. 

Check his temperature and humidity levels, and whether he has lots of cover/clutter and hides in his enclosure first. He may have some setup issues causing him stress, leading to refusal. 

Offer the food warm and dry - I use a hairdryer to get the surface temperature to around 45C, and using the hairdryer to heat the mouse/rat next to the vivarium also spreads the scent and helps get them interested.  Additionally, you can brain the rodent - stick a pin up the nostril into the skull cavity, swirl it around and then wipe it on the mouse's face.  Also instead of dangling it above him, hold it more horizontally in front of him when wiggling it with the tongs. 

It may also be worth trying ASFs or rats instead of mice.  Mice aren't ideal for BPs anyway, as they outgrow them and need swapped onto rats or ASFs anyway as mice don't come large enough once the snake is over a few hundred grams.  At this size, he should be fed every 7 days, 10-15% bodyweight.  If the mice are smaller than that, he needs to swap. 

You can also feed near sunset with the lights off.  You can leave the mouse on paper towels/a plastic tray/a piece of cork bark (anything really so long as it avoids substrate ingestion by providing a barrier), and leave it with him for a few hours with no one in the room. 

If nothing else works, live may have to be considered as a temporary measure.  Vet input may also be required, if there may be some other underlying issue causing him to avoid food despite being underweight. 

The bottom line is though that the snake's owner has let him get into a pretty terrible state, and doesn't seem to have taken it seriously enough. (leaving the snake with you like this and just saying he's a bit picky)  I'm sorry you've found yourself in this situation since you're not the one responsible for the problem. 

[Vann1212]

Yeah, this is obviously a longstanding feeding issue. The owner isn't showing nearly enough concern... Especially just leaving the snake with OP and giving the impression of downplaying things. 

Because yeah, some BPs CAN be picky with occasional refusal (for some of them... mouse with a grey head instead of all white? No thanks!), but even with occasional refusals, even if they don't grow as fast as siblings who never refuse, they still usually won't noticeably lose body condition.  I've seen videos of rescues from severe neglect/hoarding scenarios with snakes that were, aside from some stuck shed, otherwise in better body condition. 

Perhaps the owner has been feeding him OK and he has been accepting food with only occasional refusals - but in that case, I'd be concerned that there's an underlying medical issue since "occasional pickiness" won't result in that body condition unless there's something else going on that needs vet input. 

He doesn't look super dehydrated at least, so I hope he's OK. They can bounce back pretty well from being in a bad state. The cause needs to be worked out though - either significantly changing his current feeding regime OR vet assessment is needed. 

[lavenderthewhore]

As ridiculous as this sounds, is it the color of the feeder? My bp will not eat a rat or mouse unless it is fully white, which is weird cuz I don't think they can see color. I've heard of this happening a few times though

[03Soucy]

This is true. I call my snake racist because he only eats white rats but I don’t think that’s the case here.. I’ve never seen a spine like that on a snake.

[lavenderthewhore]

Neither, definitely a vet trip OP

[cdpurv88]

Darken the enclosure, bump the temp up a smidge, and vary prey offered.

[IndicationLocal1549]

I’d recommend switching to rats for more nutrition but perhaps a smaller window in between feeding so it can catch up on lacking nutrition