Is she underweight?

[Orca_ink]

She is 4 1/2, and has always eaten well until a few months ago wer she became temperamental. In the last month she stopped completely. I’ve tried 3 times with fresh rats from stores, heated in different ways, and she still won’t eat. However, she has had the exact same temperament, and is super active every night. Tank temp is 23 cold- 34 degrees hot. It’s currently winter here but she couldn’t tell by the temp in her cage. My plan is one more time trying to feed her tomorrow and then off to the vet. I just want to know if I should be worried or not I guess. But I’m worried she looks a little on the thin side with her spine keeping in mind she is draped over my arm … please ignore the poop on her in the pictures, she’s getting a steam bath tomorrow ?

 

[Herpetology]

definitely not, I'd dare say overweight

shes not eating becausing its still fairly cool and shes tryna get ready for baby making, you might have temps high, but when night time comes those temps go low

wouldnt waste your money on a vet for something minor as not eating, especially over three missed feeds.

is it poop? or is she a paradox?

 

[Orca_ink]

definitely not, I'd dare say overweight

shes not eating becausing its still fairly cool and shes tryna get ready for baby making, you might have temps high, but when night time comes those temps go low

wouldnt waste your money on a vet for something minor as not eating, especially over three missed feeds.

is it poop? or is she a paradox?

Well I have been checking her temp a lot, and honestly the temp hasn’t been changing much at all if it’s at night or not. We are going into spring, so maybe it is egg laying season? Is this something that happens more regularly as they age?

 

[Herpetology]

Well I have been checking her temp a lot, and honestly the temp hasn’t been changing much at all if it’s at night or not. We are going into spring, so maybe it is egg laying season? Is this something that happens more regularly as they age?

do you leave the heating on 24/7?

once they are of a decent age/weight theyll start wanting to reproduce and they wont eat through the cooler months (they can and sometimes will)

 

[Orca_ink]

do you leave the heating on 24/7?

once they are of a decent age/weight theyll start wanting to reproduce and they wont eat through the cooler months (they can and sometimes will)

Yeah it’s on 24/7
Ok, I hope that’s the case

 

[Sdaji]

It's entirely normal for them to stop feeding at this time of year. For a female of that age and condition to be 'super active' at night at this time of year, she's probably desperately searching for a mate because she wants to have some babies. Eating a meal means she has to sit around digesting it rather than finding a mate and getting down to reproduction.

She's not underweight.

A vet trip for something like this is just an expensive way to waste your time and unnecessarily stress your snake a little. She's literally doing exactly what a healthy snake should at this time of year.

A common misunderstanding is that snakes will just judge what season it is by feeling the warm and cool ends of the enclosure. It's a lot more complex than that and they're a lot more difficult to fool. They observe photoperiods (the days are currently getting longer and she'll be able to notice that) and even with a temperature-controlled enclosure, every time you open the cage and a breeze of air comes through, she'll detect that it's warmer or cooler than usual. In the tropics in many areas it's often no cooler in the middle of the year than at the ends. Darwin for example (where the original albino Carpet Python came from) is not a cold place in the middle of the year, but the snakes have all sorts of ways to know what season it is and they maintain their seasonal patterns.

Try feeding again in a month or two. She's not at all underweight and if anything could perhaps benefit from a bit longer fasting this year. If I had a female Carpet that weight at this time of year and I wasn't planning to use her as a breeder, I wouldn't be giving her food in September even if she wanted it. If I did want to breed her, I'd be mildly disappointed if she did want to eat and I certainly wouldn't be feeding her.

 

[Orca_ink]

Well, i couldn’t resist. We went to the vet. The photos wer just bad photos and she is in completely perfect condition (the vet’s exact words) and you wer right! She’s full of eggs and is in egg laying mode! So yes.. technically a waste of money like you said, but then again for peace of mind for a first time snake owner, priceless! Atleast I could 100% rule out any other illness said not to bother trying to feed her for another month at the least as she is obsorbing the nutrients back into her body

 

[user 41856]

View attachment 331679
Well, i couldn’t resist. We went to the vet. The photos wer just bad photos and she is in completely perfect condition (the vet’s exact words) and you wer right! She’s full of eggs and is in egg laying mode! So yes.. technically a waste of money like you said, but then again for peace of mind for a first time snake owner, priceless! Atleast I could 100% rule out any other illness said not to bother trying to feed her for another month at the least as she is obsorbing the nutrients back into her body

Thankyou for taking her to a vet, we aren't vets and can only offer an opinion. You a good Snake mummy, if you are concerned, go to a vet even if could be wasted money, it is worth it for peace of mind that you scale baby is OK.

 

[Herpetology]

View attachment 331679
Well, i couldn’t resist. We went to the vet. The photos wer just bad photos and she is in completely perfect condition (the vet’s exact words) and you wer right! She’s full of eggs and is in egg laying mode! So yes.. technically a waste of money like you said, but then again for peace of mind for a first time snake owner, priceless! Atleast I could 100% rule out any other illness said not to bother trying to feed her for another month at the least as she is obsorbing the nutrients back into her body

I didn’t think snakes could have eggs and then reabsorb them after a certain point(ovulation)?

 

[Orca_ink]

I didn’t think snakes could have eggs and then reabsorb them after a certain point(ovulation)?

How cool is this?? It’s the actual ultrasound of her eggs
He said that to a certain point the body re absorbs them, but he did also say that in the ultrasound the eggs do look quite developed. Which means that she may very well lay a clutch and call him straight away when she does. I have to keep an eye on her, if she only lays a couple it means surgery… sooo I guess I’ll just keep an eye on her

Thankyou for taking her to a vet, we aren't vets and can only offer an opinion. You a good Snake mummy, if you are concerned, go to a vet even if could be wasted money, it is worth it for peace of mind that you scale baby is OK.

Yeah 100%, just the pure relief that I’m doing things right is the best feeling I’ll gladly give a vet $200 to tell me that every year

 

[Ramsayi]

I didn’t think snakes could have eggs and then reabsorb them after a certain point(ovulation)?

Correct they can absorb follicles but once eggs are formed there is no going back.

 

[Orca_ink]

Correct they can absorb follicles but once eggs are formed there is no going back.

Yeah the vet said it’s quite likely she will lay and to keep an eye on that… but now I’m worried. If she doesn’t lay, will that mean she’s egg bound and will need surgery? How do I know if she absorbs them or Not?

 

[Ramsayi]

If she doesn’t lay, will that mean she’s egg bound and will need surgery? How do I know if she absorbs them or Not?

Infertile eggs would be no reason for her to become egg bound after all an egg whether fertile or not is still and egg.
Offer her a lay box around 3 weeks after her prelay shed. You will notice her becoming increasingly restless as she gets closer to oviposition (egg laying).

As I wrote previously she will not absorb eggs.

 

[Herpetology]

Hi Orca, that’s great news!

however now is the time to start preparing for if she does have fertile eggs (has she ever been with a male before you got her?? They can retain sperm for a couple years! If you can, try contact the person you got her from ) if so, you will want to get a small incubator setup, this will generally cost around 100$ + a thermostat made out of an old wine fridge

if she’s never been with a male then you don’t need to worry about fertile eggs(you had her since a baby) after her prelay shed (will be around this time of the year (when was last time she shed) ) she will lay eggs 21-30 days from then.you will need to setup a nice comfy laybox, this can be made with a solid cardboard box or a black tub, it’s important you get one that’s not overly large but she feels secure in

Inside you can use a mixture of lightly damp sphagnum moss and shredded newspaper, this will ease the passing of the eggs

most importantly is to let her relax and cut out the handling untill after she lays

as mentioned signs to look out for close to egg laying are restlessness and possible flipping of the back half of her body to release pressure

if she does lay she will be fairly protective of her eggs so you’re going to need a game plan to get her off, if you have nice thick gloves, this is the easiest way or a snake hook to keep her head away

Once she’s laid eggs she’s gonna look very very small, do not worry and try offer her a feed right away, you’re going to want to move her temporarily whilst you clean out her enclosure and the smell of the eggs and offer her a feed the next day

 

[Orca_ink]

Hi Orca, that’s great news!

however now is the time to start preparing for if she does have fertile eggs (has she ever been with a male before you got her?? They can retain sperm for a couple years! If you can, try contact the person you got her from ) if so, you will want to get a small incubator setup, this will generally cost around 100$ + a thermostat made out of an old wine fridge

if she’s never been with a male then you don’t need to worry about fertile eggs(you had her since a baby) after her prelay shed (will be around this time of the year (when was last time she shed) ) she will lay eggs 21-30 days from then.you will need to setup a nice comfy laybox, this can be made with a solid cardboard box or a black tub, it’s important you get one that’s not overly large but she feels secure in

Inside you can use a mixture of lightly damp sphagnum moss and shredded newspaper, this will ease the passing of the eggs

most importantly is to let her relax and cut out the handling untill after she lays

as mentioned signs to look out for close to egg laying are restlessness and possible flipping of the back half of her body to release pressure

if she does lay she will be fairly protective of her eggs so you’re going to need a game plan to get her off, if you have nice thick gloves, this is the easiest way or a snake hook to keep her head away

Once she’s laid eggs she’s gonna look very very small, do not worry and try offer her a feed right away, you’re going to want to move her temporarily whilst you clean out her enclosure and the smell of the eggs and offer her a feed the next day

Thankyou so much for all of this information, super super helpful.

she definitely has never been with a male!

I just want her to be happy and healthy. I’ll organise a lay box for her ASAP