In March my Partner and I adopted a 3 foot female Bally python into our family. We have never had any trouble feeding our other two Ball Pythons but Moose just refuses to eat. Her previous owner said that she had not eaten in three weeks, we gave her a couple days and tried to feed her. She completely ignored the rat so we went and traded for another one which she killed but did not eat. A couple days ago we tried a frozen and she completely ignored that too. We are getting a little worried because she has been dropping weight. Personally I think that she hasnt been eating because her previous owner saw that she was having trouble shedding and pulled all of the scales off of her belly. When we brought her home she was still bleeding and really scabby. Please if you have any tips leave a comment!
Yes, here is the advice--take this animal to a veterinarian immediately. With all of that trauma to her belly, she could have an infection. She definitely needs to be looked at. A ball python that fasts but loses very little weight may just be fussing over being moved, but rapid weight loss is a definite sign of illness, and should be addressed without delay. In the mean time, double-check husbandry (temps and humidity, hides, etc), do not handle the animal, and keep it quarantined from the rest of your collection.
That's Great!!, How is the belly healing up? Pulling the shed from a reptile can be very painful for them.
