I think in some cases electrical devices can affect feeding, I'm not sure about magnetic fields so imo mostly to do with irregular photoperiods and vibration. If games consoles are being played it can involve lots of shouting, loud tv and possibly people moving around, which all cause vibrations. Snakes are secretive creatures so exposure to all these scarey noises will stress them out, therefore putting them off their food. The same applies to radios/hi fis etc.



Also, TVs emit light, and if they're on at irregular times or on until all hours of the night, the snake doesn't have a proper photoperiod - ie day and night - so it doesn't know when it's supposed to be resting and when it's supposed to be awake and hunting. That along with the noise of the computer games is bound to be stressful for the snakes.



Personally I don't think all electrical equipment affects them though, as plenty of people use heat mats, stats, bulbs and other forms of artifical heating with healthy, feeding snakes. I currently have my snakes in my bedroom with heat mats and stats, and the TV on in the evenings quite a bit (though not overly loud), with no feeding problems.



Royal pythons are known for being fussy feeders anyway, so even if they're put into a quiet room they can go off their food.



I haven't done any research on this topic, this is just what I have gathered from my experience with snakes, so I can't say if this is the reason why your brother had that run of bad luck, but imo it seems to be a possible cause.



Mel

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