Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everybody,

I got a question about feeding. One of my 1year old ball pythons hasnt eatin for me in about 3 weeks. He is my most aggressive feeder and I have never had a problem feeding him. He always wants more than I give him. I feed him F/T small rats. I have tried about 3 different times in the last 1 1/2 weeks. I dangle it by the front of his hide box and he shoots out as usually when he smells it. But the problem is he just smells it but never strikes it. I've been feeding the same rats from the same package for the last 3-4 months to him without a problem. I bought more just in case it was the rats but he wouldnt take the new ones either. Is there anybody who has had a simliar situation? Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom

Try just leaving the rat in front of the hide, or try skipping a week entirely before you offer a rat again. He could just be doing the ball python "I don't feel like eating right now" thing - sometimes they just won't eat for a month or five. Don't worry about it a whole lot, just keep an eye on the weight and if your snake isn't losing much, if any, weight, then offer the rat every other week or so and sooner or later the snake will suddenly decide to eat again

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (Tetris)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

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