Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've never really had any of my snakes actually go off feed. Well, my breeding females have, but have never acted strangely thru it, and none of my males have either. My big normal male went off feed about 2 months ago now. I'm not panicked, just wondering if I should be.

He was always my champion eater of all my snakes. My roommate used to always call him "Dumpster" cuz he'd eat anything you threw at him. Going off feed didn't suprise me, he's a big guy.

But my question is, do they normally stick to the cool side of the tank?? Unlike most my snakes that are in racks he is on display, and temperatures are average (I do not cool).
Hot Side = 89 degrees
Hot Spot = Appox 91
Cool Side = 79
Ambient Temps = Appox 84
He had two hides, a a mess of sticks and leaves as the hot side hide and a box on the cool side. He's been sticking to this box faithfully, rarely coming out, even at night. It started to concern me, because when I pick him up he feels way too icy cold in my perspective and he never moves to the warm side at all - at least I haven't witnessed it in the past 2 months. Is this average when they go off feed?

As an experiment, I moved his box more towards the middle of the enclosure (tho still more toward the cool side), and placed another hide box in its place next to it, so now there are three hides. He stuck to his favorite box shortly, but it wasn't long till he burrowed underneath the aspen at the far cool side actually almost pushing the new hide out of the way.

He's also been very anxious lately; since he's normally a pretty chill, laid back guy... bold and free of being head shy. Now he seems nervous all the time. I'm concerned he is stressed out. Though I'm not sure what could have caused it, he has been in the same enclosure for a year now, and a smaller, similar one the year before.

I wasn't concerned when I noticed an actual difference in weight. He feels much lighter. I handle him quite often, so I thought I would just be more sensitive to minor differences in him that others wouldn't notice. But eventually my roommate even noticed, despite the fact he does not toy with him that often, unlike myself.

Any thoughts?? Should I be concerned about his behavior of insisting on being cold, being nervous, and the difference in his weight? And I've continued to offer him food every week tho he hasn't taken it, that is okay right??

Thanks for the info in advance.

I had the same problem, with a ball python male. I moved him from a smaller tank, to a bigger tank, and everything was fine for about 6 months. Then one day, he just stopped eating. He didn't eat for 6 months, and started loosing weight. I decided to move him to a rack system. He started eating again within the week, and hasn't missed a meal since. Sound like he could be a stressed. Hope this helps.

I know what you mean; 3 of my other snakes I tryied to keep on display but were picky eaters. I moved them into racks and now eat without fail. But they were racks snakes before they came to me.

This guy has been in aquarium all his life.. Is possible it could suddenly affect him so?? Maybe I should try it??

Try it and see what happens. It could also be that he is looking to mate. It is that time of year. They will sit on the cool side more during mating season. Just another thought. Let us know how it all turns out. Good luck.