Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I purchased a Lesser male back in September that weighed 645 grams. It was sold to me as a great eater that was fed weekly on frozen thawed rats without any problems. It was stated to me prior to purchase that the snake ate every time offered without refusal. After recieving the animal I set him up under the same conditions perscribed to me by the seller down to the substrate. I waited a week before offering the snake any food to ensure he was settled in. I offered him his first meal of a freshly killed small rat. He refused. I continued to offer verious food items on a weekly basis with no feeding response. It is now the end of December and no feeding response yet. The animal has lost over 80 grams. The thing that I find a little strange is he has not deficated one time since I received him. He has only passed a very small amount of urates. If this animal was eating weekly he should have had several defacations in 3 months, correct? I've never had a snake that was feeding on a weekly basis not deficate on a regular basis. I understand Ball Pythons can be picky eaters and I've got plenty of experience with that. It's the lack of defacating that puzzles me. Has anyone had this type of situation or seen this happen in an animal that was eating on a weekly basis. Any comments would be great.

Thanks
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Dino W.

i have a stubborn blood python that will only eat when all the lights are out pitch black it really is weird ive never had a snake only eat when its pitch black. so my ? is have you tried durng the day and at night,also how long are you leaving the rat in the cage i ahev a jungle carpet that wont eat with me around ive caught him eating the mouse (f/t) at 6 in the morning when it went into the cage at 7 pm

I've offered both day and night, I've left prekilled in overnight. It's not so much that he is not eating it's the fact that he was sold to me as a solid weekly feeder that ate every meal offered, but has not shown the signs of eating weekly by defecating once in a 3 month period.

Thanks
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Dino W.

have you talked to who sold it to you,what are your temps/humidity

Have you tried live? In your situation, I would definitely offer a live crawler-sized rat. This is like candy to a young ball python.

That said, it could be the time of year-even at that small size a male ball could go into a breeding cycle and lose his appetite. I would agree with you, however, that the lack of defecations is suspicious...
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Brad Chambers

The Avalanche has already started-it is too late for the pebbles to vote....

Thanks for the input thus far. I have tried everything to get this guy to eat, live, prekilled, frozen thawed and even a large mouse. I have only seen him one time in three months come out of his hide. He is a very shy snake who stays coiled in his hide at all times. I've left preweaned rats that have just opened there eyes over night with no result. My problem is he was sold to me with these words "this animal is absolutely ready to pair up. great size, great feeder". It's hard for me to find this statement true seeing his very timid nature. I find it hard to believe this animal went from a strong feeder to a basket case from an overnight trip. Not impossible but hard to believe.

Thanks
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Dino W.

Stress is most likely the cause. Check your husbandry. Make sure he has a nice tight hide. Try a live mouse or rat. I feed all my balls live rats. Hope this helps.

How old is the snake? It must have been eating something for the seller to get over 600g. A lot of BP's go of feed for a while when they get up around that weight. Most of mine stop between 800 and 1000g. Have you tried putting him with any femaes yet?
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John Vandegrift

Thanks John for reading the post and replying to the intended topic. I have tried puting him with females that I know are receptive to breeding with no witnessed copulations. Unless he serviced them quickly during the night. I have checked for sperm plugs and I believe he is producing. He just seems to be extremely shy. It's very hard for me to beleive he was a strong feeder that never refused a meal up until the day I received him. Also the fact that he has not had any defecation during the 3 month period seams odd to me.
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Dino W.

He was sold to me as an 06 animal.
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Dino W.

If he is an 06 then it's likely that he is off feed - perhaps he got cold during shipping and this triggered it - perhaps it's a temperature/barometric change in his environment - could be a lot of things. Remember off feed doesn't necessarily mean that he is ready to breed - maybe later in the season he will.

If he arrived in good shape - his appearance didn't seem to send up red flags then he probably is just off feed. If this is the case then he wouldn't be pooping he'd be storing up any nutrients that he could - nothing in - nothing out.

Make sure that your husbandry isn't this issue - occasionally offer him whatever food item he is accustomed to and keep an eye on his weight - he can be expected to loose some but not too much.

Good luck!
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Tosha
JET Pythons