Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I just got a male from a friend of mine. He said that he'd been having trouble getting him to eat. Well, we ended up putting him in the tank with our female hoping for a clutch. Well, I witnessed copulation about 3 days ago. But since the male has been with us, he hasn't eaten. I thought after he did his do with her, he'd start eating again... and he hasn't, we try him every few days because he's starting to drop weight... not quickly, but still I can see a difference. He's eating large mice, should I try offering him something smaller? Just a concerned mom... any help would be appreciated.

Offer some more information on the snakes. Age, size, any more info. Anytime you get a new snake he should be allowed to settle down in his new enclosure alone for a week or two. Balls have trouble sometimes settling into a new enviroment. I would not worry so much about breeding and start worring about what is best for my new ball python.
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www.fbballpythons.com

He was alone for a while, but still not eating. We just put him in with our girl not too long ago... just trying anything. He's about 3 years old and about 3 1/2 feet. He is due for a shed, but hasn't clouded yet... IDK... what else do you need to know? I know the females don't really eat during the breeding season, but I wasn't sure about the males...

My males usually continue to eat. I slow down on the feeding, every other week, and feed smaller items just to keep them up to par. Don't want them to get fat and sluggish. Try isolating him, leaving him alone for a week or so, give him a lot of privacy, then try giving him a adult mouse or weaned rat. Cover his enclosure so he has complete privacy and see what happens. Keep us posted. I also have some balls that require a lot of crumpled up newspaper in their enclosures to eat. Remember balls like cramped, small places. The newspaper actually makes their enclosures seem much smaller and gives them a sence of securing, taking away some stress.
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www.fbballpythons.com

some of my males go off feed for most of the breeding season. I make sure all males are fed well prior to breeding season in case this happens. since my males are well fed prior, I haven't had any problems with them getting too skinny while being off feed during breeding. I offer them once a week some will take and others will by the end of breeding. If your male stays off feed and gets too skinny after trying the the tricks mentioned in the last post you should see your vet. Take in to consideration though that balls go off feed, its just a ball thing.