Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm a high end boa guy, but I'm interested in getting into ball pythons. My concern is about the feeding habits of ball pythons. I would hate to drop a few thousand on a ball and have it refuse to eat. My question is how many of you have feeding issues with your ball python morphs ? Obviously I would want to purchase from a reputable breeder. Thanks for your input as my boas rarely miss a meal. Here is a picture of my Colombian motley het t positive.

Meh. I feed f/t to all my balls and they eat like champs. I have about 30 balls and every once in a while they'll slow down, miss a meal here and there, but as a whole they're pretty good about putting on meals. Two of my balls when I bought them I was told they only eat live and I switched them over to ft with no issues what so ever. And yes, a few morphs like to stop eating at 1000 grams or whatever but honestly. I never even get to thaw out enough mice/rats. I never have to waste feeders.
-----
Coolluigi

"You can never have too many hets" - Jim S

0.1 Pastel Pos Het Hypo
1.1 Pastel
1.0 Mojave Poss Het Hypo
1.0 Yellowbelly
1.0 100 % Het Pied
0.8 50% Het Pied
1.7 Normal
0.2 100% Het Hypo (Orange Ghost)
0.2 Spider
1.2 100% Het VPI Axanthic
and soon to be more. *fingers crossed*

np
-----
Coolluigi

"You can never have too many hets" - Jim S

0.1 Pastel Pos Het Hypo
1.1 Pastel
1.0 Mojave Poss Het Hypo
1.0 Yellowbelly
1.0 100 % Het Pied
0.8 50% Het Pied
1.7 Normal
0.2 100% Het Hypo (Orange Ghost)
0.2 Spider
1.2 100% Het VPI Axanthic
and soon to be more. *fingers crossed*

Some of mine are picky eaters, some only eat mice instead of rats, some are just scared of the small rats I offer...

Some pound the small rats like crazy, some pound the large mice like crazy...

My het albino's have been pretty picky, my spider / pastels are champs... but this could go either way depending on the snake's mood i guess...
-----
1.0 Het Albino Burm
0.1 Albino Burm
1.1 Mojave Ball Pythons
0.1 Normal Ball Python
1.0 Albino Ball Python
1.1 Pastel Ball Pythons
0.1 Spider Ball Python
0.2 Het Albino Ball Pythons
0.1 Lavender Albino Retic

Seeking bigger cages for the family

Hi, I am an investment quality ball python and boa breeder. I would not worry at all about the ball python issue when it comes to feeding habits. It isn't that big of a deal. You're right that boas rarely miss a meal, but 97 % of my ball pythons are feeding machines.

If you have any questions I can be reached through this post, my web site or by cell at (408)981-6694

Here is a photo of my female sunglow motley that I produced last year.
Good luck with your decision.

Brian Gundy / For Goodnes Snakes

-----
Brian Gundy

www.for-goodness-snakes.com

I love that girl Brian. Can I have her?

Matt

It does not matter what you buy or who you buy it from, all ball python adults go on and off food. It is a normal part of their cycle. Some will go off food for months, even a year. If you find that a problem you will want to stay away from ball pythons.

if off feeding will be a problem for you, i wouldn't recomend getting into ball pythons......but then again who am i to tell you what to do, right?

no really....ball pythons can sometimes drive a person mad! they can eat perfect for months then all of a sudden just stop eating for a month or 2 sometimes more.

prime example....i have a male pastel that i used last breeding season. he has not eaten since last november/december time frame. when will he start again???? who knows, but he still looks healthy so i'm not worried about it.

i was into boas too when i was younger living in FL. boas and pythons are like like looking at sugar and salt......both are white similar in size......but taste different if you get what i mean. boas rarely miss a meal, some balls are like that too. but i promise you that if you get into balls each one will fast on you no matter what you do. it's just something you have to expect and know before getting into them.

good luck!

Pitoon

ps - if you do get into balls get a few so if one doesn't eat you can always use that feeder to feed another....makes a good excuse to get more balls

I'm going to have to agree with the others that have said to pass on them if the fasting will be a problem. Balls can be extremely frustrating, especially when you have one that pounds everything you put in front of it for months, and then starts refusing food for no obvious reason. When i thaw rodents for the balls, I always thaw less rats than I have snakes, because I know there will be ones who refuse food. It can be extremely frustrating when you have a female that's on track to breed for you, and then stalls out somewhere between 700-1000 grams. If you are able to deal with the fasting (I know it makes me want to pull my hair out at times), then I'd say go for it.

If you want an idea of how long they can fast when they feel like it, my male pastel went over a year once without looking twice at any rat of any size, be it F/T, fresh killed, live, stunned, singing, dancing, wrapped in bacon, whatever. He's still here, he's still healthy, and he's my best breeder.

Thanks for the advice. I know that balls will go off feed time to time, however, I was inquiring about long term results. I just don't want to purchase a baby ball for $2000 to have it die a couple of months later.

Generally speaking, the babies, once feeding, feed well. Thats being said, I have a 350 gram male piebald who likes to make me pull my hair out by randomly going off feed for a month or so at a time.