Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So my female pastel has not ate since the 29th of december... I'm not sure if I should be worried or not. She last ate a live small rat, without any problems. I waited about 10, tried to feed her and nothing. I have tried a few other times since then and with no luck. She had eaten fine up to this point. My male pastel eats like its nobodies business! Any help or input will be helpful.

How big is she and has she lost any weight?

Most BPs go on hunger strikes this time of year. Meaning at least a couple of months, average of 4 months, most I have heard of 11 months. I have a mid-sized male that hasn't eaten since November and doesn't look like he intends to eat anytime soon. Just monitor their condition and wait patiently.
-----
Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 Whitesided P. catenifer sayi, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband

Welcome to the world of ball pythons. Used to have a pied male that didn't eat for 9 months straight every year. At least he was consistent. Drove me nuts. Finally got used to it.

Wow... I knew they did this. Just didn't know for that long. Thanks for the help. She is about 680g. Hasn't really lost much weight... Thanks for the input!!

680g!?! Wow you're lucky! Mine are on strike... and they are like 620 and 320g... And the waiting continues. Good luck!
-----
Teresa
------------------
3.0 Dogs (2.0 Chihuahuas, 1.0 Toy Poodle)
1.5 Cats
1.0 Cockatiel
1.0 Indonesian Blue tongue skink

Ball Pythons
0.1 100% Het Albino (Watson)
1.0 Pastel (Sweets)
0.1 Spider (Daisy)
1.0 Albino (Gormagon)
1.0 Lesser (Wendell)

Yeah I know... My male is 920g, but he is not taking a break any time soon. As soon as the rat gets in the room, he gets all riled up.

Welcome to owning ball pythons. Get used to them deciding not to eat. It happens a lot.
-----
"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

I'd say don't worry. I have a large size male that between 2009 and 2010 didn't eat from September to March
-----
Sed et serpens erat callidior cunctis animantibus terrae quae fecerat Dominus Deus...

i hear everyone say get used to it, its just what they do but i have to raise another question or maybe just an observation. i have been keeping and breeding ball pythons for 11yrs now. i dont have a huge collection but i do own 40 all differnt ages and i have yet to experience hunger strikes. i have had a wild caught female and the rest are captive bred. all my snakes are in boaphile racks. i keep them on cypress. my temps are low 90 on hot side down to room temp on cool side. i feed all my snakes frozen thawed even the babies. i guess the only thing i do different is i dont feed every sat for example. i am kinda irradic as to which days i feed. i guess it ranges from every 5 days to as long as 10 days between feedings. maybe this randomness has helped the feed response in my snakes. i also dont handle them much and just like to look at them. maybe this cuts down on stress to the animal. all my animals seem to grow just fine and hit breeding weights just fine. if anyone can comment further that would be great. i dont by anymeans think i have stumbled onto any secretes to keeping ball pythons but thought i should share my experience.
-----
Spider

I'd have to agree with your thoughts on randomness. The snakes that were my occassional feeders on Sundays (my regular feeding days) have started eating every time I offer if I offer on an irratic schedule. With these picky eaters I tend to offer depending on either the last time I fed them OR their behavior. So sometimes I might not offer for 10 days to 2 weeks if they are being sedentary. Others will eat and be quite active 4-5 days later and ready for another rat.
-----
Lincoln, NE
0.1 Pastel, 1.0 Pastel het Pied, 0.1 Pied, 0.1 Cinn, 1.0 Black Pewter, 1.0 Woma (hidden gene?), 0.1 Yellowbelly
2.1 Normals, 1.0 Thayeri, 0.1 Thayeri X Alterna, 0.1 Whitesided P. catenifer sayi, 0.1 crazy cat, 1.0 husband