Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've just aquired a sub-adult, presumed male BP who hasn't fed since April, 7 months. I've got the ball python manual for all the tricks to try to get him feeding but I just wondered if anyone has any personal experiences that might help us out. Why do they go off feed in the first place? And is there anything that can trigger them to start again?

Background to this guy - he's around 30ins long and has very good body weight and muscle tone. I don't have an accurate weight off him but I'd say 500-600g, and he has been treated for parasites. He was kept in a large rubbermaid which was covered up but he had no hide. The previous owner had told me that he seemed frightened of rats/mice and showed no interest in gerbils or chicks. These were all heated up prior to feeding, altho I need to clarify if these were offered from tongs or left with overnight. He was offered food every 2 weeks and was last offered 3 weeks ago. He seems shy to handle at first but once he's used to you he likes to get himself into mischief! He does not appear to be losing any body weight but he has not been weighed regularily to check.

I have set him up in a smaller rubbermaid with a tight hide and water bowl, I've covered him up and I haven't touched him since, except to check his water was clean. I'm planning to leave him like this for a couple of weeks and then offer him an appropriately-sized, heated up rat off tongs to see what his reaction is, as I've not personally witnessed it myself. I'm going to leave it overnight if he won't feed off tongs. If thats unsuccessful I'm going to go with some of the suggestion in the BP manual.

Does anyone have any other suggestions to make about his set up or any other feeding strategies I can try after the above? I guess braining would probably be the next step?

I want to try and avoid the use of live if possible, as his reactions could suggest something has had to go at him, if he's frightened of food items. Besides which I only have access to live adult mice which are probably going to be too small for him, unless he has 2 or 3.

Please share your experiences, thoughts and suggestions. They are all very welcome.

Thanks in advance.

i personally haven't had to many feeding problems but it has happened here & there. I think the live mouse is a good idea....it won't fill him up but hopefully he wont be afraid since it's small. try that & then try the frozen rat. also try just leaving him with the dead rat. he may be frighted by you holding it in front of him. i have killed rats & left them in the cage & they always go for it...my boa doesn't but the ball pythons who i fed live for a long time will slither to the other end of the cage & chow down on the dead rat w/o any assistance in movement & all that. so maybe he just wants complete privacy when he eats. maybe try freshly killed prey, or giving him a nice bath & raise the heat a little. maybe he will get hungry if he's a little warmer. well best of luck.

Thanks for the advice, I did think that myself, I'll let you know how we get on.

Don't worry about it unless it lasts for more than six months or so. When he gets hungry enough, he'll eat.

I think I recall that perfectly healthy bp's have been recorded not eating for periods of up to 8 months (if that's wrong, someone correct me. I know it isn't THAT far off, though.) without any noticeable ill-effects. Would that we could all be so lucky!