Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My BP hasn't eaten in 3 months, nothing has changed, I'm using the same type of bedding, same temps, haven't moved him, nothing has changed. I've tried everything, I always fed him inside his cage, changed that to outside his cage, nothing. He's always eaten live, tried f/t, freshly killed, nothing. (please don't start on the live/not live feeding, I feed live and I'm not changing dispite what anyone says.) Tried different sized rats, nothing. I read somewhere that if they go off feed for a long time to try gerbils, has anyone tried this? I live in CA. where gerbils are illegal, if this is a shot could someone tell me where to get a LIVE one? He has lost a little weight due to not eating so I'm starting to get worried. My local pet shop guru suggested "braining" the rat....cutting open it's brain cavity cause it releases pharamones or however you spell it...not going to try it. Ball pythons are great for a first snake? HA. He's driving me crazy.
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1.0 Ball Python - Keo
1.0 Bolivian Boa - Cyn
3.0 Ferrets - Bijou, Bosco, Dew
2.0 Cats - Bocephus & Arnold
2.0 Dogs - Stewie, Bo
0.2 Rats - Gwen & XG1

sounds like a lot of frustration and not a whole lot you are willing to do about it. But it may be the case your animal has gone off feed for a reason that nothing is going to help anyway. You say you tried everything...what is everything? chicks or chick scenting? Most will take birds pretty well. I did not read all the things you tried so I will just mention bagging. Bagging the snake could work...I dont do it and have had no luck with it but I tried other things and got them to work. I have heard it Braining often works but I would not do it with a live animal either...its worth a shot with an ft animal though. I would look more into possible changes (like temp and humidity or visual aspect that could be a disturbance) recently.

My ball python is off feed too. At this time, it's been about 1 1/2 months. The last time was from January to March 2004. I didn't expect it to go off feed this early, but that's the way it is.

The reason we are frustrated is that we are human and the snake isn't. They don't follow our nice orderly lives, 3 meals a day, shower, sex, watch TV, work, sleep. In the wild, they live in holes, sleep during the day, eat whenever opportunity presents itself, mate, and poop and not in any specific order.

I also feed live so I'm with you on that part. I think you just have to wait them out and try feeding every 7-10 days. This is where I'm at. Don't try to force the issue with the snake. Their brains are much smaller than yours and it really doesn't care what we think. We obsess far too much about our snakes like they were children. They're not, they are cold blooded reptiles that want to drive us crazy. LOL

Same here. I have one female off feed already. I used to worry about it, but now I don't. I still offer her food every 4 or 5 days, but it ends up going to one of the other snakes. Am I worried? Nope. She'll eat when she's ready.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

You're angry? At who? Or what? FACT: Bal pythons go off feed, if you can't handle that simple fact, maybe ball pythons are just not the snake for you. You can scent, brain, gerbil, hell you could probably cook up a nice rat casserole, the fact remains that they eat when THEY want, not when YOU want. Good luck.

what's wrong with braining a rodent? stick a paper clip in the brain area and squeeze the head and spread the brain matter over the head.if your snake is driving you crazy he has a lot more power than my BP's have fun!

I don't think in this case that it would help. I agree with the others. Don't worry about it. Don't even bother for a few weeks. They can go months with out harm. What I want to know is what you have against ft. Or , what is the benifit of feeding live. Just for kicks throw a dead one in for a day or two. He may take it. Think about a Cobra. Not great for beginers but man, they love to eat and never go off feed except for Kings wich can be picky eaters. Just kidding, get a BURM there apatite will not let you down and great personalities despite there huge adult size.

I agree. Just wait it out and offer every 7 to 10 so when it's ready to eat you'll know.

Does anyone know if a Ball is more likely to go off feeding if it's fattened up getting what it needs beforehand? In other words, is a snake who's not well fed less likely to do this?
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0.0.2 Bearded Dragons(Ziggy and Stardust)
0.1.0 Royal/Ball Python(Not named yet)

There were times were I knew he was hungry...I tried f/t and he would go up to it...then shy away. Same thing with freshly killed, wouldn't touch it. Then I would run to the store before they closes, pick up a live one...and he took it before I could get my hand out of there. He just prefers live.
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1.0 Ball Python - Keo
1.0 Bolivian Boa - Cyn
3.0 Ferrets - Bijou, Bosco, Dew
2.0 Cats - Bocephus & Arnold
2.0 Dogs - Stewie, Bo
0.2 Rats - Gwen & XG1