Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a ball python that wont eat right now. I've tried feeding her three seperate times but she still wont eat. I usually feed her a pre-killed frozen rat and she's never had a problem with it till now. I know she has to be hungry, its been two weeks since her last feeding and she's slithering all around her tank at night and sometimes durring the day (which never happends). Any suggestions?
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this is the time of the season that balls can go off of feed. depending on how large yours is, it is ok for her not to eat for 2 weeks, 1 month, even longer. you could start trying just once a week and dont bother her in between attempts, or you could offer her live prey. all my balls take live rats, from pinkies to full grown. just dont worry too much until she starts loosing weight. im sure it will not come to that. when she is ready she will eat.

2 weeks is nothing, even for a hatchling Ball that was feeding well prior to its self-imposed-fast. It will eat when it is ready to eat, don't worry about it. If you are worried about it, try a live mouse, that should work. All my Ball's that eat rats will eat mice also, but the strict mouse feeders will have nothing to do with rats, so don't worry about it not switching back to rats just because somebody here said it wont.

Good luck,
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Chad Bachman

Beyond what Bachman and djdpython already stated there isn't much I can tell you.
I would, however, try a freshly killed mouse before a live one. The reason being that sometimes it can be difficult to switch back to f/t afterwards. F/k is the closest to what your snake is currently eating and I assume you don't want a freezer full of mice to go to waste if she does decide to refuse all but live prey.

Patience is the key here. Eventually she will decide to eat again, but it'll be on her terms and when she is ready. Every ball is a little different as far as the reasons for going off feed and the length of time they will be off feed. It'll take you a couple years to figure out her "cycle". I have some that go off feed as early as late summer and others that keep slamming them down until Mid December. Some won't eat for six months and for others the fast is only 6 weeks.

We sometimes forget that these animals are individuals. We grow accustomed to breeding recipes and charts that detail what are animals "should" do. But the fact is these are only averages and breeding recipes vary from breeder to breeder. Once you get to know her cycle more acurrately and the types of things that stress her out (to the point of not eating) you'll feel more comfortable when she stops eating because you'll be able to guess-timate when she'll be ready to eat again.

In the meantime, don't handle her between feeding attempts. If you normally remove her from her enclosure for feedings, try offering her food in her "home". Sometimes the move from one tank to another just for a meal can be stressful.

If nothing else works you could try a little trick I've used with some success for picky eaters and slow starters. (It goes against my advice about not removing them from their tank...but if it works...why not?)

I bought a Rubbermaid sweater box and a small cat litter pan (Target usually has the size I'm talking about for about $2). Take the litter pan and cut out a hole in the side about the size of a baseball. This will become a sort of "hide" for the snake. Place the snake and litter pan hide in the Rubbermaid making sure the opening is facing the open space in the Rubbermaid. I then take whatever prey I've thawed out and begin "walking" it around inside the Rubbermaid with my hemostats (the snake should be in the hide) at the same time I scratch a fiingernail against the bottom edge of the Rubbermaid lightly (kind of a mouse scratch). Generally you will see that the snake is interested in what is going on and will be hiding itself just inside of the hide. Slowly work your mouse or rat closer to the entrance of the hide. If she's hungry she'll strike...believe me.
I got this idea a few years back after hearing that they are sit and wait predators in the wild. This also works with live feeders and I've successfully switched over a few stubborn animals this way...both from live to frozen thawed and from mice to rats.

Wow, this post became much longer than I originally intended. Sorry about that. Anyways give her time she'll come around.
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Sometimes, things are exactly as they appear...sometimes.

Thanks for the help guys. I think i'm going to wait for a little bit longer (a week or so...) and if that doesn't work then i'll try BrandonSander's idea. It sounds like it works pretty well.
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