Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 1.5 year old bp that hasn't eaten in almost a month. She is refusing the f/t I usually offer. There haven't been any changes in environment, temps have been in the same ranges as always. She has never been a picky eater before. I feed at night. Should I try enticing with live? Braining? Thanks
Justin

Start getting concerned if she starts losing weight. Otherwise don't worry. A month is nothing, I have a male that hasn't eaten since Oct and he is fine, my breeding female this year stopped eating at the end of Oct too.
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Nita Hamilton
4.13 Normal BP's, 1.0 Het Orange Ghost BP, 1.0 Het Pied 1.0 50% poss Het Orange Ghost BP's

You don't need to worry unless you see a drastic change in weight. It's not unlike balls to skip feeding for month or two. Even if your temps are the same, some balls are just very in tune with the seasons and go off feed. He should start eating again by march.
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Tosha

3.7.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
0.1.0 Siberian Husky (Kita)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
7.9.5 Fish (1,2,3,4...)
0.0.1 Frog rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.2 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

>>You don't need to worry unless you see a drastic change in weight. It's not unlike balls to skip feeding for month or two. Even if your temps are the same, some balls are just very in tune with the seasons and go off feed. He should start eating again by march.
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Okay, I have a somewhat related question to this comment, then. Being that I'm a pet hobbyist, not a breeder, I'm really not sure about this : I'd more or less assumed my Ball had stopped eating due to the time of year. She did the same thing last year, but it was a royal trip to get her back on feed again come springtime.

Now, I'm not too concerned right NOW about her not eating, as it IS winter, but what I'm not sure about, is if I should do something different with her heating or not. Ie, if she's going to try and hibernate anyway as she seems to want to do, should I cool her down ? If so, how much ?

Thanks. : )
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1 Ball Python
1 Rock Python
1 Burmese Python
1 Bullsnake
4 Cats

Love 'em all ...

I'm more a hobbiest than a breeder myself, although I'm gonna try hard to see it through this year. In general Ball Pythons go off feed in the fall of the year. Shorter days and cooler nights trigger this. Being indoors they aren't as likely to notice these changes, so about Oct. I start leaving the overhead light off but leave the UTH on. It really only takes a few degrees difference to trigger them to go off feed. Some snakes biological clock, if you will, will trigger it temp change or not. The females tend to go without food longer than the males. Mine averages about 5 or 6 months out of the year not eating with no ill effects, weather or not she lays eggs, and for her that's normal. Some males will go that long, but more likely about 2 or 3 months. When spring comes and the days lengthen and the temps start to return to normal they will begin to feed again. The one thing you need to keep in mind is not to panic if they go longer than you think they should. They WILL eat when they are ready. Your biggest concern, as has been said already, is if she looses much weight. If she doesn't , then relax and let her be. If this will ease your mind a bit, there is a ball python on record for going 22 months without eating, with no ill effects. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it was housed at the Philidelphia Zoo. OK, I've rambled enough for now. Hope this helps.

Quig

Generally, the more you worry about it, the worse it becomes.
Your snakes know when they are hungry, don't try to make the decision for them. Offer them food every week or every other week. If they don't eat after an hour take the prey item out of the enclosure, kill it, freeze it and send it to me. I can always use a few extra to feed my snakes.

So really it is no harder on you when they are feeding than when they are not, you just have to learn to trust your snake.

On the other hand if it has been more than six months or your snake looks unhealthy, starts to lose scales or you can see its spine sticking up and it has 20% or more weight, then you may worry.

n/p

I have an 03 that hasn't eaten since the beginning of September. Weight is still solid. All the refusals go to the 03 corn, who is on his way to gianthood. : )