Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Unless if his/her feces are red or he/she doesn't look to good I would not be worried. I have a 2 year old male ball. In October '04 he began refusing meals. (Live mice). I tried everything. Heat, dark, feeding cage, new substrate, dead mice, rats. So I just let him go, only changing his water and making sure he was alive. One day 6 months later he was furiously moving about his cage. I immediatly went to Petco and picked up a mouse. HE just about took it out of my hands. I suppose he was going dormant through winter? I had the light set on a 10 on 14 off cycle. Well I have him upgraded to a 20 gallon with paper towel substrate and he gets natural light, seems to be loving it and i always hungry. During his 6 month fast he didn't lose any weight. He seemed very active and strong when I took him out, just wasn't hungry. I suppose it could have been parasites and they might have passed.

I hope this story can give those handlers out there some hope that their snake will make it.
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hey thanks for that. its been 2 months and a little over a week since my big male has eaten and he is still fine.
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-Marshall
1.1.0 ball pythons

I had one off feed from 1/28/05 to 10/09/05. They do it all the time. Rin

i just figured this out recently. our male pastel wouldn't eat from the time that he was acquired until last week. (about 2 months time) i made no connection with fasting that usually occurs around mating times. since he's our first male, i was really nervous at first. no everything's leveled off and he's eating every time it's offered.

I had two go off feed last year in oct. the female went back on food around summer. The male is still not back on food like he use to be, he will eat a mouse every now and then. He was the one that would eat his meal and everyone else's left overs in the past, he grew to be as big as snakes twice his age. He still looks great no real weight loss, I am thinking he just ate his couple years worth of food all at once. That or he is jealous and depressed cause my male albino gets all the girls and he doesn't get to visit any of the ladies

my rat budget wouldn't mind a fast sort fast from some of the snakes from time to time, he hehe

seriously though that is why I feed them as much as they want when they are eating cause no telling when they will stop and then go back to eating again.
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Misty Sprouse Ball Pythons

thats why he isnt eating. ball pythons go off feed for a few reasons. one being that they are "catching up" because they are to overfed. your male is on a diet because you fed him to much before. remember, ONE appropriately sized rodent ONCE a week.
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-Marshall
1.1.0 ball pythons

They don't go off feed because they were overfed... that's not the reason. You can feed one once a week or even once every two weeks and when the time comes, it will still shut down... though it may not be as long... maybe only for a couple of months. Usually breeding season, climate change, stress, etc. could cause this to happen.

Eric