Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
Im posting cuz im pretty worried about my ball python Hes small about 130g) but i dont know his exact age. I got him about 6 weeks ago and from the first month he was taking mice fine every 6-7 days. Now for the past 2 weeks he has refused feeds. I really dont know what is wrong cuz there have been no changes in his envirmoment. I cant think of any reason why he would stop eating and im very worried. He was a very keen feeder to begin with taking his food by strike. His 2 most recent feeds we had to leave in his viv and he eat them after a while. Now he just wont eat his mouse! Im scared he will die.
does anyone know how i can get him to eat? btw i havent held him since he first refused.. so i dont think im stressing him out.
any ideas?

Don't sweat it, some animals go off feed in the winter. He/She will start eating again. I had a male go off feed for 6 months, he eventually started eating again. Just offer him/her a meal every other week or so, as to not stress him/her out.

Jason

Hiya, thanks for ur reply, my ball python is a male, and I know males often go off their food.. the thing he hes a baby, only weighs about 5-6oz / 130g I was under the impression that it was adult males that fasted. Im worried cuz i doubt this little guy has the body mass to go without food for ages Im only new to balls so maybe im worrying too much :S
what do u think ?

I think you are worrying too much. If you are really worried, have you taken him to the vet to make sure there are no parasites involved? That might help as well.

Jason

My male Mojave did not eat the last rat I tried to give him, and the rat was a bit larger than what he was used to. I gave him a rat pup and left it in with him, and he took it right away. So, the point is, with finicky eaters, try smaller prey, and preferably something you can leave with the Ball without the rat doing harm to your snake.

I would not worry until he got under 100 grams just because it is winter.

just be careful about leaving live prey in the enclosure with your snake, dont leave it unattended, check on it, if not the rat may end up hurting your snake, even a young rat has sharp teeth. i prefer to stun my rats first, they are still live, but the scent of blood seems to trigger a feed response, and once my snake strikes, i usually crush the back of the skull with my fingers just in case.
and 3 of my 6 snakes have been off feed for the last 3 weeks, with even a small bps body weight it will have reserves for quite a while.
i have heard of hatchlings going a month w/o food, i am sure some of the big breeders can tell you they have seen longer.
my recomendation, dont worry, offer once a week, make sure your snake has lots of hides and the temps are good

a while ago i heard of a bp that was wild caught and didnt eat for 11 months, and lost quite a bit of weight before starting to feed again
as was mentioned, dont worry untill you see a drastic weight drop
and good luck with your snake.