Off feed, extremely active. Need suggestions please.

[Eric Alan]

I'm bringing up a somewhat old topic but I wonder how much barometric pressure affects snakes? A cold front usually means lowering barometric pressure and in Africa, will that mean increased rain?

It certainly does have an impact on their behavior. A front moving in and a nice, rainy day is the perfect time to put a pair together and expect to see good results.

[AllieKin]

Sometimes turning down the hotspot a couple degrees can fix this kind of a problem, I have noticed.

However - sometimes my males cannot be comforted, and they are going to try to escape from their tubs all day and night no matter what. I think that's when the desire to breed hits them, like others have mentioned already.

[tacticalveterinarian]

Blame those hormones! Many of my males go off feed during breeding season, regardless if they are exposed to females or not.

[kiiarah]

Just an update for everyone, it may well have been a perceived breeding season after all. After four weeks of refusals (a blip on the radar in bp terms I know) Shesha has taken two rats over the last two weeks so we may be back on track. I was actually surprised that he ate last week because he had the very beginning of cloudy eyes and was getting ready to shed. He had been coiled up in his hide for two days without even peeking out so I figured there was no way he would show any interest. I left the rat on top of his hide (F/T of course) figuring it was worth a shot. About an hour later I had a missing rat and a fatter little bp. So he has a nice full belly and should be shedding in a few days here. After that I am just crossing my fingers that he eats again. He seems calmer these last couple of weeks too so it really may have been a hormonal thing going on, but he still isn't striking which seems odd. Both times he ate I had to leave it in there and he eventually got around to it. He is about 10 months old, not sure if that is the right age for breeding behavior to emerge. It is a huge relief for him to have taken some meals though. As much as I do know that going off feed is a ball python thing and usually not a reason to worry I just can't help but stress about it. I think the entire household is feeling much better now lol.

[scalrtn]

My guy is a pretty solid feeder, but he's refused numerous times ....for several months over the winter. Up until last week, he'd fed six weeks in succession with a great strike response (I also feed f/t rats). This past week, he refused again, but I left the prey item in the cage, and it was gone in a few hours. When mine refuses with any regularity, I cut back on the offering interval, but always make sure that the prey item is nice and warm.