Will a ball starve itself to death

[Raverthug]

Like the title says, Will a BP starve itself to death. Say I was to take a ball that only ate rats. I wanted to swap it to mice (not that I would). Would it refuse food untill it died or would it finally say F it and eat that?

[Bruceweb]

They would eat,,eventualy

[MarkS]

I've had ball pythons that have starved themselves to death, but they were babies that had never started eating in the first place. Healthy ball pythons with good weight can go a very VERY long time without eating. Is there any particular reason that you want to switch it's food? I don't remember ever having a problem with a rat eater taking mice, my problems have always been the other way around with mouse eaters refusing rats. In my experience it's always been easier for me to get them to eat mice then to eat rats.

[mr. s]

I agree, it would most likely eat.
The stress of not eating could cause illness though, which could result in death.......I suppose.

I do not understand the example though, have you actually considered switching a snake from rats to mice? (I want to switch all mine from mice to rats, because it is cheaper in the end, and you don't have to feed a large snake like 4 jumbo mice).

[Big Gunns]

They would eat,,eventualy

Oh no they won't. A Ball will starve itself to death all the time if it doesn't get the food it wants. Kinda like BG would do if Subway went out of bizz and he couldn't get his cookies.

[A.VinczeBPs]

Depends on the snake. Some are weaker, and if they don't get the food they want, I'd have no doubt they'd just not eat until it killed them.
Though I found this only to be with baby snakes, ones that were picky or runty from the get go.
A healthy ball should eat eventually, at least I would hope. Just in case though, I'd feed it what it chooses to eat...don't go testing the theory.

[kc261]

There are several things to consider to answer this question.

In the case of babies that never eat, are they dying due to starvation, or are there other issues that caused them not to eat in the first place, and contributed to their death?

In the case of switching from one prey to another, can the snake be considered to be starving itself if it is possible it doesn't even recognize the new prey type as food?

In the case of snakes that are stressed due to improper housing, or wild caught snakes that have not yet adjusted to captivity, is it starving itself to death, or is it trying to stay alive because in its stressed state, it seems safer to not eat than to make itself vulnerable by eating?

I would expect it is EXTREMELY rare, possibly totally non-existent, for a BP to starve itself to death when it is healthy, housed properly, and offered the kind of food it has previously been eating.

[BiggBaddWolf]

yes they will starve themselves to death..I have had two do it!!

[Big Gunns]

There are several things to consider to answer this question.

In the case of babies that never eat, are they dying due to starvation, or are there other issues that caused them not to eat in the first place, and contributed to their death?

In the case of switching from one prey to another, can the snake be considered to be starving itself if it is possible it doesn't even recognize the new prey type as food?

In the case of snakes that are stressed due to improper housing, or wild caught snakes that have not yet adjusted to captivity, is it starving itself to death, or is it trying to stay alive because in its stressed state, it seems safer to not eat than to make itself vulnerable by eating?

I would expect it is EXTREMELY rare, possibly totally non-existent, for a BP to starve itself to death when it is healthy, housed properly, and offered the kind of food it has previously been eating.

It is absolutely "existent". A ball will do this a lot more than you think...especially during the breeding season. It is up to the keeper to decide when drastic(force feeding...appetite stimulant..flagyl works great) measures are needed to save the Ball. Some people however are too lazy and will just let them die.

[seeya205]

Oh no they won't. A Ball will starve itself to death all the time if it doesn't get the food it wants. Kinda like BG would do if Subway went out of bizz and he couldn't get his cookies.

Do you know Jerrad? Sounds like your on the Subway diet too! LOL! Those cookies can't be good for lean muscle mass!