I have read many books, which say that not feeding is perfectly normal for a recently acquired snake and to be patient. Then they generally go on to give methods to encourage feeding, if you snake doesn’t start to feed. However they don’t tend to go into specifics as to how long I should be patient for, before trying alternatives! I have read books that say it could take weeks or even months to get them to feed, but it is not clear if I should wait months before trying other methods.

I purchased my female Royal Python just over 3-weeks ago and she is about a year old, weighing a total of 275grams. She was obtained through a reputable reptile dealer and was supplied with paperwork proving that she had been a good feeder on a weekly basis (one large mouse every 5-7 days). However in the three weeks I have had her, she has not feed. She is now housed with a male Royal of a similar age (he has always been an excellent feeder from day one, which may be leading me to panic a bit), with plenty of hides available. I have taken considerable efforts to ensure all heating, lighting and sizes of viv etc are all correct.

Lilith (the name I have given my Royal) still looks healthy and has shed once since I have owned her, but what I would really like to know is how long would be considered as expectable for a snake of her size to acclimatize to her new home and start to eat, before I should result to more drastic measures like false feeding?