EATING??

[TONYDM41684]

I know that I have asked this question before but, Can you have a perfectly healthy ball python and it just not eat. I have made sure that everything is right temp, humidity, hides, water, prekilled, and even live. Nothing works and everything is right. What do I do? Should i just wait it out? Could he be perfectly healthy and jsut not eat?? Also I don't think that he could be stressed. I have been handling him less and less he really isn't bothered that much. When he is out at night there is nothing to bother him. I just think that he just doesn't want to eat is this possible?

[wolfman38]

I haven't had this problem with Zeus not eatting. He has eatten everytime food was offered. But it is normal for a BP to go off food for awhile. Sometimes just for a few weeks and sometimes for months. How long has it been since he stopped eatting? I wouldn't worry about it too much until he has hasn't eatten for a few months.

[led4urhead]

My two guys havent eaten in 6 weeks now. Its not abnormal. How old is your bp. Mine are almost two years each and are still nice and fat. If you bp is just a baby and hasnt eaten in a long time, it might signify a bigger problem.

[wendy]

all my snakes eat like pigs. except one wc one...shouldn't have bought her, she is still around the 2000 mark. maybe 1900 or so. but if she doesn't eat in the next few months i will be worried.

[BPnewbie]

bp's are known for being picky eaters.....some bp's can last up to 2 years without eating, so i wouldnt worry about it.

Just keep trying to feed them every week or so, if they're hungry....they'll eat

[Hoomi]

I had a similar problem with Dixie when I bought her. I asked the folks I got her from if she was eating live or pre-killed, and they told me she was eating live. I assumed from her size that they meant rats, but when I offered her a live rat, she seemed more intimidated by it than appetized. I offered her a pre-killed. No interest. I offered her a F/T mouse. No interest.

We visited a new pet shop in town that had a special on mice for something like 69 cents. I decided "What the heck; if Dixie won't eat it, Phil or Magellan certainly will!" I bought one live mouse and dropped it in her enclosure. BAM! She took it with so little hesitation it wasn't funny. A week later I offered her another, and same thing.

This week I picked up a live small rat, and had the shop bag it with some used mouse bedding. She took it as well.

If you can get a hold of the people you got your BP from, try and find out what exactly they had been feeding it. BP's are commonly fed rats and mice, but in the wild they may eat gerbils or other small rodents. If yours was fed gerbils, the smell of rats or mice may not trigger the feeding response. Some snakes, such as king snakes, are pretty much "eat anything that doesn't eat them first", but BP's are much more selective. You may just need to figure out what yours associates with food.

Good luck, and keep us posted!