Sigh. He's a diva.

[SekiMoshu]

Over the past almost two months that I've had my little pumpkin champagne I haven't been the most successful with feeding him. He doesn't seem to like striking his food. The successful feeds I've had were on the 9th and the 28th last month. The only way I've gotten him to eat was to leave the f/t rat in over night. I wouldn't worry about him eating this way if it were more consistent. He's only 216g but he definitely doesn't look like he's starving either, not losing weight. He has a nice round body and bright eyes, clear vents and nose (no obvious health problems from what I see). He started going into shed on the 4th so I wasn't too surprised that he didn't eat on that feeding week since he went into the blue on the 7th and finally shed on the 13th. It was a perfect shed and I was ecstatic, my wife was concerned over him eating and tried feeding him on the 15th but he wasn't interested, I tried feeding him yesterday on the 18th and he was interested but turned away from it. I follow the same schedule every time. I get the rat out at 6pm, let it thaw until around 8:30 and then wait until about 9 for it to get nice and dark in the room and try to offer. He seemed more concerned with coming out of the tank than the warm food I'm trying to give him. His humidity at the moment is sitting at 61%, 85 in his basking spot since it's still pretty early in the morning, 78-80 in his warm hide and 73-75 on his cool for the floor temps via heat gun. The ambient air is reading 78. Any suggestions? I feel as though I may just not be offering it right to him. I've gotten the most interest when I hold the rat by the scruff on all fours. But I've never once gotten him to strike it. Again I'd be fine with that if the little bugger would eat every week. I guess it's like they say, your very first snake will teach you a WORLD of patience.

edit: Oh I nearly forgot to mention that the size of the rats that I'm feeding him are between 20-24g. And they are the same ones I've gotten him to eat in the past.

[Jcash34]

If it gets to the point that you are worried and/or he's losing weight I would consider offering him a live rat of equal/slightly smaller size. I have a pastel that will not touch f/t no matter what I try but is a voracious feeder on live mice. she also will not eat a Norway no matter what I try. Only mice and asfs. Some snakes just are picky. Try live and see if anything changes. Just my two cents. Good luck with it!

[kiiarah]

Just a couple of things that stand out to me. Could you clarify what you mean by basking spot? Ball pythons don't need top heat, they need belly heat to aid in digestion. The floor temp in his hot hide should be 90 degrees and ambient tank temps should be around 80. Floor hide in the cool hide is usually not a concern as long as it is on the opposite side from the heating mat and allows them to get away from the heat and still be hidden. If he doesn't have a spot he can rest his belly that is 90 degrees it could contribute to food refusal. They are quite good at realizing when conditions are not ideal to digest and they will often refuse rather than risk the food rotting or being regurgitated.

You are right that it is normal for them not to eat while in blue or while shedding, and it sounds like he is in good health. Any time you are encountering food refusals you want to keep a close eye on their weight and make sure they are not losing too much. Their weight should stay about the same through fasting, with maybe just very slight loss of weight. Do remember that a loss of say 20 grams is almost nothing for a full grown ball python, but for one as little as yours it is a much bigger percentage. Keep the members here posted on his weight and progress because they will be able to tell you if he is entering the danger zone for weight loss and should be seen by a vet. I read somewhere that the record for a snake refusing food and recovering with no damage done was 22 months. Definitely don't panic over a few weeks of refusals, or even a month or two, as long as weight is stable and all other signs of health are in order. It could be something as simple as breeding urges, hormonal changes, or any number of natural explanations. That being said, I would absolutely ensure that the floor under one of his hides is 90. Basking heat doesn't aid in digestion the way belly heat does, so it would make sense that if he doesn't have that he might be more prone to refuse meals.

Best of luck and keep us posted, there are tons of very knowlegable keepers here who are always happy to help!

[SekiMoshu]

Just a couple of things that stand out to me. Could you clarify what you mean by basking spot? Ball pythons don't need top heat, they need belly heat to aid in digestion. The floor temp in his hot hide should be 90 degrees and ambient tank temps should be around 80. Floor hide in the cool hide is usually not a concern as long as it is on the opposite side from the heating mat and allows them to get away from the heat and still be hidden. If he doesn't have a spot he can rest his belly that is 90 degrees it could contribute to food refusal. They are quite good at realizing when conditions are not ideal to digest and they will often refuse rather than risk the food rotting or being regurgitated.

You are right that it is normal for them not to eat while in blue or while shedding, and it sounds like he is in good health. Any time you are encountering food refusals you want to keep a close eye on their weight and make sure they are not losing too much. Their weight should stay about the same through fasting, with maybe just very slight loss of weight. Do remember that a loss of say 20 grams is almost nothing for a full grown ball python, but for one as little as yours it is a much bigger percentage. Keep the members here posted on his weight and progress because they will be able to tell you if he is entering the danger zone for weight loss and should be seen by a vet. I read somewhere that the record for a snake refusing food and recovering with no damage done was 22 months. Definitely don't panic over a few weeks of refusals, or even a month or two, as long as weight is stable and all other signs of health are in order. It could be something as simple as breeding urges, hormonal changes, or any number of natural explanations. That being said, I would absolutely ensure that the floor under one of his hides is 90. Basking heat doesn't aid in digestion the way belly heat does, so it would make sense that if he doesn't have that he might be more prone to refuse meals.

Best of luck and keep us posted, there are tons of very knowlegable keepers here who are always happy to help!

Thank you for the feedback. What I meant by basking spot was the top of his hide temperature. The surface is 90. I did however go out today and buy an UTH for him. I bought the exoterra and I have the digital probe inside his warm hide. So far it's up to 87 inside his warm according to the thermometer and the ir gun. Feeding day is in 2 days so fingers crossed. Maybe with this increase in heat I might even get a strike out of him. He's almost a full year old and I'm so excited to see him get bigger.

[frostysBP]

Are u regulating the uth with a thermostat? If not unplug it right now they can get above 110° and can and will burn snakes.

Sent from my LGL15G using Tapatalk

[SekiMoshu]

Are u regulating the uth with a thermostat? If not unplug it right now they can get above 110° and can and will burn snakes.

Sent from my LGL15G using Tapatalk

Oh no, its on a tstat. I should have mentioned that I had it on one. Sorry for any unnecessary worries. Thanks for your concern. Feeding day tomorrow fingers crossed. Let's hope the temp makes a difference.

[SekiMoshu]

Getting slightly more concerned. He didn't eat for me last night either even with his warm hide being 88-90 and the coldest temp in his tank being 77. Humidity was 65 throughout the night. He was interested in the rat at first when I was trying the zombie jig but turned away after a little bit of watching. Last times I got him to eat I did the zombie jig, he realized it was there and after about 20 minutes of dancing I would leave it on the lip of his warm hide and go to work. (I work graveyard shift.) My wife would send me a text at around 11:30-12 that it was gone. I was rather sad to see it was still there when I got home last night. When I weighed him last on the 13th he was 216g. I weighed him after disposing of his rat this morning and he is down to 208g. Gonna be calling the vet later today for an appointment I believe.

[hazzaram]

I'd try feeding live. I'm lucky in that both of my bps take f/t beautifully but if I was in your situation, I would try feeding live. You can always work on switching to f/t later. Getting the snake to eat if it's losing weight is most important I think.

[frostysBP]

I wouldn't call a vet just yet. That's going to add more stress to the situation. Have you tried live yet. Pics of his tank would be great there are way more options then to rush of to the vet. 216 to 208 is nothing. Did he deficate, urates?

Sent from my LGL15G using Tapatalk

[SekiMoshu]

He hasn't had a bowel movement since his shed which I've read is normal for these guys. He had urates a couple days ago and they were cleaned out immediately and were pure white. Last night he just seemed more concerned with coming out of the tank than looking at the food.

Live is going to be the next attempt, f/t is what he's eaten for me before but he may just be being picky. I honestly don't know.

Here is his tank currently. The hide on the left seems big but he likes to squeeze himself up inside of it as the sides come nice and low so he gets a nice tight fit in there. He uses both of his hides and will go to his cool hide on the warmer days here. I've used newspaper before to make them smaller and he won't touch them if anything is inside of them. His hides are also where he's eaten in the past so I'm not really sure that would be the problem.

Also a couple pictures of him from last Saturday. As said in the original post, he's got a nice round body, I'm just concerned. He's my first snake so I'm fretting a lot over him. He's going to be a year old here in the middle of August.