Fasting

[kontron]

my b/p roswell has been fasting for a month to a month and a half. when should i start to worry? i have left him in his feeding box with a lid on top for over an hour. all he does is cruise around and ignore the rat. when i dangle the rat around he does strike at it and wrap around and do the whole bit, but after that he just doesnt care. should i try a p/k one.. maybe he is sick of the f/t? he doesnt look like he lost weight or anything, he looks overall much the same as always, when should i start to worry?

[tigerlily]

Really a month isn't that bad. Some go for several months. The key is to make sure they're not losing weight. It's possible their meals have been a little overwhelming and it's taking them a while to work it off. (what are you feeding and how often?) The only other possiblity is their environment. Make sure your hot side stays around 92 and your cool side at around 82, because if the temps aren't right the snakes have more difficulty digesting their food.

[AlexScan]

Hello,

I have a BP aswell and the only way mine will eat is if I hold the rat with tongs (you don't have to go out and buy some just use salad tongs and boil them after) first you must hold the rat about a inch off of the ground and make it look real by shaking it and moving it around. I hope this works for you. I do this every time and he has never turned down a meal. Try this for about 5 mins.

By the way try a new rat or mouse. Sometimes my snakes will only eat one colour of rats. So try both and find out what you snake prefers.

Alex

[daniel1983]

What size rodents are you feeding in comparison to the girth of your ball python? The two main reasons that ball pythons 'fast' are overfeeding and incorrect husbandry. Make sure that you temperatures are 92-94 warm side and 82-84 cool side. Ball pythons have slow metabolism in comparison to some other pythons. Alot of people including myself like to feed prey items that are slightly less than the girth of the ball python. This will help out in having a consistant eater. Hope that helps...