Hello,

I have a 3 years old male ball python. He stopped eating around the end of November of 2019 and haven't shown any interest in the food ever since.
At first I thought he is not eating due to winter time since last winter he stopped eating as well for 2 months but later got back to it without problems. This time as spring came he still refused to eat. We have checked his temperatures and humidity many times. He has everything he needs with hides, warm and cool zones, fresh water.
I used to feed him frozen rats that I warmed for him in the water, he always been good with eating them. We have tried to switch to mouse but were unsuccessful. We have waited some time before offering meals. Hasn't helped. At this point we are thinking either trying live or taking him to the vet. The problem with live is that we don't have experience with feeding live to snakes and also knowing my snake's behavior he can easily get scared and as a result more stressed. Same with the vet, i am worrying if I take him it will only worsen his appetite due to the stress going to the vet. He hasn't lost much weight since he stopped eating and he doesn't seem like having any health issues as he looks healthy. The other thing I would like to mention is that because of pandemic I got stuck outside of the country and since spring my friend is taking care of him. This a second time when he refuses food during warm months of the year when i am not around. Last time he started eating when I came back. I don't think it had anything to do with his appetite but can it be possible he refuses to eat because he is with different people at the moment? Can you suggest me what should I do as a next step? Thank you and i apreacte any of your help.