My snake is off eating for the winter.....

[rmune0750]

Recently, when I feed my snake it has no interest what-so-ever in eating the mice....it just ignores them and goes into one of its hides.....this is a common winter thing with BP's right??

how long should I wait before I attempt to feed the snake again??

[joepythons]

Recently, when I feed my snake it has no interest what-so-ever in eating the mice....it just ignores them and goes into one of its hides.....this is a common winter thing with BP's right??

how long should I wait before I attempt to feed the snake again??

Well if your ball python is an adult then yes its a common thing most of the time.Now have you changed anything? I.E. moved enclosure,changed temps and such.If your snake is not an adult then you might want to check your temps and fix what is wrong.By the way WELCOME to owning a ball python they just love driving us crazy .

[digcolnagos]

I think mine might be on the cusp of going off food. I feed him a small FT rat every Tuesday night. This week, he struck like always, but wouldn't eat after taking it from my hand. After a half hour, I put him back in his tank (I use a feeding tub) and put the rat next to his hide. It was gone in the morning. I've also noticed that he's spending more time in his hides during the last month or so. I'm thinking, too, that his reluctance to eat this week may be related to the color of the rat. It was black. For some reason, he seems to prefer white ones--they've always gone down a lot quicker. Weird.

[rmune0750]

my snake is about a year old.....and i recently went off lights and went to a UTH/T-stat environment......so yeah there have def been some changes

[borat1]

I just went to the vet today for a check up he said it's perfectly fine for your snake to go without eating for a few months just watch his weight. This time a year can host some problems.

[JimiSnakes]

My female rosy boa does this every year. Drives me insane. Check the ambient temps and make sure they are in the low 80's. Ambient temps can be an issue this time of year.

[rabernet]

My own personal experience? Nope, it's not really normal for a healthy ball python to fast if all your husbandry is correct. I've got babies, juvies and adults in my collection. Not a faster among them this entire winter.

From my own experience if your husbandry is spot on (proper sized enclosure, proper sized hides, consistent temps, no overhandling, no overfeeding) they will eat every week for you.

Last year I had a faster - it was the only one kept in a 20 gallon long with hides too big, and temps that fluctuated with the room temps. All the others ate every week (in a rack and tub set-ups). Put him in a tub with small tight hides, and he broke his fast and has not fasted this winter.

[joepythons]

my snake is about a year old.....and i recently went off lights and went to a UTH/T-stat environment......so yeah there have def been some changes

Yep thats all it takes to "reset" his eating drive if you will lol.

[JLC]

how long should I wait before I attempt to feed the snake again??

Try again the following week on your regular feeding day. If you don't have a set, regular feeding day, it would be an excellent idea to make one and stick with it. Continue trying weekly and if he continues to refuse, you can move to making attempts every two weeks until he's ready to eat.

In the meantime...take a good, close look at your husbandry and make sure everything is exactly as it should be.

[rmune0750]

Try again the following week on your regular feeding day. If you don't have a set, regular feeding day, it would be an excellent idea to make one and stick with it. Continue trying weekly and if he continues to refuse, you can move to making attempts every two weeks until he's ready to eat.

In the meantime...take a good, close look at your husbandry and make sure everything is exactly as it should be.

well the cool side of my tank isnt warm enough....i need to somehow get that up