BP fasts, then eats, then fasts again. . .?

[aeio540]

Alright, I have been blessed with a finicky eater and he is about 2yrs old. Well here is the situation, I know that BP's are famous for going off feed for extended periods of time, but how long does it take them to "bounce back" from their fast. I bought my snake in Feb(when he was 1.5yrs old), it ate three times in June [2 mice, 1 med rat], and hasn't eaten since. Now unless I have misunderstood something, they are supposed to eat vigorously and then go on a fast again. Is this wrong?

-Can a BP be healthy eating 2-3 months out of the year?

From some of the feedback that I have received from BP owners, their definition of finicky is that they eat 2 out 3 meals. The worst cases seem to be these annual 6 month fasts during the winter. It isn't winter. He also seems to have a softer, almost flat like appearance. You see this mostly when he stretches out and on his branch. I don't remember my previous BP ever having this problem.

As for husbandry:
Hot side temp - ~88-92 deg F
Cool side temp - ~82-85 deg F
Ambient temp - ~83-85 deg F
Humidity - 50%-60% [70%-80% during shed; complete shed the last 2 times]
Fresh water daily and weekly spot cleaning and complete disinfecting of cage monthly. Yay for overhauls.

Two Identical Log type hides, fake foliage for cover and clutter, recently placed a grapevine decorative wood which I find him climbing on occaisionally.
He has a bowl big enough to soak himself in. Cypress Mulch.

He's got no external parasites, and as far as I recall from the breeder, he is captive bred.

I have followed caresheets like they were a creed by which to live by but see very little results.

If he will be alright eating 12 meals a year, fine, I will stop throwing away my money on different color/size mice and rats and just schedule to feed him in Oct/Feb/Jun or maybe I'll get a boa or burmese and anytime he doesn't eat a rat. Bam, straight into the other tank[the rat that is, not the snake].

He also ignores f/t. He only took an interest in live mice and rats. No matter how much I dangled, warmed, used different lengths of tongs, left overnight, he never once tried to eat a f/t mouse or rat. I've tried and tried and tried and I honestly believe that some snakes will never ever take dead. Lets try not to beat this issue more than it needs to. I see this from other owners where "if you were responsible, you would feed dead." I can only offer the food, I can't make him eat it.

Okay, that's it.

I'm tired now. My boxer puppy on the other hand eats double his weight in food and poops triple the amount. . .which makes no sense.

[qiksilver]

if it's 2 years old by now, ask the breeder how it was eating before you got it and how they kept it. I would say your temps seem fine, and I'm sure you'll be told later to change your hides. All the caresheets in the world won't help if your snake is still stressed, so observe your animal as well as reading up. Honestly someone else will come along and give you better info, knock on wood I've never had feeding troubles with my ball pythons, just some of my random boas, so I haven't had to twist over that. It could also be just the time for fasting, you haven't had the animal for long enough to know when it should think it should fast or not, and if it's a male and becoming mature that won't help either. But again, wait for someone with more ball specific trouble feeder info than me.

btw, love your avatar, firefly was a great show.

[aeio540]

so observe your animal as well as reading up

Yes, this is the hard part. Luckily, I'm on a night schedule so I can enjoy it when it is most active. The tricky part is trying to figure out what snake behavior means what. To be honest on a scale of 1-10, I'd say he is at a 2 or a 3 for activity. He spends all day in his hide, comes out at night for a little bit, gets a drink or soaks in his tub enough to defecate and then disappears into his hide again.

He is also kept in our study away from regular traffic and disturbance.
I've always understood that roaming is usually stress related and once I added the fake plants, his roaming ceased. He only moves around very little, not entire nights like he used to. I wonder if this could result in more energy conservation hence less of a need to feed.

Also, he is rarely handled. I think it is safe to say that on average, I hold him for a total of 10-15 mins a week. Usually take him out when I am cleaning or if I haven't seen him in a while.

btw, love your avatar, firefly was a great show.

Thanks, he he, good to see browncoats, er, I mean fans, around.

[juddb]

Try a smaller meal next time. He/she may have been catching up, what i mean is the meals he/she was taking before may have been to big.... Good luck

[frankykeno]

Sounds like most things are on track as far as his husbandry. Just a couple of suggestions and a few questions.

What size and type of enclosure is he in? How much would you think he weighs? Is it possible to post some pictures? What size live rats have you been trying?

I would switch up those log hides. While they are very popular in the pet trade they often don't provide the kind of security that ball pythons require to feel safe and secure. A snake that feel stress is more likely to refuse to eat and something as simple as a hide change may help. It certainly can't hurt. I'd suggest you hit your local dollar store or department store and look for two identical dark plastic containers. Depending on his size that might be a pet food dish, a big cereal bowl, a small kitty litter pan, etc. You want these hides to be the same, dark in color and barely bigger than his size when he's coiled up. Think small, dark and cramped...this makes ball pythons happy.

Put an entrance either in the side or in the "roof" and see how that goes. Allow a week for him to become used to this change then pick a quiet evening after dark and introduce a fuzzy rat or small pup rat into his enclosure. Make sure the room is quiet and low light and see how that goes. Don't give up, some snakes take a very long time to adjust to changes in ownership and routine.

[aeio540]

What size and type of enclosure is he in? How much would you think he weighs? Is it possible to post some pictures? What size live rats have you been trying?

-He is kept in a 20L

-I am not sure how much he weighs, I am about to head out to the store and see if I can find a scale or something. I also need to buy another thermometer, the rat chewed up my NEW thermometer with lead in about 30 secs. For those who don't think rats can do damage, YES THEY CAN!

-I have pictures of the enclosure


-When I bought him at the NARBC show, the breeder stated that it was eating medium size rats already. I fed him 2 adult mice and 1 medium size rat.

Depending on his size that might be a pet food dish, a big cereal bowl, a small kitty litter pan, etc. You want these hides to be the same, dark in color and barely bigger than his size when he's coiled up. Think small, dark and cramped...this makes ball pythons happy.

I am going to try something new with this one. I had success with the logs with my previous BP but I think this one might have a completely personality so off to the store I go to see if I can find something that he'll use.

[darkangel]

I always buy those cheapie bowls from walmart/target, and drill entrance holes and my bps LOVE them as hides.

[aeio540]

I always buy those cheapie bowls from walmart/target, and drill entrance holes and my bps LOVE them as hides.

I just came back from Hobby Lobby and bought 2 for $2. I'm going to cut a hole in both. Anyone have any pics of their little hides so that I can get an idea?

[aeio540]

I just weighed him today. He seems to come in at 250grams. I don't know if this is okay for a 2yr old male BP. I will try to measure his length sometime this week.

[_BoidFinatic_]

I just weighed him today. He seems to come in at 250grams. I don't know if this is okay for a 2yr old male BP. I will try to measure his length sometime this week.

1250g seems more correct. Most 5 month old males I have dealt with were at 250g already.