JCP not eating

[DutchHerp]

Hi all,

I have a 6ft JCP that's 4 years old. I got him in August, and he has never had a great feeding response in my care. He used to take f/t large rats though. Well I made the mistake of giving him two mice, and after that he never took a rat voluntarily. I once managed to put a rat into his mouth when swallowing a rat, but after doing this again he just stopped swallowing halfway thru. I've tried scenting with mice and chicken broth. No, I've never offered him a live rat.
It's been about three months since he took his last rat, and as of lately he doesn't even take mice anymore, but I'm blaming winter for this.

His cage is 3x2x2ft, has an RHP, temps: 90F basking spot, 83-86 warm side, 78-82 cool side.

I hope he's going to start eating again in the spring...

Btw, I never weighed him before but two weeks ago he was about 4400 grams... I'm going to weigh him more to see if he's losing any weight.

Anybody got advice on what to do?

[MPenn]

Well, the first bit of advice that I can give is if you have a carpet that is already eating rats, do not feed them mice. JCP's are bad about this and the only one worse is IJ's.
Second, I would drop down your basking spot to around 84F and let the cool side get down to the low 70's. At 4 years old, he is ready for breeding and has already cued into the signs. Leave his temps down for about 5 or six weeks and then raise them. Give him about a week and then offer a f/t small rat. If he doesn't eat, give him two more weeks and then try again.

[DutchHerp]

Yeah I know JCPs are picky eaters and the only reason I gave him mice is because the previous owner had done this w/o effects...
I'm not planning on breeding Monty yet, but you think I should cool down anyway? For how long? Night drop too?

[MPenn]

Yeah I know JCPs are picky eaters and the only reason I gave him mice is because the previous owner had done this w/o effects...
I'm not planning on breeding Monty yet, but you think I should cool down anyway? For how long? Night drop too?

Even if you are not planning on breeding him, a cool down and night drop will work to get "his programming" back. In other words, you will have a better chance of getting him on rats after the warm up.

[DutchHerp]

I'll get the temps down, but then I have a problem with the probe placement... see

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...robe+placement

[DutchHerp]

I just set the temps on my Herpstat so the basking spot will be 84-85 during the day.

[Brandon Osborne]

He may just be taking a break from feeding. 4400 grams is huge for a male jungle. When I bred them 15 years ago, I starting breeding males at around 400-500 grams.

I would say it's more winter cycling than anything....but as mentioned, never feed mice to a jungle that is feeding on rats. They suck at switching back and sometimes never do. Good luck.

[DutchHerp]

He may just be taking a break from feeding.

That would explain his bad feeding response and his refusal of taking mice.

I would say it's more winter cycling than anything....but as mentioned, never feed mice to a jungle that is feeding on rats. They suck at switching back and sometimes never do. Good luck.

I'm hoping he will switch back as the previous owner fed mice w/o Monty not taking rats again.

[Colin Vestrand]

i can't see a 10lbs male jungle being that picky when it comes to food.

i'm sure once breeding season's over he will resume feeding and be in better shape for it.

[DutchHerp]

When I weighed him I had to get a on a "human scale", if you will. The other scale I have only went up to 2000 grams so 4400 is a rough estimate.
He's over 6ft and the widest part of his body is a little more than 2".

Does that sound right?