Ball Pythons not eating

I need some advice from fellow ball python owners. I acquired two adult male ball pythons in September. They were voracious eaters (on frozen rats) until December. I had heard about balls being problem eaters, but this is getting ridiculous! I need some words of wisdom from those who have been through this.

Here is a brief synopsis: One of them stopped eating regularly in mid December. He goes through periods of about a month where he stops eating and then suddenly he will eat for a few weeks and then go back off feed. The other one stopped eating in early December and didn't eat for almost three months. He ate twice in early February, but was not very aggressive about it and then quickly stopped eating again. They both go through periods of moving around and spending all day burrowing or hiding. I regularly try to feed them every week to see if they are ready to start eating again. The ambient room temperature is about 76 degrees F and they both have under tank heaters. The temperature in the warm area is around 85 - 90 degrees. I keep the humidity around 40 - 60% humidity depending on whether they are shedding.

I thought this was going to resolve itself once winter was over, but they both have gone back off feed again and I want to make sure there isn't something I can do.

Any suggestions?

Big Gunns suggestion is buy a boa. Really...buy a boa. This is what Ball Pythons do at this time of year. Most will not starve themselves to death, they'll eat when they want to.

Feeding live may stimulate them to eat sooner though. You could try that. Also, leaving the lights on longer can work also. Make sure the humidity is up. The air gets dry at this time of year.

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Originally Posted by Big Gunns

Big Gunns suggestion is buy a boa. Really...buy a boa.

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Maybe they cant handle a boa like the big bad Big Gunns :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Big Gunns

This is what Ball Pythons do at this time of year. .

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BG is absolutely right. mines hasn't eaten in weeks. and as far as i can tell, there's nothing off with his husbandry.

some are just weird that way.

As long as they are not loosing considerable amounts of weight then I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I have a couple questions though.
Are these two being housed together? I couldn't really tell from your post but I am just making sure.

How are you measuring your hot spot temp? What kind of thermometer? 85-90 is a pretty big range..I shoot for 90-92* on my hot spot.

What kind of enclosure(s) are they in? What kind of hides do you have for them?

Hi,

Another set of questions. :P

How big are the frozen rats you are offering them?

Do you have any adult female ball pythons anywhere near them?

Seeing the temps quoted are you intentionally trying to cool them for breeding or have those always been the temps?

Have you tried offering frozen mice?


dr del