Inconsistant feeding

yes another feeding post...

I am not worried about my little girls health. She looks great and has gained weight once I got her eating a few rats. I tried to switch her from live to F/T. The breeder fed live. It didn't work and she took a live one no prob. She ate twice in a row then went into shed and didn't eat for 2 feedings. Then she ate again after shed. And then skipped a couple meals because I think the rats were a little too big (My fault).

She weighs 366g and I got her at 274g(right after feeding) almost four months ago. She finally ate for me three feedings in a row and last week she declined. I though ok maybe she doesn't like the colour of the rat. It was a touch big but still around 15% of her body weight. (I think it was like 18%) This week I have a smaller one that should be no issue and she seemed interested again but no dice. Is this a normal thing with some BP's? I did try a F/T last night because I had one let in the freezer but she wasn't having any of that. She did show interest tonight but then she acted all scared again. I know BP's are a finicky but I seem to have one that was a good eater (according to the breeder), but not consistent.

Any thoughts? Should I just be happy she has eaten or do they eventually get to the point where they eat 90% of the time. I assume there is a long fast around the age of 2 as well for a lot of them.

She looks healthy and full bodied. My temps are 90-92 on the warm end and 78-80 on the cool. Humidity is at 60% and 70 during shed. The cage is custom and only one side is glass. Two identical hides that are nice and tight for her. I think I am giving up on F/T right now until I have 8-10 feedings in a row.

Thanks for any input. I guess there probably isn't a "normal" pattern but if any one that has a similar experience it would be nice to hear.

Welcome to the world of ball pythons! I have some that seldom skip a meal and then I have others that seem to skip every 2-3 feedings. So long as you're getting food into her on a semi-regular basis do not fret.

Inconsistent feeding is just part of owning a ball python. Honestly, my best advice is not to over think it; offer food weekly and if she refuses, that's that. Color, gender, size, etc can be factors, but ultimately she will eat if she's hungry and unfortunately there's not a whole lot you can do if she's not.

As far as f/t goes, she probably won't decide she wants it out of the blue, I.e. if you want to switch her to f/t you've got to commit and flat out refuse to give in and offer live. It may take a while, and if she's new your best bet would be to let her settle in first for a few months.

Anyways, good luck! Some have patterns of pickiness and some don't , but either way they sure are annoying when it comes to food, and if it is any consolation, I feel your frustration!

Thanks. It is frustrating. I hope gets more consistent. I am trying to keep records but not sure if I should look for patterns like color etc. Or should I just feed her hate we te pet store has and be done with it?

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Originally Posted by whispersinmyhead

Or should I just feed her hate we te pet store has and be done with it?

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:confusd:
Feed your snake love. :D

Don't worry about colors and all that. She'll eat if she's hungry.

Don't worry. My male normal is by far one of the most inconsistent eaters in the history of life. That may be a slight exaggeration, but seriously. He drives me nuts. He ate very well before I got him. Brought him home, he ate for two or three months and then stopped eating for just as long. He was a baby when I got him. Only a few weeks old. There was absolutely no reason for that. Then he started eating again for a couple months, then stopped for even longer again. He's a mouser, so he's small anyway. But his horrible eating habits exacerbate the issue. He finally started eating again a few months ago and has only refused a couple times since then. (I think he's trying to get up to size to impress the female. ;) JK.) He's now two years old and whopping 701g as of today. My other BP eats like a beast. She has only refused once in over two years. They are kept in the same room under the exact same conditions. I don't know what his problem is. Silly ball pythons. Hopefully yours starts eating more consistently for you. But as long as your husbandry is right, s/he's healthy and not losing weight...I wouldn't worry all too much. Really. :P

Thanks again.

I have been having the same problem as of late with two of our upcoming breeder females. One is my prize pinstripe, who only seems to want to eat every two to three weeks. The other is one of our normal girls. They were both solid eaters, taking whatever we offered, live, p/k, f/t, whatever, and have now become stubborn. We also had a problem with a 2011 spider male, who used to pound back food, then went on a hunger strike. He and our pastel male were roughly the same size. Now the spider is sitting just under 400g, and the pastel is around 700 grams. He has since started eating again, reliably, for the last month straight :D. Its frustrating, but all part of the joys of ball pythons lol.

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I had a Mojave that was awful. She would eat once a month for almost 3/4th of the year. Then it seems like a couple months ago she just snapped and started eating like crazy.

But overall she never lost weight.

http://img.tapatalk.com/a6890bb2-dfde-fd90.jpg

I am happy that she's eating. I think that your bp will eat when it wants to. I wouldn't worry too much :)


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