2 males refusing to feed .. solutions?

Hello everyone,
here is the thing: I have problems with 2 of my males that I am planning on breeding soon; 1. is a 610g male (hasn't eaten in about 2.5months), 2. is a 350g male (hasn't eaten in 1.5months)
there is no problem in husbandry since my many females are eating like crazy
now what do you think I should do about these 2 males .. assist feed them perhaps or just leave them alone? I mean can they breed if they haven't eaten in such a long time? I have tried feeding them live mice, and even those African mice/rats (I am not sure what the english name is) latin name is Mastomys coucha but they just ignore them completely
any advice is greately appreciated
regards, Andrej

It is just that time of year when BPs tend to go off feed. Just keep offering and when they are hungry, they will eat. I wouldn't change their diet to ASF or mice if they have been taking rats up til now. If you are planning on breeding, there are a few things to consider, Both of your males are on the smaller side. If you do breed them, you definitely want to keep a careful eye on their weights. Any sign of significant weight loss and I would pull them out of breeding right away. There is also the fact that depending on the age of the males, they just may not breed this season. Some have successfully bred small males, but I would consider that the exception and not the rule. Anyhow, good luck to you.

Yeah, males just do this, especially their second winter. I've had them go 5 months without food. Other people around here have had them go 8 or 9 months.

My suggestion is: preserve your sanity. If you're offering every week, go down to every other week. Do keep offering food at least once a month, though.

And write down those weights, and the date. The rule of thumb is 30%: if they lose more than 30% of their autumn weight, then you may want to take them to the vet.

Eventually their appetites will pick up again. By summer they should be back on a regular feeding schedule. In the mean time, think of all the mouse money they're saving you.

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(Females do it, too, by the way. Usually they're not as bad about it. But my super mojave girl skated by on one mouse a month all last winter. )

LOL...dont worry like everyone else has said they are boys and only have one thing on their minds right now!!
My pied male went 8 months last year before he ate again..the little pain in my .......

Ok so there is no need to worry :) .. thank you all for your comments
regards, Andrej

tis' the season to refuse food falalalala la la la la....dont worry males go off feed all seaon frequently

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Originally Posted by Ridinandreptiles

tis' the season to refuse food falalalala la la la la....dont worry males go off feed all seaon frequently

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Is that true of baby/juvenile snakes? I picked up a young BP last Saturday, and waited until today to feed him. He didn't seem to want anything to do with the mouse. I tossed it, and put my snake back in his tank.

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Originally Posted by yellowbelly76

Is that true of baby/juvenile snakes? I picked up a young BP last Saturday, and waited until today to feed him. He didn't seem to want anything to do with the mouse. I tossed it, and put my snake back in his tank.

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It depends on the age/weight really. If it's older and larger snake it can go awhile without eating since it has fat reserves it can live on but a young BP should be eating as it hasn't built up the reserves yet. If a BP goes long enough without eating to lose 30% of it's weight since it's last feeding, it's considered bad and that's when you should step in. Otherwise just keep offering and if he doesn't take it then try again on your next feeding day. Also, did you try to feed him live or f/t? And what was the breeder feeding him when you got him?

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Originally Posted by mercerasian

It depends on the age/weight really. If it's older and larger snake it can go awhile without eating since it has fat reserves it can live on but a young BP should be eating as it hasn't built up the reserves yet. If a BP goes long enough without eating to lose 30% of it's weight since it's last feeding, it's considered bad and that's when you should step in. Otherwise just keep offering and if he doesn't take it then try again on your next feeding day. Also, did you try to feed him live or f/t? And what was the breeder feeding him when you got him?

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Nagini (what my son named him) is 18 inches, and about 70 grams (although the scale I used is old and beat up, so may not be accurate). According to the breeder i got him from, he was eating fine, and had his last meal the tuesday before the expo (this coming tuesday, 12/11/12' would be two weeks since his last meal). I bought a live hopper this afternoon, but by the time I got to the feeding, the mouse was barely alive. He was on live with the breeder, so maybe the lack of movement on the mouses part was a deterrent. I wanted to get the mouse before the store closed, but waiting to feed until after our dinner, thinking he may do better in the evening. Left the snake and mouse in the feeding bin for about 30 minutes, after trying to entice my ball by moving the mouse around in front of his head with feeding tongs. After the 30 minutes, I tossed the dead mouse, and put nagini back in his tank. Calling this feeding a failure, and will try again next week. Anything you think I can do differently that might cause a better response?

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Originally Posted by yellowbelly76

Nagini (what my son named him) is 18 inches, and about 70 grams (although the scale I used is old and beat up, so may not be accurate). According to the breeder i got him from, he was eating fine, and had his last meal the tuesday before the expo (this coming tuesday, 12/11/12' would be two weeks since his last meal). I bought a live hopper this afternoon, but by the time I got to the feeding, the mouse was barely alive. He was on live with the breeder, so maybe the lack of movement on the mouses part was a deterrent. I wanted to get the mouse before the store closed, but waiting to feed until after our dinner, thinking he may do better in the evening. Left the snake and mouse in the feeding bin for about 30 minutes, after trying to entice my ball by moving the mouse around in front of his head with feeding tongs. After the 30 minutes, I tossed the dead mouse, and put nagini back in his tank. Calling this feeding a failure, and will try again next week. Anything you think I can do differently that might cause a better response?

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Right now, you should be feeding him a prey size of about 10-15 grams, this is about the size of a rat fuzzy but I don't know what size mouse that would be. Any larger and it might be the reason he doesn't want to eat. I'd say just try to get a prey that's not about to die, because you're basically trying prekilled if the mouse is almost dead. Also, did the breeder specify if he was feeding live mice or rats?

Are you moving him from an enclosure to a feeding bin? If you are, don't anymore. The move from a "safe" enclosure to a box can be stressful for the snake and make him not want to eat. If you're worried about him ingesting substrate, just put newspaper on top of his bedding or something. The topic of whether or not to feed on top of substrate is debatable but I feed my BP on his aspen bedding and I haven't had a problem yet. Feeding your BP in your tank won't make him more aggressive, that's a myth. However, I like to try and make sure I never directly handle the prey I feed my BP. Dump the prey from it's container right into the tank or use tongs to pick it up and drop it in if you're feeding live, if you're feeding F/T use tongs to hold the prey by the back of the neck when you're presenting it to the snake. This way I never have the problem of the snake smelling prey on my hands, only on the tongs.

Now to the issue of feeding time, I like to feed my BP at around dusk just when it's starting to get dark and he gets more active.

Also, you can try more often than once a week. You can try every 4-5 days. My BP is a real good eater and he's fed an appropriately sized prey every 4 days.