Not eating because of shed?

Hello everyone,

I got my first baby ball python 3 weeks ago (4 months old now). I fed him three times since I got him. He ate f/t rat pinkie the first two times without hesitation. I went on holiday for a week last sunday. When I returned everything was all right with the enclosure, except the humidity dropped slightly below 50%, however, I fixed it immediately. Anyway, I tried to feed him on monday with f/t rat pinkie and he just examined it with his tongue and after few moments lost interest. I tried another f/t rat pinkie today but he refused again. What I am thinking is, that he might be preparing for the shed, as he did not shed with me yet, however, I cannot see any signs of shedding yet.
Moreover, he never pooped after his two meals and I only cleaned urates once. Is this normal behavior or should I be concerned about something?

His cold side temp is around 77° F, ambient temp 84-86° F and hot side temp 89-90° F. There is a minute drop in temps during the night. The humidity is 55-65%. He has two identical hides, a sufficient water bowl and few plants to make him feel more secure, moreover, I have covered the sides of the glass tank so he feels even more secure. I handle him only once or twice a week for 5 mins max.

Thank you for your replies.

Welcome to the site!

Ball Pythons are notorious for just going off food for no good or apparent reason. It sounds like you have everything the way it should be, so I wouldn't be too worried as of yet.

It is possible that your snake is in the early stages of a shed and that is why he refused to eat, but in my experience they don't start refusing food until they actually go blue and even then most will eat.

Young BP's have very efficient digestive systems that metabolize nearly all of the rodent's mass into growth/energy. Very little is left behind, especially if the rodents are slightly undersized for the snake. (I think it might be time to increase the size of the rodents you are feeding) Some BP's will actually only poop after they shed. At this point you have nothing to worry about. A BP that desperately needs to poop has a very distinct look to it. We call this sausage butt. The BP's tail just before the vent will swell to extreme sizes and is very noticeable. If your BP doesn't look like that you have nothing to fear.

My advice, increase the size of rodents you are feeding (as wide or slightly wider than the widest part of the snake) and offer once per week. If the snake refuses, wait until the next week to try again.

Thank you very much for your reply. Well, I see that I might just get too afraid about my ball python. He is acting normal (hiding during the day, active at night, switching hides) so maybe he is not just hungry yet. I will try next week and we'll see. Also there is nothing wrong with the area near the tail so I think he should be ok then.

Thanks again.

Well, my BP last ate two weeks ago. I tried offering him his usual meal today, but no success. He just smelled it, at first I thought he is going to strike, but after few attempts he just left it with no interest. I am getting concerned since he will just be 4 months old. His living conditions are all right, as I stated in my initial post. However, last 2-3 days he has been unusually active also during the day, I don't know what this means since he has never showed this kind of behavior before. By the way he has pooped 2 days ago, which I was "happy to see". I am leaving today for 3 days, and then I'll try and offer him slightly larger prey, then I am out of ideas.

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Originally Posted by metalsmoker

Well, my BP last ate two weeks ago. I tried offering him his usual meal today, but no success. He just smelled it, at first I thought he is going to strike, but after few attempts he just left it with no interest. I am getting concerned since he will just be 4 months old. His living conditions are all right, as I stated in my initial post. However, last 2-3 days he has been unusually active also during the day, I don't know what this means since he has never showed this kind of behavior before. By the way he has pooped 2 days ago, which I was "happy to see". I am leaving today for 3 days, and then I'll try and offer him slightly larger prey, then I am out of ideas.

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How are you "warming" his meal? Do you heat it with a hair dryer or under a lamp?

I let it thaw in a small plastic bowl. After the rat was completely thawed I fanned it shortly so that it had the right temperature. However, he took his first two rats right after they were thawed without fanning them. When he refused his meal earlier this week I started to use fan but it didn't help that time and it didn't work this time either.

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Originally Posted by metalsmoker

I let it thaw in a small plastic bowl. After the rat was completely thawed I fanned it shortly so that it had the right temperature. However, he took his first two rats right after they were thawed without fanning them. When he refused his meal earlier this week I started to use fan but it didn't help that time and it didn't work this time either.

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Be sure to warm them up with a hair dryer. You want to trick the snake into thinking the rodent is alive.

Also, before feeding, I leave the rat near the tank for a bit to get them in the mood for food. They will go nuts trying to find it.
If none of this works for you during your next feeding, try live. Just be sure to watch very closely, and don't leave the rodent in the enclosure more than about 20 minutes or so.

I have a '11 male that's a very picky eater. What we do is put him in a seperste container and close him in the closest, in the dark. That way he has his privacy. After 20-30 minutes, he's usually eaten and trying to get out. It took us a few weeks to learn that.

We also have a BRB that needs to be fed in a paper bag. He's only 4 months old, too.

I wouldn't feed in a separate container... but yes you might wanna try the paper bag in your BP's enclosure

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

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Originally Posted by metalsmoker

His cold side temp is around 77° F, ambient temp 84-86° F and hot side temp 89-90° F.

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Could you explain how the cold side is 77 when ambient room temps are 84-86???