I've had my ball python for about 7 months now, and he hasn't eaten in about 5-6 weeks. I understand that ball pythons sometimes go on hunger strikes, but I'm concerned because now he typically will strike once, miss, and then follow the mouse around for a little while but refuse to strike again.
I was having trouble finding resources regarding this specific problem (maybe I'm using the wrong keywords when I search) but I figured this might be a good place to ask for help.
He's about 2 years old, weighs approximately 500 grams, humidity is kept around 50-60%, ambient heat is around 73F although he does also have a heating pad, he's in a 55 gallon tank (I scrubbed it a few days ago and spot cleaned before I tried to feed him), and I use aspen as a substrate.
Additionally, he eats live, I want to switch him to f/t but I got him close to winter, so I was afraid I might deter him from eating entirely unless he was on a regular schedule (I've never owned a ball python before, so I'm sure I'm making mistakes but I'd like to try to figure out what they are so I can improve). He had been eating 2 mice every 7-10 days pretty regularly until now, and I do keep an eye on them because I've heard feeders can be dangerous. I don't mess with him for at least 24 hours before and after feeding, so I do feed him in his tank (but take out most of the tank accessories except his hide and water bowl). I also have tried covering the tank with a towel, but when he was eating regularly he didn't seem to mind if it was daytime or whether I was visible.
That's all I can think of in terms of information that might be important.