Eating Problems

I just found this site and am looking for some help/advice. I have a 15yr old. bp who has always eaten live food. I gave him a rat today which he struck at several times and caught once. This is unusual, normally he gets it easily the first time. Then after he caught it, he started to twist around it but seemed to loose his grip and the rat escaped.

He is clearly interested and looking for food but doesn't seem to be able to hold onto the rat. I tried holding it still for him but he couldn't seem to really grab it. He has always been a good eater and I just am at a loss for what could be wrong. The rat was injured and I euthanized it and tried again but he wasn't interested and curled into a ball. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

I would suggest that you leave you ball alone for at least a week or 2 so he can get over it. Even babies can go several weeks without food so it won't hurt him. I would then try feeding him a prey item that is a bit smaller than the last time. One of the challenges of ball pythons is that an incident like this can make a ball a picky eater for a while so go slow.


Good luck! Come back and tell us what worked for you.

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Originally Posted by zekethesnake

I just found this site and am looking for some help/advice. I have a 15yr old. bp who has always eaten live food. I gave him a rat today which he struck at several times and caught once. This is unusual, normally he gets it easily the first time. Then after he caught it, he started to twist around it but seemed to loose his grip and the rat escaped.

He is clearly interested and looking for food but doesn't seem to be able to hold onto the rat. I tried holding it still for him but he couldn't seem to really grab it. He has always been a good eater and I just am at a loss for what could be wrong. The rat was injured and I euthanized it and tried again but he wasn't interested and curled into a ball. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

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First welcome to BP.net :welcome:

Have you had your ball for the entire 15 yrs? If so you must know it better than anyone?

I see 2 options - either it was a fluke and you should wait a week and try again (maybe with a smaller pry item)

...or it wasn't a fluke and something is wrong in which case you need to take him to the vet...at 15yrs old there is always the potential of old age issues starting to kick in (yes I know balls can live longer) but you never know. If you notice any other "symptoms" I would take him to the vet ASAP.

Good Luck

I have had him for almost 14 yrs. I made an appointment for him at the vet on Tues. I guess I'd rather find out for sure if there is something wrong because he certainly seems off to me. Thanks for the advice!

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Originally Posted by zekethesnake

I have had him for almost 14 yrs. I made an appointment for him at the vet on Tues. I guess I'd rather find out for sure if there is something wrong because he certainly seems off to me. Thanks for the advice!

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That is good to hear...keep us posted once you find out anything.

Off topic but i would really like to see some pics of a 15 yr old bp. i myself have only been into snakes for about a year and some change. I hope he gets better and lasts another 15 years. they really are beautiful animals and i love them to death.

Well the verict is in...the vet says the poor guy has a bacterial infection, probably from a rat bite on his nose! So for now, he is getting pain meds and antibiotics so that we can get his infection cleared up.

I tried feeding him f/t prey when I first got him and he would only eat the live prey. But I guess I will give it a try again because I certainly don't want this to happen again. I have also heard you could stun the prey, any suggestions on a way I could do this if he won't eat f/t?

Use small, small rats, or even mice. He doesn't need more than a 40-50gram(3.5-4weeks old, sometimes 5 weeks, ask for a just-weaned rat), or two mice per week. Make sure to pre-scent the room too, so he knows what is going to happen and he can prepare himself.

Hope his nose clears up soon :)