? regarding BP weight loss & not eating

My 10 year old male goes off feed starting late September/early October thru early May. This year, however, has been unseasonably cool and regardless of cage temperature he hasn't started eating again. It freaks me out every year, but there are no signs of illness and his temps are right so I just have to keep trying.

IMO ball pythons are one of the most difficult snakes to keep just for the sake of sanity alone.

Along with the chicken broth theory, I have also heard that it works even better to get some KFC fried chicken, remove the skin, then rub the feeder on the underside of the KFC chicken skin to get all the greasy goodness on the rat or mouse.

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Originally Posted by muddoc

Deb hit the nail on the head. To give you some hard numbers to go by, the general rule of thumb is that a weight loss of 10% is normal when a ball python fasts. With that said, I have had animals that go off feed for up to 9 months, and have lost as much as 20% of their body weight. Hoever, even though I hae given you some numbers, it still is a matter of health. If the snakes skin doesn't start sloughing or the spine doesn't become overly pronounced, adn the snake is still alert and active, it is probably just fine.

I hope that helps,

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Originally Posted by therecordingart

My 10 year old male goes off feed starting late September/early October thru early May. This year, however, has been unseasonably cool and regardless of cage temperature he hasn't started eating again. It freaks me out every year, but there are no signs of illness and his temps are right so I just have to keep trying.

IMO ball pythons are one of the most difficult snakes to keep just for the sake of sanity alone.

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Originally Posted by bonzai272

Along with the chicken broth theory, I have also heard that it works even better to get some KFC fried chicken, remove the skin, then rub the feeder on the underside of the KFC chicken skin to get all the greasy goodness on the rat or mouse.

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Guys, seriously thanks so much for all the info :)

I went and tried a live ASF (THANKS CORVID!!!!!!!!) and she was HELLA interested... didn't eat it but first time she actually didnt run away from the feed item.

So, will have 2 try it again. But I am definitely keeping these other ideas in my arsenal.. especially since I use chicken broth all teh time, and ALWAYS am looking for an excuse to clog my arteries with KFC lol.

I have a minor theory that people will just keep trying different things until the snake, for completely unrelated reasons, decides it is time to eat again... <lol>

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

I have a minor theory that people will just keep trying different things until the snake, for completely unrelated reasons, decides it is time to eat again... <lol>

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rofl good point but we'll never know haha

lol ya thats quite the possibility... who cares as long as the snake eating is the outcome though :D