Help me make them eat!!!

Hello all!
I have three ball pythons currently.
Two of them have stopped eating for about two months now! I try every five days and still they don't even appear to be interested. My blonde pastel Felix is still as voracious as ever and eats within seconds of being placed in the feeding cage. Isis my mojave and Boris my normal however seem to have completely lost interest in thier food!!!
What should I do? Its freaks me out that its been this long since thier last meal! Is there anything you guys can recommend trying that you have had alot of success with?
Thanks alot!

How old/ big are they and are you feeding F/T or live?

I've been feeding live mice. I know that its sometimes not a good idea but I've tried frozed thawed mice and they don't eat them. I think its because the breeder I got all three from fed them live.
Boris is two years old and he was actually my boyfriends a year before I met him. Isis is one one year old.

Also I have feed small rats to Boris before and furry rats to Felix and Isis for the first few months I had them.

Deep frying with buffalo sauce and blue cheese works for me. I have heard marinating is good but have not tried it.
Sometimes when all else fails I dress the rat in a little dress and tiny black pumps. That will almost always work:rolleyes:

Really though, don't worry. That's what ball pythons do.


I bet if you do a search you will find some really good advice.

Could also be the winter season. Some of my males have been off for for 4 months. It's what they do during breeding season. My females don't eat as often in the winter either. Don't worry, with spring coming they should be eating again soon.

In the breeding season, prob just off feed

You might try feeding them in their enclosures, that way they can ambush from the security of their hides. If there is alot of open space in their enclosures you can try putting in several pieces of crumpled up newspaper or fake vines in there to fill in some space...

What type of enclosures do you have them in?

Once they are over a year then they can go off feed during the winter! This is completely normal behavior! Just be patient and wait it out! I know it can be very fustrating! We have all been there!!!

yeah man No reason to go nuts, I my Pinstripe hasnt eaten in about 2 1/2 months, She has maintained her weight no problem and I do offer her food every 7-10 days.I would be concerned if they started to loose alot of weight but your good

My female just went back to feeding after a 5-month long fast. Don't worry, they do this to themselves on purpose during the winter and it can last a REALLY long time. Just be patient. :)

I'm no where near an expert but from my research I would say you don't have anythign to worry about. If the snake still looks like it has some meat on it and is maintaining its weight pretty well then you are just fine. If the snake starts to lose weight and look thin then I would seek help. Until then I would recommend to stop trying to feed it every 5 days and wait like 2 weeks to try again.

It really is not breeding season anymore. Everything is starting to warm up now and if anything, your snakes should be going back on feed, not off.

I am curious as to how you have them housed. If one out of three snakes is eating, it leads me to believe they are being housed together.

They are being housed together in a 100 gallon tank. There are five seperate hides including a humidity box with damp moss for them to get into when they want. We've been housing them like this for quite some time and they haven't seemed to be bothered by it. In fact they often stuff all three of themselves into the biggest hide. We made the tank ourselves and were planning on dividing it at some point but didn't feel it was a priority since it didn't appear to be causing problems!

We take them out and feed seperately in a smaller cage. I think it might be a 20 gallon tank. I put the mouse in the cage by itself for a while and then put the snake in with the mouse.

They don't look skinny at all. Thier last shed was all in one pice so I don't think they're dehydrated either.

If its that we've got them in the same cage together then I will gladly seperate them to put an end to this nonsense!!!



Thanks again everyone!!!

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Originally Posted by snakemomma

They are being housed together in a 100 gallon tank. There are five seperate hides including a humidity box with damp moss for them to get into when they want. We've been housing them like this for quite some time and they haven't seemed to be bothered by it. In fact they often stuff all three of themselves into the biggest hide. We made the tank ourselves and were planning on dividing it at some point but didn't feel it was a priority since it didn't appear to be causing problems!

We take them out and feed seperately in a smaller cage. I think it might be a 20 gallon tank. I put the mouse in the cage by itself for a while and then put the snake in with the mouse.

They don't look skinny at all. Thier last shed was all in one pice so I don't think they're dehydrated either.

If its that we've got them in the same cage together then I will gladly seperate them to put an end to this nonsense!!!



Thanks again everyone!!!

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Ahh...a point you failed to mention(all together). It's breeding season. How big are these animals...are you sure they're not breeding? Separate them and then try and feed them. You still may need to wait a couple months. You may get eggs depending on how big they are also.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snakemomma

They are being housed together in a 100 gallon tank. There are five seperate hides including a humidity box with damp moss for them to get into when they want. We've been housing them like this for quite some time and they haven't seemed to be bothered by it. In fact they often stuff all three of themselves into the biggest hide. We made the tank ourselves and were planning on dividing it at some point but didn't feel it was a priority since it didn't appear to be causing problems!

We take them out and feed seperately in a smaller cage. I think it might be a 20 gallon tank. I put the mouse in the cage by itself for a while and then put the snake in with the mouse.

They don't look skinny at all. Thier last shed was all in one pice so I don't think they're dehydrated either.

If its that we've got them in the same cage together then I will gladly seperate them to put an end to this nonsense!!!



Thanks again everyone!!!

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If you separate them they will most likely start eating. A 100g is far too large for even three snakes. They are probably stressed by the enclosure, eachother, and not being at the proper temps.

Ball pythons are shy snakes. Some won't feed at all in separate enclosures.

Have you looked at the caresheet on this site?

Well...no. :oops: I'll definately do that now. Honestly since my boyfriend had Boris when I met him and Isis came shortly after I thought he must have it all figured out. I asked him when he put them together in the first place if they would breed and he told me that she wasn't old enough. She is almost one year old. Like a month away. I guess I should read into it alot more since I've kinda taken over in that department now that he got Felix for me.


Also I guess the cage is probably closer to 75 gallons than 100. (Per boyfriend)

So if tomorrow I divide it and make them equally sized will that be too big for an individual snake?

Should I do away with the feeding cage as well? Thats how we've always done it. There is a hide in there and its heated. I put the mouse in for a while before I put the snake in.

Thanks!

Also as far as the temps go we do have that monitered on both side with a basking area at low to mid 90s and the other side is low to mid 80s. The light has a timer as well.
Thats about right isn't it??

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Originally Posted by snakemomma

Well...no. :oops: I'll definately do that now. Honestly since my boyfriend had Boris when I met him and Isis came shortly after I thought he must have it all figured out. I asked him when he put them together in the first place if they would breed and he told me that she wasn't old enough. She is almost one year old. Like a month away. I guess I should read into it alot more since I've kinda taken over in that department now that he got Felix for me.


Also I guess the cage is probably closer to 75 gallons than 100. (Per boyfriend)

So if tomorrow I divide it and make them equally sized will that be too big for an individual snake?

Should I do away with the feeding cage as well? Thats how we've always done it. There is a hide in there and its heated. I put the mouse in for a while before I put the snake in.

Thanks!

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If you split it in 3, it shouldn't be too large. Might be a bit on the tall side but the best thing you can do for them is separate them. They are not social animals and do not benefit from being housed together. They would most likely prefer to be apart.

If they are separated, there is no reason to feed them in another enclosure. If you want, you could use that 20g for one of the snakes.

As far as heating, how are you measuring the temps (what kind of thermometers)? What kind of heating devices are you using? How are you controlling them? (thermostat? rheostat?).

I'd prefer to keep them all together(but divided) in the same cage. We made it ourselves and I must say it is pretty nice haha. I'll save the 20 gallon for the next snake once I get this all figured out and fixed!

We have heat ropes throughout the bottom of the cage. Both are on a lamp dimmer thing and are monitered by two thermometers. One on each side of the cage. We don't have a device to measure the humidity in the cage but we do have a humidity box in the cage for them to hang out in if they want and they shed in one piece. We also have the heat lamp on a timer.

Also Nick seemed concerned that feeding them in thier enclosures would make them more likely to bite you when you handle them. He also said that they could swallow thier substrate and that would be bad for them.

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Originally Posted by snakemomma

I'd prefer to keep them all together(but divided) in the same cage. We made it ourselves and I must say it is pretty nice haha. I'll save the 20 gallon for the next snake once I get this all figured out and fixed!

We have heat rope throughout the bottom of the cage. Both are on a lamp dimmer thing and are monitered by two thermostats. One on each side of the cage. We don't have a device to measure the humidity in the cage but we do have a humidity box in the cage for them to hang out in if they want and they shed in one piece.

Also Nick seemed concerned that feeding them in thier enclosures would make them more likely to bite you when you handle them. He also said that they could swallow thier substrate and that would be bad for them.

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What kind of thermometers are they? Digital ones with probes?

Ball pythons are such docile snakes that cage aggression is never an issue. As long as you go into the cage on days that are not feeding day, they should never "mistake your hand for food". You don't smell like a rat, you don't look like a rat, so your snake should not just bite you because it thinks it is being fed. I have never heard of a case of impaction with ball pythons. i have had my snakes eat mouth fulls of substrate and be perfectly fine. Remember, these guys digest rodents WHOLE. A little substrate is no big deal.

Yeah that makes since. I always wondered how a little wood could pose a problem since they could digest a mouse bones and all haha.

And the thermometers are digital with probes.

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Originally Posted by snakemomma

Yeah that makes since. I always wondered how a little wood could pose a problem since they could digest a mouse bones and all haha.

And the thermometers are digital with probes.

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Excellent :) Let us know how splitting the tank goes! I have a feeling you will have a bunch of hungry snakes in the coming weeks ;)

Yup I'll split the cage tomorrow and then try to feed them again next thursday!

Thanks alot for all your help!
I'll be back for more if we end up with eggs as a reward for being ignorant haha!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snakemomma

Yup I'll split the cage tomorrow and then try to feed them again next thursday!

Thanks alot for all your help!
I'll be back for more if we end up with eggs as a reward for being ignorant haha!

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I doubt you will get eggs from a snake that young. Normally, a female at 1500 grams will throw a good healthy clutch. If they are smaller then they, they will throw a bunch of slugs or get egg bound, which requires a vet visit.

I wouldn't really think of eggs as a reward in this case :/

Yeah I was being kind of sarcastic actually. I really don't want eggs just yet! Maybe someday! :)