My ball isn't eating

And apparently I'm not the only one, which is making me feel better already. He's male, about a year old, 660 grams as of 3 weeks ago. Out of the blue, he's refused his food twice in a row, which he never has done even once before. Nothing in his environment has changed...temps are 90-94 warm side, 78-82 cool side, humidity 50-60% and he's in a 20 long with newspaper substrate. He's not going into shed as far as I can tell, and shouldn't be for at least another few weeks.

He hasn't eaten in 2 weeks, when he normally eats weekly. I know balls can fast a long time, but is there anything I should try to get him to eat? Or should I just wait it out, and assume he'll eat when he's ready? Is there a particular amount of time after which I should be worried (like a month, two months)? I've been offering food on his normal feeding day, once a week. Last week he wouldn't even come out of his hide, but today he was out and appeared to be hungry. I did the usual mouse zombie dance and he followed, but after he sniffed the mouse he lost all interest and eventually curled back up in his hide. So I think he's hungry, but he still won't eat. :confused:

Since you haven't changed anything with the set-up, I would say wait it out for now and keep an eye on his weight. If you are feeding F/T you might try offering live prey a little smaller than what you usually feed. Good luck...


*Edit* I forgot to ask if you are pre-scenting the room. Also maybe try offering at a longer interval until he starts eating again. That way you aren't tossing out as many rats..

I am pre-scenting, and I'm actually feeding two f/t mice at each feeding because I bought a big pack of them at the last reptile expo, and he rapidly outgrew just one mouse per feeding. Until now, he's had no problems with two mice at each feeding.

Should I wait more like 10 days until I try again, then?

How big is your snake? I have heard that some won't eat if the prey is too small.

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Originally Posted by harper

Should I wait more like 10 days until I try again, then?

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I would say offer weekly until he goes for a month without eating, then start offering every 10-14 days. Hopefully he will start eating again soon. BP's can go for months without eating when they want to, but it turns their keepers into a train wreck of anxiety and frustration. Good luck...

he's at that age and size for a male to go off feed. as long as he don't lose alot of weight for no reason it's normal, and don't stress him by trying to get him to eat. he will eat again when he's ready. I would offer no more than once a week, until he's back on feed again.

My male just started eating last week after 8 weeks of refusing! He had never did that before!

When my BP quit eating dipping his food in tuna juice or chicken broth got him eating again.
If it doesnt work keep trying every 4 or 5 days.

He's 29 inches, 676 grams. He hasn't had any issue with eating smaller prey before, although obviously I'm going to upgrade to something appropriately sized when I run out of mice.

Pardon my ignorance, but why is it typical for them to go off feed at this size/age? Or is it just one of those mysterious things, where we don't really know why?

Sorry to drag this thread up from the depths, but I wanted to let everyone know that he has indeed started eating again, after about a month of refusing his food. It's odd, though; now he won't eat if there's anyone in the room, where he used to have no issues with it. I just have to dump the f/t mice in, come back in a couple of hours, and they're gone! But at least he's eating again. :D

I'm glad he's eating for you.

As to your old question, it seems when they go through the snake equivalent of puberty, they quit eating because they have more important things on their mind. { Making more copies of their amazing selves } And eventually, they get over being lovesick and eat again. Even females do it.

Gale