Not eating after breeding question.

I sucesfully bred my pastel male to my pinstripe female. I had them together for a couple of months. He's been out now for over a month but has no interest in eating yet.He is an 08 that i purchased in Daytona that year from for the love of reptiles. He would always eat prior to this. Is this normal or should I be worried now. Any advice greatly appreciated. This is my first breeding season,so I'm a rookie.

Um, well, you left them together for months?

Males get left in for a day or two or three, then pulled to feed and rest for 2-3 days then back in action.

Did you offer either of them food while they were breeding?
Or did you just toss em together and assume they don't eat during breeding?

Honestly I just put them together,it was a little less than two months, and yes I just assumed they stoped breeding. Boy do I feel stupid. I read the book the complete ball python by Nerd probally 100 times especially the section on breeding and genetics. Nowhere did it say about taking male out and then putting back in as you explained and said only about some people dont feed and some offer small meals.I also asked a local breeder before I put them together, and he said as long as they were healthy and had been eating good just put them together for awhile and they will breed and told me that alot of males will stop eating for awhile when in breeding mood. Female ate good after I seperated them then ovulated and is now in pre egg laying shed. Dam I feel bad if I messed up,i like to do things the right way. I just started using this site this week. Thanks alot for the response.

I don't follow the X days in, X days out rule, either. I kept my breeding pairs together for weeks at a time only separating them to offer food and a few days' rest after being fed. If it was obvious that they were avoiding each other, that would be cause to separate them as well, but that didn't happen.

My male stopped feeding for quite a while but perked up when I left a live rat pup in his enclosure overnight. Maybe try offering him a smaller live prey animal to spark his interest?

Thanks, I breed my own rats so not a problem as I have all different sizes always available. Three weeks ago I got a clutch of 8 and they both went back to eating right away. All 8 candled good so far.

I would NEVER leave my males in for more than 3-4 days.

Not feeding them during breeding season, why would anyone think that's ok.
I feed my females all season till they refuse multiple times and then I still offer till they ovulate.
Forcing them off feed isn't wise IMO

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

I would NEVER leave my males in for more than 3-4 days.

Not feeding them during breeding season, why would anyone think that's ok.
I feed my females all season till they refuse multiple times and then I still offer till they ovulate.
Forcing them off feed isn't wise IMO

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What do you think is going to happen if a male is left in for more than 3-4 days?

Again,thanks for your info and time, but I explained why at the time I thought I was doing the right thing in my second post. I will gladly change next breeding season if it benifits the snakes. We live and learn everyday hopefully!!

I agree, mad baller. I think it's a bit of an over reaction to reply to the OP's question with such an appalled tone, at the fact that he doesn't offer during mating or leaves them together for x amount of time. as long as you've been a member of this board I would think that you'd notice the VASTLY different methods that each individual person has for every aspect of care for their animals.

While there are some rules that can tend to prove detrimental if not followed to the letter, leaving them paired for whatever amount of days beyond your 3-4 is not one I've ever known. would I keep them together for a few weeks at a time or beyond? No.

However, I dont really feel like it's necessary to react to that with disgust. Everyone starts somewhere and everyone does something wrong, somewhere within their first experiences with keeping/breeding these animals.

I would really only suggest to keep offering during the times that you have them separated in breeding time, and only keep them paired for no more than about 3 days so they can rest. feed until they just refuse. Also, it is from everything I've read or seen, not all too uncommon for males to go off feed for some time once separated from the female. I have a 3 yr old het pied male who i believe ate for my breeder the week she sold him to me, but didn't eat for ME for roughly 3 months for whatever reason, even though I'd managed to keep normal heat/humidity levels and enclosure for him.

I've heard of them sometimes going off feed for 6 months or more. Just keep offering. Dont worry yourself terribly about it unless the guy starts losing too much weight.

If it's something that still troubles you, I'm sure one of the more seasoned, lovely individuals around here can give you some tips on perhaps revving up the feeding temptation.

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Originally Posted by Quiet Tempest

What do you think is going to happen if a male is left in for more than 3-4 days?

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I think it is a waste of time to keep them together, a great way to make post like this one even :P

My males eat every week during breeding season, why would I want to throw my males off feed leaving them in with the female?
Normally when my females are done with the male they sit on them.
Yes, the females sit on the male so he won't continue breeding or attempting to breed her, leaving him in there is only a fantastic way to stress him out and send him off feed.
If I place my male in with a female and she sits on him he's out because she has already said what's up and how it's going to be.
I'm not telling you how to do it, just what I do and why I wouldn't do it.

lol, like I said, if you like your males off feed, go ahead, I'll keep mine eating ty.

This post is a fine example of why to regulate your male breeding :rolleye2:

You live and learn. Have you tried pre-scenting? Do you feed live or FT? What are your temps and how are you controlling them? That kind of info might be able to help.

No third person for serious advice.

When a male breeds for a long period of time without eating it actually can lead to death.... so don't take this lightly. You can try feeding it a mouse instead of a rat. Sometimes they'll take a mouse even though they always ate rats.

If you feel your snake is losing weight and getting weak I would suggest giving it some oral flagyl. This drug is a miracle worker for this problem. If it was me I would do it right now. I have never had a snake not come around and start eating very shortly after giving it flagyl. One simple dose usually does the trick. Good luck.:gj:

Hey mate,
I'd try as advised earlier and start off with a smaller prey item, say one size down from the usual. If after a few weeks (only offer once every 7 days) he still doesn't eat maybe try a medium or small live asf to pop him out.

There's lotsa tricks to get em to eat.

How long has he not eaten? What have you tried so far?

Good luck :).

P.s. Don't worry about the drama. Some people have a weird way of helping :) (but they still are helping :D). In the future to keep em eating try the 3 day on 3 day off trick.

P.s.s. Welcome to bp.net!

Thanks to all for all the advice! I keep all my ball pythons in boaphile racks from41qt. on down. I have a ranco & helix thormostat. 90 on the hot side and ambient temp in the low 80's. I have acess to any medications and vet care whenever needed. I figured I would ask the community on here first since some of you'll probally know more than the vets or just as much due to having so many balls over years and all your personal expierences and knowledge. Also he hasnt ate now for probally around 2 and half months total. Again I try to buy animals the best and give them the best care. I just for some reason thought I was doing it right due to the books I read and people I talked to. I MESSED UP and now learned from it to never happen again thanks to this SITE & YOU'LL.

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

lol, like I said, if you like your males off feed, go ahead, I'll keep mine eating ty.

This post is a fine example of why to regulate your male breeding :rolleye2:

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I know people are touchy on this, but I'll have to agree with you. That's exactly why you regulate how often the male is in with the female. A young male, especially, has the chance of stressing himself to death, by not eating or pure stress. I personally would rather not risk something that is based on fact in a round about way. Males can stress from over breeding, if your snake is stressed it doesn't eat, if your snake doesn't eat, it dies...... Simple yes?

To the OP, we all make mistakes, it's just the difference of an honest mistake or pure ignorance/laziness (it's not that hard to take the male out for a few days). I know you won't do it again. Good luck getting him to eat again :gj: He'll eat regularly next year for you as long as you give him breaks. Also, I can understand why you would be confused reading stuff online/from books. Don't worry about it. You didn't do it on purpose knowing that most people take the males out every few days for a break.

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Originally Posted by Big Gunns

If you feel your snake is losing weight and getting weak I would suggest giving it some oral flagyl. This drug is a miracle worker for this problem. If it was me I would do it right now. I have never had a snake not come around and start eating very shortly after giving it flagyl. One simple dose usually does the trick. Good luck.:gj:

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Where do you find that? I've never heard of it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

I think it is a waste of time to keep them together, a great way to make post like this one even :P

My males eat every week during breeding season, why would I want to throw my males off feed leaving them in with the female?
Normally when my females are done with the male they sit on them.
Yes, the females sit on the male so he won't continue breeding or attempting to breed her, leaving him in there is only a fantastic way to stress him out and send him off feed.
If I place my male in with a female and she sits on him he's out because she has already said what's up and how it's going to be.
I'm not telling you how to do it, just what I do and why I wouldn't do it.

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Up until a few weeks before my females were ovulating, my male was still eating on the same schedule as he always does. When he went off feed for over a month, I offered a rat pup and he jumped back into his old routine.

If he had stopped feeding from the get-go and started losing weight or looked poorly, I wouldn't have left him with the female for such long periods of time. I don't want to leave the impression that I'd throw a male in with a female and leave his fate up in the air. I do check in on my animals at least once a day (usually more if I'm waiting for a pair to start mating or to watch my females progress towards egg laying) and if I saw something amiss or obvious disinterest between them, I would separate and give them a break from each other.

OP:I Apologize for sounding so harsh, I'm sure you do care for your snakes and now have to figure out how to get him eating again, hopefully he comes around soon.
Your next season you should be more informed, more well read, and not make the same mistakes as you did this year.
We all learn as we go along in this crazy hobby, good luck with your future breedings!

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

Where do you find that? I've never heard of it.

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You'll need to go to a Vet unless you have Big Gunns connections of course.:D

Actually Big Gunns just knows a couple Vets that give him a discount. There are many large breeders that use Flagyl with their animals. They know it's a miracle worker for some problems.:gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Mad Baller

I sucesfully bred my pastel male to my pinstripe female. I had them together for a couple of months. He's been out now for over a month but has no interest in eating yet.He is an 08 that i purchased in Daytona that year from for the love of reptiles. He would always eat prior to this. Is this normal or should I be worried now. Any advice greatly appreciated. This is my first breeding season,so I'm a rookie.

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My male pastel was in with female on and off and didn't eat from November until the end of May. Once I took him out I washed him to get the scent of the female off him and them cleaned his tub and put fresh aspen in it. A week later he still wouldn't eat. I moved him into a separate room from the female and he started eating intimately.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Big Gunns

You'll need to go to a Vet unless you have Big Gunns connections of course.:D

Actually Big Gunns just knows a couple Vets that give him a discount. There are many large breeders that use Flagyl with their animals. They know it's a miracle worker for some problems.:gj:

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Welcome back BG! Haven't heard from you in a while!

We all make rookie mistakes! I would wash him and his tub to get the female scent off then leave a rat pup in there overnight. Males have died due to overbreeding so they need to rest every few days! Always offer during breeding. Good luck with getting him to eat and good luck with that clutch!

I cleaned out his tub,hides,& bowl,try feeding him tonight. Thanks to all that chimed in with advice.

I washed him too yesterday..

Thanks to the BP.net community(to all who gave advice and tried to help)my pastel Tony Soprano,I washed his tub,hides,bowl and him on Friday and on Saturday night I left a rat pup in with him and it was gone this morning. You'll are the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad he ate for you! :)