month 6 and still not eating... this is getting a bit odd.

should i take him for a vet? this is pretty frustrating...

male ball, 3.3 ft in a 40 gal tank, temps are good, humidity is good, hide is good, etc. he stopped eating in i believe september, and since then, hes always got his head poking out of the hide, or roaming around (hunting?) but when i offer he totally ignores the thing. there were a couple of rare instances where he struck, but never grabbed onto the rat and never coiled up... what could be the problem?

:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:

I know you said the temps, humidity and stuff were good, but those around here who know enough to help are going to want the exact numbers, and probably his weight then and now.

ambient temps 75-80, in the hide 85-92, humidity anywhere between 65 and 70.

i didnt measure his weight back then, because i had no idea he was gonna go on a 5 month hunger strike, but it seems hes lost a minimal amount of weight..

Have you considered downsizing the enclosure?

i never considered it cause thats the same tank i got him with, last christmas. its got a nice sized water bowl and branch, so theres isnt really that much extra room in there

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rattlehead07

i never considered it cause thats the same tank i got him with, last christmas. its got a nice sized water bowl and branch, so theres isnt really that much extra room in there

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Stress can happen over time and not all BP do well in glass enclosure, they are also usually more prone to fast in glass enclosure.

When an animal good off feed ideally you want to try everything husbandry wise that might help resume feeding activities and this includes downsizing as well.

could try putting a towl over 1/2 the tank. then in a few day offer him a rat or mouse or what ever he eats

yeah ill definitely give that a shot, ill just close off half the tank with cardboard, and see if he eats next week. thanks for the advise guys -

and as for the husbandry, yeah ive been going by the book, trying to get everything to top notch, so i guess this is one thing i missed :D

Have you tried live, fresh killed, asf, gerbil, f/t? What all have you tried? How often? Two identical hides? Pic of the setup? Need a bit more info before we start drawing conclusions. Do you have the tank wide open, or some of the glass covered?

I had a male fast for over 6 months in a glass 55 gallon, but now he is eating again like no tomorrow, so it is all a situational problem. I would see if you can put him in a smaller enclosure, or just keep waiting and hell come around.

so i covered up half his tank, will give him a few days and then try again. i havent tried feeding a lot of different variations, just live and fresh killed. he didnt pay any attention to the fresh killed. the live he SOMETIMES seems to notice, and will creep his way towards, but when he gets too close, they just touch faces, and he jerks back and hides. i suppose i can try a gerbil or something of the sort, does that usually do the trick? ill have pictures of the enclosure tomorrow.

its a glass cage, but at this point only 2 panes of the glass are showing. i have the back, one side, bottom and top covered, so its not much, considering one of the leftover 2 sides is mostly covered by sphagnum moss and branches

If all else fails, you may need to put him in a small tub until he starts feeding well again. I once had to put a 500 gram ball into a 6 quart tub to get him feeding again. Once he fed a few times, I moved him back into a 32 quart tub. Balls are very finicky eaters, and can fast when stressed. Good luck.

My albino male just came back on feed after being off feed for almost a full year:confuzd:. Happens.

oh man.. a full year!? i guess i just gotta get used to it, and not worry so much haha. ill update you guys next week, when i try live gerbil, and see what happens. thanks!!

so i didnt handle him for the whole week, and kept the temps and humidity in goodstanding, tried to feed him today and pretty much got the same problem. the weird thing is, hes hunting. hes not trying to escape out of his cage, but roaming around the cage floor, i put him in my bed, and hell hide and peak his head up and look around as if hes hunting as well. i tried putting him in a different box with the rat, after 20 minutes of ignoring it, he struck at it, but didnt grab it and coil. he then proceeded to climb halfway out of the box and hunt outside the box. this is pretty strange :\

i couldnt get a gerbil or one of those african rats as theyre not sold around me, so i tried with a small rat again...

should i just keep trying every week, as i have been, and not worry?

Have you tried a mouse?

hey jon,

how big of a mouse? my ball is 3.3 feet long, and the biggest mice the store had were the size of a golf ball. i never bothered trying cause i figured its way too small, no?

My honest opinion is to down size the tank to a 20 Gallon Long. I had a similar problem, same sized BP in a 40 Gallon Breeder and he wouldn't eat. I setup a 20 Gallon Long for him and he ate after 3 or 4 days. Also try feeding him in a plastic tub in a dark, quiet area.

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Originally Posted by rattlehead07

hey jon,

how big of a mouse? my ball is 3.3 feet long, and the biggest mice the store had were the size of a golf ball. i never bothered trying cause i figured its way too small, no?

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A large adult mouse...Hopefully after a couple mice you can go back to rats again.

Just an input on what worked for me...i had a piebald that was off for several months off feed...after talking to several breeders...i downsized his tub...he was in a 32qt tub and was feeding fine with previous owner...the moment i got him, he would not eat for a few months..temps and humidity were where they should be...he was on plain newspaper bedding and had a hide...i switched him over to a 15qt, and gave him aspen bedding...sure enough he ate his first meal shortly after....now to this day, the only way he'll eat, is in his 15qt tub with aspen bedding...but thats what works for him..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rattlehead07

so i didnt handle him for the whole week, and kept the temps and humidity in goodstanding, tried to feed him today and pretty much got the same problem. the weird thing is, hes hunting. hes not trying to escape out of his cage, but roaming around the cage floor, i put him in my bed, and hell hide and peak his head up and look around as if hes hunting as well. i tried putting him in a different box with the rat, after 20 minutes of ignoring it, he struck at it, but didnt grab it and coil. he then proceeded to climb halfway out of the box and hunt outside the box. this is pretty strange :\

i couldnt get a gerbil or one of those african rats as theyre not sold around me, so i tried with a small rat again...

should i just keep trying every week, as i have been, and not worry?

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Try a mouse. Mice smell different.
Also, ball pythons don't really hunt. What you're probably seeing is stress roaming. Ball pythons are ambush predators. They wait and kill from their hideout. They rarely go hunting beyond their home.
I recommend moving him to a 20gallon tank or a 32qt tub. Also, try feeding in the dark with no lights on him and minimize movement around the tank during feeding.

mine is is over 3 feet long and eats about 3 mice or more

This could be just as simple as a winter fast. It's totally not uncommon for balls to go off feed in the winter months even if their temps are perfect. You should have or get a grams scale. That way if he's not losing alot of weight you know you don't have a problem. If he is losing weight quickly it will be stress or an illness. Judging by looks alone you're not going to be able to tell soon enough if you have a problem. Because he is in a glass tank he probably will be inconjunction with the weather and daytime hours in your area. I wouldn't stress him out too much though, and I'm sure he will come out Of this as soon as the winter months are up. Don't try gerbils as they are extremely aggressive and will have no problem injuring your ball. Asf and gerbils are a pain in the butt to get the animal to switch off of. I think this Is one of those instances that your ball is in breeding mode and fasting because of that. It's nature it doesn't change just because there's no females around. I've had a male fast for 6 months with no Ill effects. Hope this is helpful.
Morgan

i would put him in a tub with a heat pad underneath controled by a t-stat...i had the same issue for my albino went on strike for 2 months and i switched to a 32qt tub and he ate the following week...i use a 32 qt tub with 2 hides and a water bowl...80 deg ambiant with a 91 deg hot side...all my snakes eat like there is no tomorrow

I'm in the same situation as you... My ball python stopped feeding on september & now has 6 months without eating... she is 4 ft. Long & her enclosure its a 60 gallon tank which she was raised as a baby... She fast last year also for 5 months but i guess every year is a different thing... but it's still kinda chilly here so I dont worry about it much just offer food every 2 weeks & you'll be surprised that 1 day it'll attack a rat out of the blue like if it had an on off switch button.... Just be patient IMO i dont think you should change anything in its enclosure just leave it as is of course with the proper temps & it will eat when it wants to.

Changing things Is up to you of
Course. But when you change setup there is a certain amount of stress that will come with it. I think you will feel alot better if you had a scale and could see if he's losing weight or not. Changing him from a tank to a tub will not do anything if this is just a winter fast. Any ball over 1 year old is prone to winter fasting no matter what type of set up they are in. I think people have less issues in tubs because they don't let in the natural sunlight as easily as glass does. I use tubs as well and every year even some of my balls that I am not cooling go into fast mode. Some balls get stuck in fast mode and they need to be force fed to come out of it. This is something that shouldn't be taken lightly and your animal should be brought to an experienced professional that knows how to do this safely. This would be a last option sort of thing.

hey guys! just shooting you an update, at month 6, Damien finally ate! there was same hesitation, but he took out two mice, one after the other, and had no problem taking them both down :)

i didnt change the enclosure size, just gave it time. thanks for all the advise, hope this doesnt happen again for this long hahah!

Congrats rattle head, I have two large bps that have been off for 6 months also.

I know how you felt - I pray each week they will eat but so far no luck. My 1600 female did this last year also but it never gets easy for the owner.

Mine are all kept in tubs with hides.

Congrats!! Yay

My new (and first) ball may have a respiratory problem. He appears to yawn frequently and keeps his head in a verticle position quite often. He spit up a yellow substance yesterday also-unless it was poop. I've had him 3 weeks and he has not eaten yet. All living conditions seem to be what is required. 80-85 degrees, 50% humidity, water, enclosure in a 20 gal glass tank with basking lamp. He is 18 inches long. This seems to be a great website. thanks for any help!

NorthShorekimo:
It would probably be easier to start a new thread on your snakes RI. It does in fact sound like a serious RI. They will never throw up, unless it was a meal, but calcium urates could be yellow brown/white. And if he has mucus in his mouth and is wheezing he needs to go to the vet and quarantined immediatly. I don't want to hijack this thread but another serious syptom is the vertical head holding. This is a sign of either an ri or it's called stargazing and is a sign of IBD. Start a new thread and you will get more advice from more members on their opinions. But I suggest getting him into a vet and qt him asap.