My BP hasn't eaten in over two weeks!!!

What should I do? She is usually a consistent eater, suddenly she has stopped eating. I have tried like 5 different times in the pas two weeks. I don't understand why she has suddenly refused to eat. The only thing I can think of is right aorund the time she stopped eating, the environment changed drastically. It went from being cold outside to extremely warm. Her cage temperature has stayed pretty much the same. Should I be worried? Is she gonna die?

Ball pythons are known for this. Someone else will have to tell you how long to wait before you should worry because I don't know, all I know is 2 weeks certainly will not kill her. Good luck.

its what they do, dont worry. as long as the temps and everything are fine and her health is good dont worry. if she loses a lot of weight then worry, but just keep offering every week and eventually she will decide to eat again.

and no, she isnt going to die

I've got an 800g male that has only eaten once in the past 3 months.
He hasn't lost too much weight, and still looks really healthy.
I wouldn't worry about it too much.

BPs can go for months without eating. Do some research and make sure all your husbandry details are in place (heat/hides/moisture). Check out the care sheet. It will give you all the details you need. I would not worry after only 2 weeks. Also, if your BP refuses a meal, wait another week before trying again.

Trying to feed to often will stress a bp out. Just try to feed on your regular schedule. Check your husbandry if it is correct I wouldn't worry about it to much..

Your snake is fine. Snakes can go months without eatting. 2 weeks is nothing so you need to calm down. And don't try feeding it so often. If it doesn't want to eat right now trying to feed it more and more can just make it not want to eat even more. Don't try to feed it any more then once a week. If it isn't eatting you can even skip some attempts to feed to try and make it more hungry in between. As long as you husbandry is fine and you snake is healthy there is no need to stress out till it is getting mroe towards 3 months without eatting.

my python didn't eat for 7 months thats was 2 years ago,currently it hasen't eat for 3-4 weeks,so hiere is an idea, ofer her some food every two weeks, you should be fine!

Don't worry! My male BP quit eating in November! And He just broke his fast yesterday! So 3 months of no eating. This is just how ball pythons are sometimes. I would definitely make sure it isn't something stress related. Look at your husbandry and make sure everything is in check. It everything is good then just keep trying to feed... and the bp will eventually decide to eat ... even if it takes 3 months. Maybe even longer. Good luck!

My big normal girl stopped eating in the middle of september and still hasn't taken a meal. I have a feeling she'll start eating again in march.

If you've got a sexually mature ball python, its going to stop eating at some point, its just how they are. Double check your husbandry. If everything is where is should be then don't worry. He'll start eating again when he feels like it.

If you want, offer food every 2 weeks or so.

My 1400g male stopped eating this last July, and didn't eat for 6 months, and the entire time he was off feed he only lost 150g. (Obviously that weight loss is small relative to his initial weight. 150g would definitely be a major issue if the starting weight was 250g!) It is a good idea to monitor your BP's weight. If his weight is staying fairly steady during the fast, then there probably is not issue other than he doesn't want to eat because of breeding season, etc. If he isn't eating, and there is drastic weight loss then that is reason for concern. I don't know much about BP diseases (because luckily I have never had a sick snake), but that could be a possiblity related to rapid weight loss.

Do your snake a favor, and invest in a scale -- in my opinion probably one of the most important husbandry tools. I bought mine at Walmart http://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Bigges...acity/11090896 and I have also heard of people picking them up fairly reasonably on eBay.

Another great tool is Degie http://www.eyehit.com/degei/ which is a program where you can keep records of all of your snakes activity. A great way to monitor feeding and weight records, etc.

Good luck...I am sure your snake will be fine as long as husbandry is correct and you track his activity and watch for any warning signs.

Thanks for the help everyone!

the previous owner told me the longest scarlett ever went without eating is 8 months. (that was before owned her) right now she hasn't in 2 months but keep offering. try once a week and relax its not a big deal.

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Originally Posted by chapskis1

Do your snake a favor, and invest in a scale -- in my opinion probably one of the most important husbandry tools.

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I was just curious as to why you think scales are one of the most important husbandry tools?

Because they stop eating. The big issue isn't not feeding but what kind of weight they have lost one of my females started to 947gm and has not eaten in 2.5 months and is now at 862 gm which is more than I'd like, but she is healthy and it is not a massive amount for her. If she were to have lost say 300 gms I'd be worried. It is an easy indication of health healthy snakes grow. Fasting snakes stay static or nearly static very little % loss but unheathy snakes will loose more faster, tapeworms internal issues can be caught by weight loss.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Because they stop eating. The big issue isn't not feeding but what kind of weight they have lost one of my females started to 947gm and has not eaten in 2.5 months and is now at 862 gm which is more than I'd like, but she is healthy and it is not a massive amount for her. If she were to have lost say 300 gms I'd be worried. It is an easy indication of health healthy snakes grow. Fasting snakes stay static or nearly static very little % loss but unheathy snakes will loose more faster, tapeworms internal issues can be caught by weight loss.

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Thank you...I couldn't have said it better myself. I just got home from work so I didn't get a chance to respond to the question asking about why I thought a scale was important.

I think a good thermostat and a good thermometer/hygrometer are more important, but a scale is definitely something a good snake/herp keeper should not be without!

It definitely gave me peace of mind and reassurance when my male went off feed for six months!

I have found that if you are lacking a scale to weigh your bp a digital bathroom scale will work. weigh yourself without your snake and then again directly after with your snake, find the difference and convert to grams. cell phone unit converter works great for this. It may not be exact but it will give you a good idea of where your animal is sitting. I do this a few times in a row and average the results if they very.

mine has gone off feed for 2 months just relax its not a big deal

It's been 3 weeks now since my baby ball python has ate...the last two weeks he didn't budge at all nor did he strike for it. Today when I fed him he grabbed it and had a hold of it and I checked on him a few hours later and the rat is still there. I tried again he sees it but he's not grabbing it. I know sometimes ball pythons can go a bit without eating but I'm worried as he's only 9 months old. When we first got him it took 3 weeks til he finally ate.