need serious feeding help

so my ball python hasnt eaten since april 9th and has been pretty picky since the fall. i think temps might have been a problem earlier and all have been adjusted since april to specified needs.

i'll drop a mouse in his tank and he'll back off and almost run like he's scared. hes eaten rats but he was scared of those too so i tried mice and nothing. any suggestions would be helpful.

Welcome to BP.net :colbert2:
Describe your set up please
Hold old is the snake?
What is it's weight?

That's a stress move. If it's a male it's very common for them to go off feed. But a detailed descrip of your setup would be very helpful.


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so its 3ft by 1foot and 2ft tall the hide is the hot spot around 85-90 eco earth substrate. hes going to be 3 in october and he's 2.5 ft long

Get him a duplicate hide for the cool side. He may be off feed because he is sexually mature now, and may be wanting to breed.

What is his weight?

He really should be on small rats weekly at that age, just keep offering meals weekly, males are known to go off feed when wanting to breed.

about 2 pounds?

i was feeding him small rats until this business of him being scared of the food. i think his april one might have been a medium rat

about? hmmmm do you have a digital gram food scale?
If not pick one up from wally world or BB&B, this way you'll know if & how much weight your snake is gaining or loosing.

sounds like a plan so should i just continually keep feeding him small rats or try with mice first week by week?

small rats, mice are too small for him. Yes just offer weekly and keep an eye on him while feeding, if he doesn't take the rat in 30 minutes, try again the next week.

its official, my snake is an a$$hole haha. ok thx for your help. hes looking at me right now as i type this.

lol, I have a female that is 4 y/o that is an extremely picky eater.

Don't worry he'll eat when he's ready. If you have access to african soft furred rats in your area, you might try that, sometimes changing up the prey item will kick them back into feeding mode. Good luck with him

yea no access to those idk where to buy them either

hamsters? lol

no!!!!, you don't want him imprinting on them, and possibly not wanting rats lol, you'll be :tricho: in frustration, stick to the small rats weekly :)

makes sense, i'll stick to that. stick to live since he last ate that way? oh and last time he 8 it took him 8 hours of looking at it. it wasnt till i played loud music that he took the rat down. however i tried that again with no success.

I wouldn't be comfortable leaving a rat in the tank with the snake for 8 hrs unsupervised, rats can do alot of damage to a snake.

Leave him completely alone, no hadling at all for at least a week, make sure he has water. Then after a week offer the small rat.

at just a bout a year old mine went on a 6month strike of not eating... he eventually gave in. males in particular will have a tough time transitioning from mice to rats(and eating at all) around this age. they just refuse it. but keep the water fresh and dont give up hope. try a small rat pup and maybe try and get a mouses sent on it. small doesnt fight and shouldnt move too fast to scare him.

and never leave a rat in the tank with the snake. i have heard horror storied of the rat chewing the tail off the snake. If he doesnt eat it within 10-20 min pull it out.

Even though it probably is a breeding fast. I would give him a couple weeks off. Just to de stress. Never under aNy circumstances leave a live prey animal in with the snake for 8 hours. Even one severe rat bite can seriously damage your snake. On top of that sometimes snakes that are bitten by their prey will be traumatized from that incident and will forever be picky eaters. Being scared of their prey. Even a little rat can do damage. If a snake hasn't eaten within 20-30 min. The prey comes out. Keeping it in longer only puts you more at risk for a bite.
I definAtely suggest getting a scale. A simple digital kitchen scale works well. I keep a binder with a page for everyone and weigh all feeding snakes 1x monthly, non feeders bi weekly. I also write down the date and if I weigh, feed, find poop, sheds etc. This will give you a basic history. Especially in fasts it will tell you what's normal and what's not.
Stick to what your snake knows. No need to Change his Food up. That won't make him eat or not eat. In short give him time. He will come back around full circle.

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