Snake Not Eating and Getting Thin! Help!

Hi everyone,

I've posted a couple different times about this same snake having issues, and I'm beginning to think his genetics are questionable and that the breeder I got him from may not be doing a very good job. At any rate, here's the issue.

I've had my male BP for a little over a year and a half now, and he's always been an extremely finicky eater. He'll eat for a few months and then stop for months. When I first bought him as a hatchling, he ate for three months, and then stopped for three. Sometimes he would only take a mouse every two weeks instead of every week. I used to think his eating habits fluctuated with the season. Which made sense. However, this time he stopped eating in mid July right after I moved. (I live in Florida. It's almost ALWAYS hot.) I chalked it up to the move, and the fact that he had recently been bumped up into a 20 long aquarium. I figured he was just stressed and that's why he wanted to lay his head on his live dinner instead of eating it.

Usually if he wants to eat, it takes seconds. He's very quick about it. But for the last four months, no matter what time of day I try to present him with food, he ignores it. It didn't bother me too much until he started to lose weight. He had a retained eye cap, so I used some shed aid to help him get that off, but other than that he seems completely healthy.

He's been lethargic in his tank. He used to come out at night and climb around. Now he just stays under his hide all the time. But when I take him out he climbs around like a maniac. Very energetic. I don't know what's going on.

Temps in the tank are normal. Basking temp is around 94, cool side fluctuates between 82-88. Night temps are in the 80s. Humidity ranges from 50-60%. And he has a sock covered heat rock just in case he wants a little extra heat. I don't know what else to do!

Help?

Also, I have a completely healthy 4 year old female who has no such issue, and have had a "pet" mouse for four months now. A couple of different ones really. I tried getting a different color, but that didn't work either. I tried smaller mice. I tried a rat pup.

I just can't bring myself to brain the thing for him. Should I try a baby gerbil?

All your temps are too hot, and I'd definitely get rid of that heat rock asap. They are NEVER recommended for snakes...

Double check your husbandry, he should have two hides too if you already don't, are the back and sides of his tank blacked out? Have you tried an ASF or anything other than a mouse or rat? Do you feed him in his enclosure?

To be honest your cool side seems to hot. It really needs to stay more consistant at around 80-82. I also would never leave a heat rock in with a Bp. If something goes wrong with it the snake will get burned. I have seen it happen before and it wasn't pretty. How many hides do you have in the tank? There should be one on each end. That way your snake can choose the side that best suits its need. Before I tried a gerbil I would see about getting an afs. Gerbils are just way to expensive to want to have a snake pick that as a primary food type.

X2 on the temps being off a bit. Also if he is hiding all the time, that's a good thing. Bp's tend to roam around more when they are stresses. You might want to get some newspaper, crumple it up into balls and put them all over the tank. I've had luck getting finicky eaters to eat by doing this. Also might want to offer a f/t and leave it in the tank over night. Good luck!


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Thanks for the responses everyone! I double checked the temps and the cool side is in fact at 80. Not as high as I previously mentioned. Basking temp was more like 88.

At any rate, he used to have an UTH, but it would get extremely hot and he would burrow in his bedding to place himself directly against it. He also only has 1 hide currently. I will invest in another.

I'm sorry if I sound stupid here, but what exactly is an ASF? I do not feed him in his enclosure, but in a separate, smaller tank.

That is probably the reason he won't eat, try feeding him a live mouse or rat in his enclosure. Removing for feeding is unnecessary and stresses them out. UTHs do get very hot, that's why a thermostat is necessary for them. I suggest switching back to the UTH and get a thermostat for it to regulate the heat. An ASF is an African Soft Fur, a type of prey. They tend to go for them if they are picky because they are what they eat "in the wild" I believe, there are breeders here and there for them. It's usually what people will switch to if they cannot get their balls to eat.

I'll try that. Thanks. I did try feeding him in his enclosure once, but he completely ignored it then. I'll try again with an ASF or gerbil if I can't find an ASF.

The only reason I was accustomed to feeding in another enclosure is because the female I have is extremely food aggressive, likely because I took her from a friend who rarely fed her. She is much happier with me now that she is fed regularly. (: But I still can't have any prey item in the room with her or she will strike when removing the lid of her tank.

How big is he? If you got a hopper mouse and left it in the enclosure overnight, they pose no harm to your snake at all. I know some of mine will not eat for sometimes hours after I place the f/t rat in. They wait until all the lights are off and we are sound asleep...of course if he's big he'll need more than a hopper mouse on a regular basis, but you may be able to try a few in his tank overnight to get him feeding consistently...

He's about 2 feet long and thin as far as girth goes. I've tried hoppers before too. He wasn't particularly interested in them either. Although, I could try it again. If I try the gerbil or ASF and THAT doesn't work, it's off to the vet with him. I just want to be sure he's okay.

I think as long as your husbandry is correct, you should try the live prey in his enclosure. If it's a hopper you can leave it in overnight without having to supervise, the gerbil and ASF will need supervision I think. Either way good luck. Have you ever had a fecal test done for parasites?

Could bad breeding have an effect on his eating habits? I have read previously that if bred to be too docile, it may affect their eating. I'm only asking because I remember now that his "sister" that was also for sale at the time I chose him was refusing to eat. I don't believe she ever ate actually, and even after the guy force fed her, she regurgitated. I think she may have ultimately died as a result of it.

No. He's never been to the vet. Nor is there currently a fecal sample for me to take in. But that's why he's off to the vet if this behavior continues.

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Originally Posted by KigerTiger

Could bad breeding have an effect on his eating habits? I have read previously that if bred to be too docile, it may affect their eating. I'm only asking because I remember now that his "sister" that was also for sale at the time I chose him was refusing to eat. I don't believe she ever ate actually, and even after the guy force fed her, she regurgitated. I think she may have ultimately died as a result of it.

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Yup, genetics could most definitely play a role. I won't go into much detail, but we know a guy who has balls that seem to genetically not want to eat. We originally bought one from him, never ate right for us and died. The guy was nice and agreed to replace it when his next clutch hatched earlier this year. The clutch hatched and he had feeding issues, so we waited. After he claimed it ate 3 times we picked it up. The card was full of force feeds and only one alleged feeding on its own. Well, we had the same issues with the ball. It didn't want to eat. It ate once for us. Last I heard from the guy he was still having feeding issues with the others. He is someone I would definitely never go through again. Others I have spoken to have also had problem feeders from him.

While there is a possibility that genetics are the issues, there are a few other things I'd suggest before jumping to that conclusion. The first suggestion would be to ditch the tank. Tanks are really not ideal housing for BPs. They seem to make them feel much too vulnerable. If you're not willing to get rid of the tank, at least try covering it completely 24hrs a day for a while. Leave the snake completely alone, other than to give water or clean and give him lots of hides and crumpled paper/vines in the tank. Also, make sure your temps are stable (you will probably need to replace the hot rock with a UTH and thermostat). Then offer a live, appropriately sized prey item (whatever he normally eats when he eats) after a week or so of leaving him alone. Offer it in his enclosure, preferably at night. Put the prey in the enclosure, and cover the enclosure up with a towel. Leave him alone for 15-20 min. If he doesn't eat, wait a week before trying again. Offering prey more often than that is just stressful. If he continues to refuse after a few weeks of this, then take him to have a fecal done since he's never had one.

I would strongly recommend against feeding gerbils, especially live. For one thing they're expensive if the snake imprints on them. Also, they're fairly aggressive and capable of doing some damage. I bred them as a kid, and my chow used to knock over the tank and try to get the gerbils. One day I heard a crash, and yelping. When I walked into the room, I found the gerbil hanging off the dog's nose by his teeth...

Thank you everyone for your input! I just wanted to update and let you all know that he finally ate! I got him a mouse that was a little smaller than normal this afternoon and offered it to him. I had noticed the past week or so that he had been extremely active in his tank at all hours of the day. This used to be his way of telling me that he was hungry. So I went and got him food and within two seconds of dropping it into his feeding box he went for it. He was just confused by having it in his tank before. So I decided to go back to trying his feeding box and it worked! Hopefully he keeps it up and eats every week like he used to!

I'm so relieved. Maybe he was just going through a phase. But either way, he's not a voracious enough eater to reach the size I'd like him to be, I don't think. Oh well. He'll just be my munchkin forever. :P

I had a fire girl that we tried everything on. I finally decided to try an ASF, that did the trick and now she has not refused a meal. Now just trying to figure out if I can ever get her off of the ASF's and back to rats. Good luck, I know it is so frustrating when they will not eat!

Very frustrating. Especially since I was spoiled with a large female who never refuses, and used to be so food aggressive that she's go for my hand before I changed her feeding enclosure to the bath tub. lol. It was the only thing large enough that she was distracted long enough for me to drop the food in. Other than that though, she's a sweetie.

I searched for ASF's, but couldn't find any in the area. So I had to go back to mice. He's a mouse eater. Turns his nose up at rats. That's another reason he's so darn small. Oh well. Good luck getting your baby back on rats! :P

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Originally Posted by KigerTiger

Very frustrating. Especially since I was spoiled with a large female who never refuses, and used to be so food aggressive that she's go for my hand before I changed her feeding enclosure to the bath tub. lol. It was the only thing large enough that she was distracted long enough for me to drop the food in. Other than that though, she's a sweetie.

I searched for ASF's, but couldn't find any in the area. So I had to go back to mice. He's a mouse eater. Turns his nose up at rats. That's another reason he's so darn small. Oh well. Good luck getting your baby back on rats! :P

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I bet if you started feeding her in her regular enclosure she would become less food aggressive. :) You are really setting yourself up for a bite by feeding in a separate enclosure. You are just giving the snake many more opportunities to bite you.

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Originally Posted by LGray23

That is probably the reason he won't eat, try feeding him a live mouse or rat in his enclosure. Removing for feeding is unnecessary and stresses them out. UTHs do get very hot, that's why a thermostat is necessary for them. I suggest switching back to the UTH and get a thermostat for it to regulate the heat. An ASF is an African Soft Fur, a type of prey. They tend to go for them if they are picky because they are what they eat "in the wild" I believe, there are breeders here and there for them. It's usually what people will switch to if they cannot get their balls to eat.

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what about tank aggression?

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Originally Posted by Jasonx

what about tank aggression?

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It doesn't exist with ball pythons.

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Originally Posted by Jasonx

what about tank aggression?

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No such thing. 9 out of 10 of my snakes I can reach in at any given time and not get bit, the 10th one is a satanic turd, but it has nothing to do with me feeding him in his enclosure. If you smell like a rat, then you'd get bit.

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Originally Posted by LGray23

No such thing. 9 out of 10 of my snakes I can reach in at any given time and not get bit, the 10th one is a satanic turd, but it has nothing to do with me feeding him in his enclosure. If you smell like a rat, then you'd get bit.

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oh ok, well my aunt has one and she feeds in the tank, and says hers is sometimes nippy if she goes to get him . just asking thanks for the reassurence

I will say I disagree with it being genetics, it most likely has to do with how the breeder fed or raised the babies. Like AK907 had problems, it was probably because the guy had no idea what he was doing, how to present food to picky babies, or had his husbandry allll wrong, causing them to completely stress, not eat, and then never want to eat. It can happen.

Also, for the OP's situation, for both of your snakes - the female was probably not fed often enough, and the male was probably fed something you aren't feeding or maybe he just is a picky snake.

A "enclosure aggressive" ball python most of the time will be due to hunger or you smell like a rat, maybe both :P

I would also feed in the enclosure, but if he won't eat there, he won't eat there.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

It doesn't exist with ball pythons.

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thanks :gj: