Snake hasn't eaten for months

I got this little normal snake, and no matter what, it didnt eat. pinkies, mice live frozen day night morning evening it didnt matter. He turned his nose up at everything. I tried syringe feeding him, but it didnt seem to help much. He is now very thin and looks a little dehydrated. I love all my animals so much, it hurts me so bad to see him like that, like I am a failure. I already struggle with major depression disorder, so failing with one of my animals has been extremely hard on me.

A few days ago, I got him to swallow a force fed pinky. I had to push it all the way to the back of his throat otherwise he would spit it out. He did not regurgitate, and it made me so happy! Today, i got him to eat another! In the same way though, force fed.

My question is, Will I ever be able to feed him normally? Meaning, will he ever try to feed himself? How long will I have to keep force feeding him? And how often? I guess that's more than one question.

Don't feel like a failure if your BP won't eat. Some just don't.

Where did you buy it, and have you reached out to the seller for help? How did the prior owner keep it? What was it eating and how many meals did it have before you bought it?

Have you checked that your husbandry is correct? Hot spot at 90*F, cool side 78-80*F, good humidity, small enclosure, lots of hides for security, etc?

FWIW what you're describing is assist feeding, not force feeding. With force feeding once the feeder is in the back of the snake's throat it's then manually pushed into the stomach using a long, thin rod; the snake doesn't swallow the prey item.

There is a lot of unknown here.

What is the animal age and weight?

Did you purchased it as an animal well started?

How do you keep him? Enclosure size, temps, humidity, hides etc

Have you handled that animal since you have had him? How often?

You say pinkies are pinky mice all you ever offered?

I got him two and a half months ago as a baby eating only one time with the original owner. And three days ago was the first time he ate a pinky for me, which I had to assist feed him. I have 5 other snakes, all bps, all kept the same way with same husbandry and all are doing great except this one.

His enclosure is 20 gallon with a large water ball and two hides. It is an aquarium type, but I have three of the sides blocked up so he isnt so exposed.

I have offered the only things I have to offer. Live and frozen mice and pinky mice.

ambient temp is 80 ish (of course it will vary a degree or two either way sometimes) and hot spot is 89 - 90. I use a lamp for ambient temp and a heating pad for hot spot, which is thermostat controlled. I have handled him very little, only to assist feed. Took a few pics of him the day I got him.

Humidity has been high lately because he looks dehydrated, and I figured high humidity would help. High meaning 70ish

I havent reached out to the seller.

Because you have other snakes kept the same way does not mean anything, with BP it's not a one fit all type of deal some are much more prone to stress than others and what will work for A will not work for B

The enclosure is too big, the food is way too small even out of the eggs they do not eat pinkies pinkies are for colubrids. Too small of a prey item will often not be recognize as a prey item, even force fed which you should not have done as assisting would have been more than enough, it still not enough food.

Get a 6 quarts tub have a 1 inch layer of aspen, provide a 6 inch plastic flower pot saucer as a hide, temps on the warm side should be around 88 at the very most (this is due to the small size of the enclosure)

Wait a week NO Handling (none from now own until the animal eats for you at least 3 times) offer a live hopper mouse, in the tub, just drop it and walk away, come back 15 min later and remove if uneaten. If uneaten there are other tricks before jumping to force feeding.

In most cases it is husbandry related the animal has ate once so it does know how to eat, you just need to provide the optimal husbandry for this specific animal.

^^^^^
What Deb said.

But on top of it, I don't like to send babies to new homes until after they've taken 3-4 meals.

Have you tried African rats? That may be an option to try. I believe they're called African Soft Furred Rats. Also, have you tried taking him to a vet to see if something is wrong? One of my bp was a TERRIBLE eater, months without eating, until I took him to the vet and found out he's basically blind(possibly had his head closed in a door) and has an old back injury(probably stepped on). He looks completely normal. Acts basically normal, you'd never know something was wrong(he's a rescue). I have to "over heat" his food(med rats) and even then it was iffy, went through that for years, then I ran across an article suggesting cleaning right before feeding. And now I can reliably get him to eat if I do BOTH. Point is, try all simple options first. Force feeding is stressful and should be a very last resort. Definitely sounds like you're willing to try anything. So try the cleaning and extra warming. It sounds simple after all this trouble, but it MIGHT just be something simple. Snakes are so weird sometimes, but they're worth it :)

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Because you have other snakes kept the same way does not mean anything, with BP it's not a one fit all type of deal some are much more prone to stress than others and what will work for A will not work for B

The enclosure is too big, the food is way too small even out of the eggs they do not eat pinkies pinkies are for colubrids. Too small of a prey item will often not be recognize as a prey item, even force fed which you should not have done as assisting would have been more than enough, it still not enough food.

Get a 6 quarts tub have a 1 inch layer of aspen, provide a 6 inch plastic flower pot saucer as a hide, temps on the warm side should be around 88 at the very most (this is due to the small size of the enclosure)

Wait a week NO Handling (none from now own until the animal eats for you at least 3 times) offer a live hopper mouse, in the tub, just drop it and walk away, come back 15 min later and remove if uneaten. If uneaten there are other tricks before jumping to force feeding.

In most cases it is husbandry related the animal has ate once so it does know how to eat, you just need to provide the optimal husbandry for this specific animal.

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This is sooooo correct!

Take that advice to a T!

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Because you have other snakes kept the same way does not mean anything, with BP it's not a one fit all type of deal some are much more prone to stress than others and what will work for A will not work for B

The enclosure is too big, the food is way too small even out of the eggs they do not eat pinkies pinkies are for colubrids. Too small of a prey item will often not be recognize as a prey item, even force fed which you should not have done as assisting would have been more than enough, it still not enough food.

Get a 6 quarts tub have a 1 inch layer of aspen, provide a 6 inch plastic flower pot saucer as a hide, temps on the warm side should be around 88 at the very most (this is due to the small size of the enclosure)

Wait a week NO Handling (none from now own until the animal eats for you at least 3 times) offer a live hopper mouse, in the tub, just drop it and walk away, come back 15 min later and remove if uneaten. If uneaten there are other tricks before jumping to force feeding.

In most cases it is husbandry related the animal has ate once so it does know how to eat, you just need to provide the optimal husbandry for this specific animal.

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Did you even read what I wrote? I told you I offered all kinds of food, didn't take anything... I don't have access to live fuzzies. Small mice and rats of all sizes is all I have live.

A tub? I don't know how to keep temps in something small that can melt. Just a heat pad wouldn't do I dont think.

Why aspen? I use Cyprus, should be fine, don't see how bedding can make a difference, otherwise these things would never make it in the wild if they were all so picky.

I said I didn't handle it... again, did you read? or is this something you copy and paste on every post? I only handled the day I got it, and lately when I have assist fed him, which has to be better then it not eating at all.


I will move it to a smaller enclosure, that is a good idea, about the only thing you said that contributed at all. Why does that happen so often on this site? A smart A know it all skims through the post, then suggests a ton of things that were all ready tried and explained in the OP?

I think that ball python owners seem to overreact when their pet doesn't eat. After over 30 years with Ball Pythons I have learned that each snake is going to have his or her ritual of going off food for at least a couple of months a year. I have had a male ball that went off of food for 95 days....(at that point I was a little bit worried.) Now he is eating fine and is taking a medium f/t rat every week.

When they are very young and they refuse food I would watch their weight closely and if you note a great weight loss you might need to use an assisted feeding technique like a pinky-pump. They are available on the internet.


Best of luck with your snake , and let us know how he is doing.

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Originally Posted by Gary P

Did you even read what I wrote? I told you I offered all kinds of food, didn't take anything... I don't have access to live fuzzies. Small mice and rats of all sizes is all I have live.

A tub? I don't know how to keep temps in something small that can melt. Just a heat pad wouldn't do I dont think.

Why aspen? I use Cyprus, should be fine, don't see how bedding can make a difference, otherwise these things would never make it in the wild if they were all so picky.

I said I didn't handle it... again, did you read? or is this something you copy and paste on every post? I only handled the day I got it, and lately when I have assist fed him, which has to be better then it not eating at all.


I will move it to a smaller enclosure, that is a good idea, about the only thing you said that contributed at all. Why does that happen so often on this site? A smart A know it all skims through the post, then suggests a ton of things that were all ready tried and explained in the OP?

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You don't need to be defensive, she's an esteemed breeder and she's giving you advice for the well-being of the snake. We know you're trying to help your little dude. We are trying to help him too.

You said you didn't handle the snake until assist feeding, the advice here is don't handle it at all - not even to feed. It can go a couple weeks without food if it isn't emaciated, and honestly not assisting can be a better option than assist feeding, which can stress snakes out and keep them off feed longer.

If the snake were picky in the wild, it might die. This snake isn't in the wild, it is in your care. Try Aspen or don't, but it would be a shame for him to not thrive just because you didn't want the inconvenience of a different substrate (not an accusation, just a hypothetical).

What is the ambient temp of the room the snake is in? A heat pad might be fine for a tub; after all that's how most rack systems are heated (well, heat tape, but it's the same concept). The closed tub tends to keep heat more consistently than a screen-top glass tank. I took in a girl that was a notoriously bad eater and had come with a 40 gal glass tank and medication to help her shed. As soon as I put her in a tub and gave her a two week vacation, she started eating like a beast. She's a monster now, just a few months later, and she's had perfect sheds since.

No one will try to sabotage your snake. It won't hurt him to try following the advice here, but it might hurt him to ignore it.

I'm not sure what area you live in, but you might even find someone on this forum who lives close enough to help you obtain live hoppers. If the breeder is local to you, definitely talk to them about the situation; they may have more resources at their disposal that they can share with you. I wish all the best for you and your snake!

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Originally Posted by Gary P

Did you even read what I wrote? I told you I offered all kinds of food, didn't take anything... I don't have access to live fuzzies. Small mice and rats of all sizes is all I have live.

A tub? I don't know how to keep temps in something small that can melt. Just a heat pad wouldn't do I dont think.

Why aspen? I use Cyprus, should be fine, don't see how bedding can make a difference, otherwise these things would never make it in the wild if they were all so picky.

I said I didn't handle it... again, did you read? or is this something you copy and paste on every post? I only handled the day I got it, and lately when I have assist fed him, which has to be better then it not eating at all.


I will move it to a smaller enclosure, that is a good idea, about the only thing you said that contributed at all. Why does that happen so often on this site? A smart A know it all skims through the post, then suggests a ton of things that were all ready tried and explained in the OP?

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Defensive much? I gave you the tools to solve your problem just like I have help troubleshoot the same issue with many in the past, in the end YOUR snake you do what you want with the advice given to you, but you might want to think about how you are answering to those offering help because next time you have an issue people might not bother, I know I won't. ;)

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Originally Posted by Gary P

Did you even read what I wrote? I told you I offered all kinds of food, didn't take anything... I don't have access to live fuzzies. Small mice and rats of all sizes is all I have live.

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You really need to find a source for live mouse fuzzies and hoppers. Hatchlings typically take a live mouse fuzzy for the first few meals, then get switched to rat pups for a few more meals, and only once they're eating well should they be transitioned to f/t. You took this baby after it only ate once for the breeder.

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A tub? I don't know how to keep temps in something small that can melt. Just a heat pad wouldn't do I dont think.

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You put the thermostat probe between the heat pad and the tub, set so that the belly heat in the tub runs about 90*F. That's nowhere near hot enough to melt the plastic.

How are you regulating temps in your tanks today?

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Why aspen? I use Cyprus, should be fine, don't see how bedding can make a difference, otherwise these things would never make it in the wild if they were all so picky.

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There's nothing wrong with cypress, most folks use aspen because it's cheaper, especially if you put a deep enough layer in the tub so your snake can burrow into it for security.