Ball python will not eat

Hello everyone

I know there are a lot of knowledgeable people here with experience with regards to ball pythons so I need some reassurance.

My male ball python (approximate 4-4.5 years old) stopped eating the first week of January. He is now 1.5 kg and not quite 4 ft long. He looks healthy and the vet isn't worried yet but I sure the hell am.

He is active in his enclosure but when I throw in his food he looks at it then moves away as though he's disgusted. He eats live, I cannot get him to eat dead, tried and tried and tried. He eats mice, rats but his last meal was a Dagu because the store had nothing else. My vet said he can go five months without concern and there are 2 probabilities as to why he is not eating:

1. He wants to breed

2. He now likes Dagus and doesnt want anymore rats or mice (tried both there have been no Dagus in the store that he could eat, too big)


I am a bit stressed out as we are going into May now so we are close to the 5 month mark. Please give advice!

If he wants only dagus, I would try getting an asf and offering that. You may be able to get him back into rats from that, but he could just decide he wants only asfs from there. Maybe try scenting?


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Originally Posted by Michelle85

Hello everyone

I know there are a lot of knowledgeable people here with experience with regards to ball pythons so I need some reassurance.

My male ball python (approximate 4-4.5 years old) stopped eating the first week of January. He is now 1.5 kg and not quite 4 ft long. He looks healthy and the vet isn't worried yet but I sure the hell am.

He is active in his enclosure but when I throw in his food he looks at it then moves away as though he's disgusted. He eats live, I cannot get him to eat dead, tried and tried and tried. He eats mice, rats but his last meal was a Dagu because the store had nothing else. My vet said he can go five months without concern and there are 2 probabilities as to why he is not eating:

1. He wants to breed

2. He now likes Dagus and doesnt want anymore rats or mice (tried both there have been no Dagus in the store that he could eat, too big)


I am a bit stressed out as we are going into May now so we are close to the 5 month mark. Please give advice!

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Has he lost weight? If not, I wouldn't worry about it. If they're not losing weight or appear otherwise unhealthy, they can safely go much longer than 5 months without food, so there is a possibility you are in for a long wait.

Breeding season is one big reason they go off food. That's normal and happens to everyone.

I would just keep checking his weight. If his environment is good (temps, humidity, etc), and he's not losing much weight, there's nothing you can do except be patient and wait til the day he decides it's time to eat again.

As long as he is healthy, not loosing excessive weight and your husbendry is correct you have your self a ball python being a ball python

Just another reassurance. Nothing to worry about right now. He will eat when he is hungry. You can try offering ASFs as they are ball pythons natural food source in the wild and I swear by them getting trouble eaters to eat.

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Originally Posted by Citrus

If he wants only dagus, I would try getting an asf and offering that. You may be able to get him back into rats from that, but he could just decide he wants only asfs from there. Maybe try scenting?


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This is going to sound stupid but what exactly do you mean by ASF? A rat or a Dagu? I just tried a mouse and again, he went away in disgust but he is sure active and looking like he's hunting … guess I will try a Dagu.. the problem is I end up having another pet and I don't want rodents for pets, I just finally gave away the two rats he wouldnt eat to someone for pets :/

Oh ok, an African Soft Fur rat…. hmmmm well I will probably have to special order these … guess I should give it a try … thanks again!

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Originally Posted by Michelle85

This is going to sound stupid but what exactly do you mean by ASF? A rat or a Dagu? I just tried a mouse and again, he went away in disgust but he is sure active and looking like he's hunting … guess I will try a Dagu.. the problem is I end up having another pet and I don't want rodents for pets, I just finally gave away the two rats he wouldnt eat to someone for pets :/

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If you want him off dagus and asf's and other specialty food, I would not get him anymore of them.

He's big enough and old enough that he could easily go 10 months with no food (if he's healthy overall). If he's not losing weight, he does not need to eat in any sort of urgent manner.

If he's eaten rats or mice in the past, and that's what you want him eating in the future, I would just offer him either of those every two weeks.

I notice they tend to go off feed in the winter, especially since that's breeding season. Regardless, the only time to raise concern is if you observe any weight loss. No weight loss, no worries. Ball pythons are notorious fasters.
I would also suggest avoiding straying from his usual diet - unless you're experimenting with a varied diet, of course - but in particular avoid feeding animals that can be hard to find, such as exotic rodents like degus, squirrels, etc. in the scenario they could become 'addicted' to that one particular prey item. Stick to what's easy to find such as rats, mice, and chicks. (depending on where you are, African soft furred rats may or may not be easily available to you. In general, they're uncommon, but they're most often kept specifically as ball python food, so if there is just one breeder in the area...)
It won't hurt your ball python if he has to go one or two weeks without eating in the case of an availability issue.

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Originally Posted by 200xth

If you want him off dagus and asf's and other specialty food, I would not get him anymore of them.

He's big enough and old enough that he could easily go 10 months with no food (if he's healthy overall). If he's not losing weight, he does not need to eat in any sort of urgent manner.

If he's eaten rats or mice in the past, and that's what you want him eating in the future, I would just offer him either of those every two weeks.

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Yea, food is limited where I live, hence having to feed him a Dagu before. Its a small community with a small pet shop and they always run out of mice and rats and I should probably stick to those because they are the easiest to get. I wish he ate dead, i would make things soooo much easier. Thank you for your post!

So my ball python just will not eat rats, not alive, not dead nor mice. So, I tried a fresh killed gerbil... he ate it no problem. waited a week, tried rats, mice .. nope. Fresh killed gerbil, he eats it. Yesterday two fresh killed gerbils ( I wont put lives ones in because they are mean and will harm my snake). After two he was looking for more. Gerbils is all I can get here other than rats or mice. Is gerbil ok to feed my snake?

Feeding an alternative prey especially gerbils is the worse mistake you can make, they are like crack to BP and once they eat them they usually will never eat anything else which is a big issue if you ever have to re-home him or if all of the sudden your gerbil supply is no longer available.

Feeding an alternative prey is NEVER the solution, it's a male he is 4 ft he can go a year without issue, if you really want to help him resume feeding it's about making sure the husbandry is optimal and most importantly PATIENCE.

Preaaaach Deb!

You may have sentenced yourself to a lifetime of feeding gerbils. I got a male that for the last 8 years goes off feed for 8 months on average sometimes 5 sometimes a year, he'll power eat every week in between these fasts he's 4ft and a little over 1700g, in those 8 month and year strikes the MOST weight he ever lost was 59 grams which is nothing. These animals are incredibly efficient with their food and energy usage.


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Well I guess I suck as a snake owner. FYI Deb, I have no intention of ever re-homing him unless I end up homeless.

Nah, you don't suck, you just got yourself stuck with a gerbil eater ;). If you don't mind ponying up for gerbils, no problem. You could probably get him back on mice or rats if you waited him out. But if it's worth it to you just to get him to eat, don't worry about it. It's whatever you're willing to live with.

Just be patient. If you don't want to feed gerbils forever, don't feed him any more gerbils! Let him get nice and hungry and try a rat again. I would just offer the rat once every other week and if he doesn't want it, refreeze or toss it and try again next time. If you wanted, you could try a live rat and see if the pet store would give you some used bedding from the gerbils to put him in. This might help trick your little guy into trying the rat again and giving him the taste of it.

Otherwise, just like everyone else has said, be patient and keep offering rats. I bet he will take it eventually and unless he is losing weight you have nothing to worry about.