Off feed, extremely active. Need suggestions please.

Hi everyone, it has been a while since I posted because everything has been smooth sailing for the last few months but I have encountered a new strange issue. My male ball python, Shesha, has always been a great feeder. He has never refused a meal until two weeks ago and we are now at two refusals in a row. The only thing that has changed in his tank is that I gave him some larger hides, as he seemed to have outgrown his old ones. I can't imagine that this is the reason for the refusal because the first week that he had the new hides he ate just fine. Either way I have put the darker, more snug hides back in the tank just now, in case he was feeling vulnerable with the larger ones. The first week after he refused I waited five days and tried again, he showed no interest at all. In fact, all he wanted to do was climb up my arm. I couldn't even wiggle the rat for him because he was going straight to the top of my hand to come out. This is the other problem, he will not stay on the floor of the tank long enough to dance the rat around or attempt to get him to notice that there is food. As soon as he realizes his lid is off he is up the wall and over the top to come out. I did try just setting the rat in the tank and leaving it there in hopes he would eat it but every time I checked on him he was just climbing his plants, his branches, anything he could use to get up to the lid and poke his nose around the vents. After about 4 hours of the room being dark and quiet and the rat still not being eaten I gave up and took it out and tossed it.

I think I have ruled out problems in the tank. It is clean, the ambient temps are 80 degrees on average, the hot hide is at 90 degrees on the glass and the heat mat is regulated via thermostat. His humidity is maintained at 50% though it does sometimes drop to 45% or rise to 60% after misting. He has two identical hides and plants for cover. This set up has been fine for him and he doesn't spend all his time wandering the tank. He seems perfectly content to sit curled in his hide until he sees me come into the room, or worse yet if I do anything in the tank, like remove the water bowl to clean it. If he so much as notices anything going on he is out and slithering around the tank for the next hour. I can't seem to figure out what is behind the behavior change since he never used to explore the tank nearly this much and it really does seem to be part of the reason he isn't interested in food. He is just too busy trying to get out as soon as I open the lid and pays no attention to the rat. By the time he settles down the rat has cooled. If I open the lid again to take the rat out and warm it up again we start the whole wandering process over. I know it isn't uncommon for ball pythons to go on feeding strikes, but I would really like to understand what is behind it. His last weight after his meal two weeks ago was 469 grams, he now weighs 445 grams. He shows no signs of RI, I feel no lumps around his vent, and he is not preparing to shed. He is 7.5 months old. Any suggestions would sure help me sleep easier. Thank you guys!!

My First Ball Mr Python went off feeding for 3 Months I was freaked out and so worried, I offered him food every week. Then he started feeding again, my lesson after reading many Books and the forum . I was ready to head to the Vet and he ate I was dancing with joy.

Sent from my SGH-T999

I am hoping it is just the typically feeding inconsitency that ball pythons have. I have read tons on fasting so I am not alarmed by that alone, but it is frustrating that is seems like the preoccupation with getting out is what is distracting him from food, because that doesn't make sense. You would think a snake would hide when you reach in the tank, not wake up and immediately try to climb your arm. Don't get me wrong, I love how tame he is, but it seems like unusual enough behavior that I want to be sure it isn't a sign of a problem. Does the weight loss seem like cause for concern? He is perky and seems healthy enough, just too much of a busy body to eat, I just can't seem to wrap my head around what he is doing.

He is a boy. It is a little light for him to be 'feeling his oats' but not far off either. I would not 'do' anything perhaps reduce the offerings some it is frustrating when they stop feeding more frustrating tossing rats out while they are not.

Interesting, hormones had occurred to me but I thought this was the wrong time of year for that. It seems like he could be almost the right age, but everything I have read keeps saying breeding season is fall/winter, so this would be the wrong season for him to be getting uppity wouldn't it?

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Originally Posted by kiiarah

Interesting, hormones had occurred to me but I thought this was the wrong time of year for that. It seems like he could be almost the right age, but everything I have read keeps saying breeding season is fall/winter, so this would be the wrong season for him to be getting uppity wouldn't it?

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No, I don't think bp's in captivity recognize the seasonal changes as they would in the wild unless you are doing night temperature drops and cycling them. Some certainly may but most wont. Invariably they will get the urge to breed throughout the year especially if they smell receptive females. Your husbandry seems to be correct and you pretty much have ruled out illness. I would ask how are his bowel and urinary habits? Then I think it would be a good idea to increase the feeding intervals and see what happens. Maybe he just isn't hungry? Maybe he wants a different food item?:)

Paitents is the key some of mine go off food my bumblebee boys off food at the mo and has been for over a month now

My boys always go off feed at some point in the year. It always seems to be breeding-related for them.

That is interesting that captive bred pythons do not follow the same breeding patterns as wild ones. It makes perfect sense but never would have occurred to me. We had a bit of a cold front for a few days there right before this all started, could the temp drop have triggered him to think it was time to find a mate?

I'm bringing up a somewhat old topic but I wonder how much barometric pressure affects snakes? A cold front usually means lowering barometric pressure and in Africa, will that mean increased rain?

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Originally Posted by Monty's_Mom

I'm bringing up a somewhat old topic but I wonder how much barometric pressure affects snakes? A cold front usually means lowering barometric pressure and in Africa, will that mean increased rain?

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It certainly does have an impact on their behavior. A front moving in and a nice, rainy day is the perfect time to put a pair together and expect to see good results. ;)

Sometimes turning down the hotspot a couple degrees can fix this kind of a problem, I have noticed. :)

However - sometimes my males cannot be comforted, and they are going to try to escape from their tubs all day and night no matter what. I think that's when the desire to breed hits them, like others have mentioned already. ;)

Blame those hormones! Many of my males go off feed during breeding season, regardless if they are exposed to females or not.

Just an update for everyone, it may well have been a perceived breeding season after all. After four weeks of refusals (a blip on the radar in bp terms I know) Shesha has taken two rats over the last two weeks so we may be back on track. I was actually surprised that he ate last week because he had the very beginning of cloudy eyes and was getting ready to shed. He had been coiled up in his hide for two days without even peeking out so I figured there was no way he would show any interest. I left the rat on top of his hide (F/T of course) figuring it was worth a shot. About an hour later I had a missing rat and a fatter little bp. So he has a nice full belly and should be shedding in a few days here. After that I am just crossing my fingers that he eats again. He seems calmer these last couple of weeks too so it really may have been a hormonal thing going on, but he still isn't striking which seems odd. Both times he ate I had to leave it in there and he eventually got around to it. He is about 10 months old, not sure if that is the right age for breeding behavior to emerge. It is a huge relief for him to have taken some meals though. As much as I do know that going off feed is a ball python thing and usually not a reason to worry I just can't help but stress about it. I think the entire household is feeling much better now lol.

My guy is a pretty solid feeder, but he's refused numerous times ....for several months over the winter. Up until last week, he'd fed six weeks in succession with a great strike response (I also feed f/t rats). This past week, he refused again, but I left the prey item in the cage, and it was gone in a few hours. When mine refuses with any regularity, I cut back on the offering interval, but always make sure that the prey item is nice and warm.