Need some advice

My BP has always been a great eater, crushing a F/T rat every 5-6 days anywhere from 8-12% of her body weight. Recently she's shown interest in the rat then doesn't strike and just goes in her hide. She's rejected 3 times now. After offering the meal if she does this I just say OK.... wait another 6 days and try again. I know that the only consistent thing about BP's is that they are INCONSISTENT so I'm just hoping she's on a little bit of a strike right now but I just wanted the advice from some experts here.
Her husbandry is as follows:
82F ambient temp
90F hot spot under one hide
Sphagnum moss (obviously to help with humidity)
50%humidity bump up while in shed

Now that I think of it, she started acting this way after I introduced the sphagnum moss into the enclosure.

Any advice? Keep doing what I'm doing?

Thanks in advance

Yeah just keep offering. Anything can put off a female from eating (and a male) but she could go 12months without eating and be ok. Keep weighing her and just make sure she doesnt lose 10% of her body weight. IF she is hungry and wants food she will eat.

I skip it until the next feeding day.

Your husbandry looks good. She may just be on a hunger strike. I have read a few people who have tried and had refusals on consecutive feeding days wait and extra week between to try again. So basically skip a feeding. This was done for healthy snakes that were not losing weight though so make sure you weigh.

Looking through your posts she was 600g a month ago. At that size I wouldn't worry about it at all. I have a 380g female that stopped taking f/t when I got her. I fed her live for a little bit but I'm tired of driving to the pet store every 5-7 days. So she hasn't eaten since January 10 but she hasn't lost ANY weight, so I'm just holding out until she goes back to f/t. If you really get worried though I'd try a live rat to see if that works.

i would take the moss out of of it's hide and just introduce it during shed. if u want, create a separate humid hide.

otherwise i would skip, try every other week until she begins taking food regularly again. u can also try braining the prey. if u wanna spoil your BP, try offering live.

How much does she weigh now? Could just be hitting a wall.

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Originally Posted by Slim

How much does she weigh now? Could just be hitting a wall.

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I'll weigh her tonight but probably somewhere around 700g is my guess

Hi there!:)
She either just is going on a feeding strike or she isn't showing any interest in frozen thawed anymore. I would try a few more times and then maybe try a live mouse or rat and see what happens.
Good Luck!

thank you sir

I would wait a little longer than every 6 days. Give her about 2 weeks and try again. Are you feeding in the enclosure? This helped one of my boys on a hunger strike. And I second the suggestion to remove the moss until the snake is in shed. :)

OK all, so I removed the moss and I'm waiting a bit longer. I will wait two weeks from the last time I offered. Yes I feed in tank, no reason to add stress removing her to feed somewhere else. :gj: Worst case, i'll surprise her with a live one if she rejects another offering. Lastly she was 650 g when I weighed her. Seems she hasn't lost any (or barely any) weight because she was 710g weight before a massive poop and I didn't weigh her after that.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

My male has been on a fast for almost 2 months now. Ive bumped back to just offering every two weeks and have kept track of his weight really good. He isn't losing a considerable amount of weight so I'm not too concerned as it seems it's not uncommon for them to do this from time to time.

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Originally Posted by Smitty33

My male has been on a fast for almost 2 months now. Ive bumped back to just offering every two weeks and have kept track of his weight really good. He isn't losing a considerable amount of weight so I'm not too concerned as it seems it's not uncommon for them to do this from time to time.

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This is common - especially with Royals / Ball pythons .
I had one fast for 9 months then suddenly started again as normal .

I feed my most of my Royals every 10 or 14 days now and they eat more or less everytime now apart drop when they're near or in shed .


The record for fasting is apparently 21 months _ held by a Royal of course .

For what it's worth, if she continues to fast and starts losing weight, try a live gerbil. These are allegedly their "favorite," and eaten prevalently in their natural environment. I gave one to my girl who fasted for 6 months and ended up laying eggs (after eating the gerbil--the eggs were all slugs but I had no idea she was gonna drop 'em). She couldn't resist him!

Sounds like everything is just fine for now and youre doing a freat job adjusting. She is a good healthy weight. Just maintain records on her weight and be patient :)