Female Albino BP hasn't eaten in 6 weeks.

Hi, First I would like to thank everyone for the great info and knowledge they give on this site.

I have a Female Albino BP that hasn't eaten in over 6 weeks now. She is almost 11 months old and weighs 405 grams. I weigh her every other week and she has lost 15 grams since she stopped eating. I've been feeding her FT mice and even offered her a live mouse last week and she still didn't want anything to do with it. I've tried rats before and she always refused them. I've been feeding her every 7 days. The only time she wouldn't eat before is when shes going to shed and would only skip a week. I have 2 other BP's that are just a few months older they eat fine and eat FT rats. I haven't changed anything with her enclosure and the temps are within the range they should be. I've had her for over 8 months now. Is it time for a vet visit?

It will be interesting to see what some of the experienced keepers say, I have a pastel/yellow belly female that's around 350g and ate once for me and now hasn't eaten in the last month. I think it's fairly normal and I have even heard some more experienced keepers talk about a fast around the 500g weight.

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I haven't changed anything with her enclosure and the temps are within the range they should be.

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Can you elaborate with details, because the environment hasn't change or was working until than, does not mean that it is optimal for this specific animal as stress from husbandry issues could build up over time. And because other do well in even if in similar setup does not mean they all so.

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Is it time for a vet visit?

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A vet will not help your animal resume feeding they never do.

It's not an abnormal behavior for a BP to go off food the only thing you can do is assess is something can be done and be PATIENT.

Losing 15g for a 405g snake isn't significant at all (a single adult mouse weighs 20g), so I wouldn't feel the need to do vet visit if her other normal behavior hasn't changed and there are no symptoms of illness.

Just for reassurance, my male has gone off feed for about 3 months last year when he was only around 500g, all husbandry and temps on point. I just offered his usual meal every other week... And eventually, he just started eating again.

You can post a pic of your setup here, just in case? And specify what you're using to measure temps, etc?

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Originally Posted by JHPythons

It will be interesting to see what some of the experienced keepers say, I have a pastel/yellow belly female that's around 350g and ate once for me and now hasn't eaten in the last month. I think it's fairly normal and I have even heard some more experienced keepers talk about a fast around the 500g weight.

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Yeah it will be. I wasn't sure with how young she is going for this long. I've read that they can go on a hunger strike for 6 months or longer when they are adults. I have a Banana BP and a normal also just a little over a year old and they eat every time and never had a problem with them. There both around 800 grams.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Can you elaborate with details, because the environment hasn't change or was working until than, does not mean that it is optimal for this specific animal as stress from husbandry issues could build up over time. And because other do well in even if in similar setup does not mean they all so.

A vet will not help your animal resume feeding they never do.

It's not an abnormal behavior for a BP to go off food the only thing you can do is assess is something can be done and be PATIENT.

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I keep my 4 snakes I have in a snake rack in separate containers and the heat tape is controlled by a herpstat. I bought my rack prebuilt. I check there enclosures with my temp gun and the range is between 80 on the cool end to 94 along the heat tape though the container. I have a log hide in her enclosure along with her water bowl. I use print free news paper and always clean as soon as possible. Thank you for the info. .

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Originally Posted by MindzEdge

Yeah it will be. I wasn't sure with how young she is going for this long. I've read that they can go on a hunger strike for 6 months or longer when they are adults. I have a Banana BP and a normal also just a little over a year old and they eat every time and never had a problem with them. There both around 800 grams.

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My ghi het red axanthic just ended a 10 month strike. He only lost 60g the entire time
If your set up is correct she will eat again. Just be paitent. But keep a eye on her weight to make sure she isnt loosing too much. And her over all health. As long as she is healthy and your husbendry is correct all you can do is offer and wait.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Losing 15g for a 405g snake isn't significant at all (a single adult mouse weighs 20g), so I wouldn't feel the need to do vet visit if her other normal behavior hasn't changed and there are no symptoms of illness.

Just for reassurance, my male has gone off feed for about 3 months last year when he was only around 500g, all husbandry and temps on point. I just offered his usual meal every other week... And eventually, he just started eating again.

You can post a pic of your setup here, just in case? And specify what you're using to measure temps, etc?

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Thank you for the info. That makes me feel better. She seems to be acting normal and doesn't seem sick. Hopefully she will give in soon and eat.

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Originally Posted by StillBP

My ghi het red axanthic just ended a 10 month strike. He only lost 60g the entire time
If your set up is correct she will eat again. Just be paitent. But keep a eye on her weight to make sure she isnt loosing too much. And her over all health. As long as she is healthy and your husbendry is correct all you can do is offer and wait.

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Wow! How old was he and how much did he weigh before he went on the strike?

https://jkrballstreetjournal.com/201...-eating-again/

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=1zyUsgt4K9E

I thought both of these were very helpful for info with feeding and going off feed.

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Originally Posted by MindzEdge

I keep my 4 snakes I have in a snake rack in separate containers and the heat tape is controlled by a herpstat. I bought my rack prebuilt. I check there enclosures with my temp gun and the range is between 80 on the cool end to 94 along the heat tape though the container. I have a log hide in her enclosure along with her water bowl. I use print free news paper and always clean as soon as possible. Thank you for the info. .

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Sometimes making little changes may help, I would replace the substrate with some coconut chips, and would likely lower the tempertures a bit.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by JHPythons

https://jkrballstreetjournal.com/201...-eating-again/

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=1zyUsgt4K9E

I thought both of these were very helpful for info with feeding and going off feed.

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Thank you for the links.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Sometimes making little changes may help, I would replace the substrate with some coconut chips, and would likely lower the tempertures a bit.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

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I will try this out then. Thank you.

my 12yo bp, was real picky when I first got him, keep in mind snakes can go a loooooong time without food, mine went 11 months at one point. they have a verrrry slow metabolism. honestly one month I wouldn't even blink an eye over. I think when you are weighing him/her you could be "micro-managing" its eating habits. they'll eat when they are hungry as long as they act fine and arnt getting skinny you are good. mine didn't have any noticeable weigh loss after his long fast. I did not weigh him either. but he was full grown when he hit this phase also. id give your snake about 2 more weeks without offering food then try again. if you try everyday it could be doing more harm that good. try and offer him something next time you catch him roaming around at an unusual time than normal.

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Originally Posted by StillBP

My ghi het red axanthic just ended a 10 month strike. He only lost 60g the entire time
If your set up is correct she will eat again. Just be paitent. But keep a eye on her weight to make sure she isnt loosing too much. And her over all health. As long as she is healthy and your husbendry is correct all you can do is offer and wait.

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Wow. 10 months? That would drive me crazy. lol

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Originally Posted by MindzEdge

Wow! How old was he and how much did he weigh before he went on the strike?

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He was about a year and 700g. Went off after his first breeding season. Just ate last week

Might add if your snake is in a rack sometimes moving them can help

It would be helpful to see your setup. There are several reasons ball pythons can go off of food. I switched from a paper towel / newspaper substrate to Retichip coconut husk substrate and it really increased the appetites of all of my snakes. First it increased the humidity which can help a lot, if they dry out they won't eat at all. Second it absorbed all the smell of their waste. If you open the tub and can smell anything bad that's probably the number one reason they won't feed, especially if they shed and poop and the tub is a mess, then they usually never feed until the tub is cleaned. I usually power feed most of my snakes, I have one over 500 grams that can eat three adult mice twice a week. He really packs on the weight and looks like a balloon LOL. He is so big and fat that he could fast for a whole year and it wouldn't phase him. That's one of the reasons I like to feed a lot when they are in the mood.

Another big reason snakes will go off of food is that you offered frozen thawed that was too old (smelly) or not the right temp, maybe too hot, cooked from being too hot, or too cold (or partly frozen in the middle). If you feed them just one of those bad frozen thawed they can go off of food for quite some time. Personally I prefer to raise my own rodents and feed fresh killed. Although right now with my 19 snakes I can't keep up with them all feeding twice a week, so I do a lot of supplemental feeding with larger frozen thawed adult mice and rats. I use fresh killed or sometimes live rat pups to entice a picky feeder. Usually most of my snakes will take a live rat pup and then follow up with just about anything including frozen thawed.

I've also found that some of my snakes can shy away from frozen thawed if you 'chase' them around with the FT rodent to the point where they are scared of it. I accidently did that to a couple of my snakes, seems like it's really hard to get them to feed after they get scared of rodents, I'm still not sure really how to break them out of it other than going with all live. I don't like to feed adult live rodents if I can help it, just too much risk for my snakes. I actually just picked up a couple new snakes that have never had frozen thawed, they had live their whole life (both are 4 years old). I tried fresh killed ASF on both and both took them right away.

I also have an Australian Woma python that was beat up in the mail and refused to eat for about 4-5 months. He finally started eating live rat pups even though the last guy fed him fresh killed all the time. He has yet to eat anything besides a rat pup and he takes those instantly.

I also have a female King snake that is on a long fast and she is getting super skinny, she actually has just recently taken a mouse crawler here and there, but not enough to put on weight. That was my fault as well, I actually put her in the same tank as my male when I first started out keeping snakes. I think she went into breeding mode, which I didn't even know about at the time, and she didn't have the body condition for it. Be sure to keep your snakes one to a cage.