Hasn't eaten

I know it's normal for BPs to fast but my 5yr old hasn't eaten in almost two months. Nothing I do is helping. He's interested, smells it, curves. But no. It's aggravating and worrying me. Long story short he hasn't eaten since the week before his vet visit. I thought maybe he was stressed from that. But 2 months now? I even skipped a week here and there, made his feed hotter or colder, and left it in there. He's frustrating me!

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As long as he's not losing significant weight there's nothing to worry about. That's just the frustration that comes with keeping BPs

It's a ball python, it's a male, it's 5 years old, it's breeding season......that's what they do.

People do not realize that in captivity those animal are overfed and that fasting for a mature male it normal this time of the year.

Based on his weight which should be good considering the age it could last 6 months to a year.

A tip try changing thing around, downsize the enclosure, that's what I do with any animal that fast for over 8 weeks and it usually get them back to eat within a week or two.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

It's a ball python, it's a male, it's 5 years old, it's breeding season......that's what they do.

People do not realize that in captivity those animal are overfed and that fasting for a mature male it normal this time of the year.

Based on his weight which should be good considering the age it could last 6 months to a year.

A tip try changing thing around, downsize the enclosure, that's what I do with any animal that fast for over 8 weeks and it usually get them back to eat within a week or two.

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Do you still offer weekly?

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Originally Posted by HeathBish

Do you still offer weekly?

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Can't speak for everyone else, but no! When a snake goes off feed & it's fairly normal (many BPs just DO this), offering weekly will only stress you both. ;)

Offer not less than every 2 weeks, & even then, ONLY IF he's acting like he's ready to eat: ie. only IF he's peeking out of his hide in the evening hours, as if ready to
"ambush-hunt" a rodent. Better yet, wait 3+ weeks...unless you enjoy throwing away food.

***** And you shouldn't be offering food weekly to an adult BP anyway...you did say he's 5 years old? *****

I understand the appeal of ball pythons, but ALL snakes have pro's & con's: unfortunately, this is what you signed up for with a ball python.
They are pretty, docile & stay a nice cuddly size, but the downsides include the need of higher heat & humidity, fasting & being picky eaters.

It helps to know this is pretty normal, even though it's frustrating for us food-loving humans. ;) Hang in there...

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Can't speak for everyone else, but no! When a snake goes off feed & it's fairly normal (many BPs just DO this), offering weekly will only stress you both. ;)

Offer not less than every 2 weeks, & even then, ONLY IF he's acting like he's ready to eat: ie. only IF he's peeking out of his hide in the evening hours, as if ready to
"ambush-hunt" a rodent. Better yet, wait 3+ weeks...unless you enjoy throwing away food.

And you shouldn't be offering food weekly to an adult BP anyway...you did say he's 5 years old?

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I just mean offering because he wasn't eating. I fed him every 10-14 days when he was eating. Moreso 14 days. Sooner if he seemed hungry. But not less than 10 days. Usually 12 if he seemed hundry and then I'd start the days over.

Speaking of, since he hasn't eaten he seems to always have his head poking out the hide now. He just chills there like that most of the time. Now it's u usual if he's fully in the hide. Is that weird? He never used to do that. His stats are all good, too. Im a freak with that if you remember.

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Is he hanging out in the warm hide or the cool one?

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Is he hanging out in the warm hide or the cool one?

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It was the cold for a while then the warm. Now both. But more the warm.

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Welcome to my world. Odyn is doing the same thing....even the vet visit is spot on. He didn't eat for three months ate a mouse, next week ate two mice and now not eating again. I offer and if he doesn't eat it goes to Booplesnoop because she will eat his lol. That way I'm not wasting rats.

Also my pueblan is off food right now too...grrrr

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Originally Posted by HeathBish

Do you still offer weekly?

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Yes but I have 60+ animals to feed and I breed my own feeders so if someone is not interested it's not an issue.

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Originally Posted by HeathBish

Do you still offer weekly?

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For a 5 year old male, I'd wait at least 2 weeks in between offerings. It certainly won't hurt and you won't be wasting prey.

My juvenile (1 year 900g) took most of the winter off. So much so I started offering every three weeks. Last week he shed for the first time in a long time and I offered. He wasn't keen but he eventually took a rat. That was his first in nearly 4 months. Without this forum I would have freaked out.

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Originally Posted by SMTHook

My juvenile (1 year 900g) took most of the winter off. So much so I started offering every three weeks. Last week he shed for the first time in a long time and I offered. He wasn't keen but he eventually took a rat. That was his first in nearly 4 months. Without this forum I would have freaked out.

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Right lol

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Originally Posted by HeathBish

I know it's normal for BPs to fast but my 5yr old hasn't eaten in almost two months. Nothing I do is helping. He's interested, smells it, curves. But no. It's aggravating and worrying me. Long story short he hasn't eaten since the week before his vet visit. I thought maybe he was stressed from that. But 2 months now? I even skipped a week here and there, made his feed hotter or colder, and left it in there. He's frustrating me!

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Mine recently did the same thing. I moved recently and I have heat but the thermostat doesn’t really work, so often it gets colder than I’d like. If you can increase the temperature and humidity of the enclosure, he may snap out of his fast like mine did. They can go without food for months so don’t freak out quite yet :)
This behavior was actually one of the driving factors in my decision to get a BCI. When he’s full grown I can feed him rejected food instead of it going to waste.

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It's too bad my Little Luna isn't big enough cuz she would eat everyday if I let her and I know she would take it down.

Thanks for all of your replies everybody!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a7ed0b1559.jpg

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Are you guys doing vet visits due to the fasting just to make sure he was OK? Or to the vet for other reasons? Embarrassed to say I didn’t know taking a snake to the vet was a thing. Learning soo much.

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Originally Posted by galaxy7

Are you guys doing vet visits due to the fasting just to make sure he was OK? Or to the vet for other reasons? Embarrassed to say I didn’t know taking a snake to the vet was a thing. Learning soo much.

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Well unfortunately for me where I live currently there isn’t a reptile vet that I’m aware of in a 100 mile radius. Luckily I’ve never had to take a snake to a vet but there’s always a chance. Make sure your husbandry is correct and hope that you don’t have issues. That’s about all you can really do.
Just an FYI you may want to check to see if your vet can even see reptiles, the majority can’t. That is one of the biggest negatives to owning them. I remember when I was a kid my parents had to take a corn to the vet and had to drive 3 hours into the city because no local vets knew anything about snakes.


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Originally Posted by galaxy7

Are you guys doing vet visits due to the fasting just to make sure he was OK? Or to the vet for other reasons? Embarrassed to say I didn’t know taking a snake to the vet was a thing. Learning soo much.

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I took him for another concern. I wouldn't for the fasting unless he starting losing a lot of weight. I didn't know either unyul I learned on here they go to the vet lol.

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One of mine just took about 4 months off. He finally ate last Sunday and again today. Keeping my fingers crossed that he is back on track .

Yesterday was 2 weeks since I last offered. I'm going to wait until Saturday to offer again. If he's not acting any differently and showing his usual signs of hunting I may skip this coming Saturday, too. I pretty much rescued him and I 2as told he's 5 but I'm not totally certain. I've been wondering if he is a lot older than that. I don't know enough to tell the difference or even if there is a way of telling the difference. His vet said he is healthy and looks great. Good heartbeat, etc. So I'll monitor and offer here and there. Hopefully he accepts sooner than later.

Thanks again for all the replies and comfort.

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Originally Posted by HeathBish

Yesterday was 2 weeks since I last offered. I'm going to wait until Saturday to offer again. If he's not acting any differently and showing his usual signs of hunting I may skip this coming Saturday, too. I pretty much rescued him and I 2as told he's 5 but I'm not totally certain. I've been wondering if he is a lot older than that. I don't know enough to tell the difference or even if there is a way of telling the difference. His vet said he is healthy and looks great. Good heartbeat, etc. So I'll monitor and offer here and there. Hopefully he accepts sooner than later.

Thanks again for all the replies and comfort.

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Well ...

This method WORKS if done properly ...
I wait until evening as they're nocturnal of course . I let the rodent thaw out in the reptile room so they get the smell ..
Then I warm up the mouse / rat with a hairdryer and offer with tongs IMMEDIATELY whilst still warm . If refused simply repeat the heating and offering as many times as needed. .
A couple of mine will only strike feed from within their hides so I dangle the warm rodent in front of the hide's entrance - usually works but if it fails simply reheat the rodent with a hairdryer and immediately offer again whilst it's still warm continue until it's grabbed ...


Incidentally , if it shows no interest at all not even a tongue flicker maybe it's best to leave for a week or so.


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I feel your pain..it’s been 13 weeks for my girl! Everything I’ve gathered though tells me it’s normal and she still looks healthy. I don’t have a lot of expert advice, but I can offer moral support ahaha. We’ve just got to hang in there and wait!


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Originally Posted by purpleroan

I feel your pain..it’s been 13 weeks for my girl! Everything I’ve gathered though tells me it’s normal and she still looks healthy. I don’t have a lot of expert advice, but I can offer moral support ahaha. We’ve just got to hang in there and wait!


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One of my Royals went 8 months or so and has been one of my best feeders since ..

I think I saw the record 'fast' was by a Royal ... two YEARS !!


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Well ...

This method WORKS if done properly ...
I wait until evening as they're nocturnal of course . I let the rodent thaw out in the reptile room so they get the smell ..
Then I warm up the mouse / rat with a hairdryer and offer with tongs IMMEDIATELY whilst still warm . If refused simply repeat the heating and offering as many times as needed. .
A couple of mine will only strike feed from within their hides so I dangle the warm rodent in front of the hide's entrance - usually works but if it fails simply reheat the rodent with a hairdryer and immediately offer again whilst it's still warm continue until it's grabbed ...


Incidentally , if it shows no interest at all not even a tongue flicker maybe it's best to leave for a week or so.


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I've read this at one point and have tried everything except the hair dryer thing. This weekend or next I'll try with the hair dryer as well.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

One of my Royals went 8 months or so and has been one of my best feeders since ..

I think I saw the record 'fast' was by a Royal ... two YEARS !!


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Omg That's a long time!

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Originally Posted by HeathBish

I've read this at one point and have tried everything except the hair dryer thing. This weekend or next I'll try with the hair dryer as well.

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The hairdryer trick works 99% of the time IF the snake shows some interest .. even a couple of tongue licks .. if it doesn't get it first offering ..just give it another hot blast and offer it INSTANTLY whilst it's still warm and keep repeating until it's taken .
Many only strike from within the security of their hides ..

This trick won't work if it's simply not hungry or if it shows ZERO interest..


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

The hairdryer trick works 99% of the time IF the snake shows some interest .. even a couple of tongue licks .. if it doesn't get it first offering ..just give it another hot blast and offer it INSTANTLY whilst it's still warm and keep repeating until it's taken .
Many only strike from within the security of their hides ..

This trick won't work if it's simply not hungry or if it shows ZERO interest..


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Love the haidryer trick! Sometimes just being warm is not enough for a snake, but the hairdryer has netted me great success.

My BP gets fussy if mouse is wet, yet will drag it through her water bowl once she has it, prompting another water bowl cleaning.

I do gun temp the mouse to ensure I am not offering anything overly hot, shoot for about body warmth.

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Originally Posted by e_nigma

...yet will drag it through her water bowl once she has it, prompting another water bowl cleaning...

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I thought it was only my silly snakes that did that? :rolleyes: My Florida (yellow+) rat snakes get so excited over food that when they
grab it from my tongs, they sometimes tumble off their branch & into their water bowl with the food. :rofl: (NOT "picky eaters"!)

My little guy (hatched in October) just got done fasting for going on five weeks. Last night was two of two normal feedings in a row. I didn't worry too much cause our guy had no personality change at all during fasting (insert shrug emoji here).

I came on for the same reason and the replies have been helpful. My Queen is also fasting and hasn't eaten in 7 weeks. She is 9 years old and not loosing weight so I am not too concerned.
She has zero interest in food. She won't even poke her head out of her dome when she smells the feeder. If I take the dome away, she'll walk over the feeder like it's lettuce.
It's matting season and winter, so hopefully spring will bring back her appetite. It amazes me how these creatures can go so long without eating. Dino DNA!

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Originally Posted by squatsnstilettos

I came on for the same reason and the replies have been helpful. My Queen is also fasting and hasn't eaten in 7 weeks. She is 9 years old and not loosing weight so I am not too concerned.
She has zero interest in food. She won't even poke her head out of her dome when she smells the feeder. If I take the dome away, she'll walk over the feeder like it's lettuce.
It's matting season and winter, so hopefully spring will bring back her appetite. It amazes me how these creatures can go so long without eating. Dino DNA!

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Lol...

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Sooooo...I meant to come on last night and tell my story but I got busy and then forgot. I was defrosting a crawler for my little one Luna. When it was done and warmed she was nowhere to be found. Usually she's waiting and antsy. I was like oh no you don't. So I pulled out the blow dryer. First time ever. I've never seen her move that fast lol. I kind of blew it so some of the aroma would go into her terrarium. I didn't even have it all the way down before she grabbed it. It was so quick it startled me. Then my hubby says (from the next room!) come look at Slitherz. I walked over and he was going nuts. I wasn't planning to try but it was a couple weeks so I thought ok couldn't hurt. Pulled out a feeder for him. Put it out on top of his place. A couple hours later I took it and placed it under the che. Did what I normally do. When it was done I offered it. He was so eager but nothing. After a couple minutes I brought the blow dryer in and did the same thing I did for Luna and he was going nuts. When I offered this time he snatched it just like Luna. I kid you not...I was so excited I could barley contain myself.

So, thank you Enigma. I'm a happy lady!

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Originally Posted by HeathBish

Sooooo...I meant to come on last night and tell my story but I got busy and then forgot. I was defrosting a crawler for my little one Luna. When it was done and warmed she was nowhere to be found. Usually she's waiting and antsy. I was like oh no you don't. So I pulled out the blow dryer. First time ever. I've never seen her move that fast lol. I kind of blew it so some of the aroma would go into her terrarium. I didn't even have it all the way down before she grabbed it. It was so quick it startled me. Then my hubby says (from the next room!) come look at Slitherz. I walked over and he was going nuts. I wasn't planning to try but it was a couple weeks so I thought ok couldn't hurt. Pulled out a feeder for him. Put it out on top of his place. A couple hours later I took it and placed it under the che. Did what I normally do. When it was done I offered it. He was so eager but nothing. After a couple minutes I brought the blow dryer in and did the same thing I did for Luna and he was going nuts. When I offered this time he snatched it just like Luna. I kid you not...I was so excited I could barley contain myself.

So, thank you Enigma. I'm a happy lady!

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Wait...Zincubus! You mentioned it originally. Sorry. Thank you so much!

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My 700g Male Super Pastel Banana went off food for 3 months although husbandry was perfect and my other female in the same room continued to eat like a champ. As you described, he comes out, slithers close to it and then swipes left. Someone recommended I try feeding him an adult mouse because a different scent might do it and it certainly did. Because it was tiny, I tried feeding him a mouse-scented Rat weanling and he took it after some drama. Right after he swallowed the Rat, I offered him the Mouse and he ripped it out of the tongs. Might work for you.