Should I be worried?

So I have kah, shes about 6 yrs old. She has always eaten without hesitation. On December 17th she refused to eat, not sure why all I know is that its March 10th and she still hasnt eaten. I have noticed a very small amount of weight loss. I just wondered if anyone had any tips on what may be irritating her and if I should be worried.

husbandry?

What is your humidity? Temps? Substrate? Whats in her cage etc...
What do you feed? Rats or mice? F/T, Live, Pre-Killed?

Ball Pythons sometimes just go off feed so watch weight, double check husbandry. Aside that you can't do much once she wants to eat she will eat.

Hope this helps :)

Ball pythons are known for goin of feeding, even upto a year is not uncommon especially during winter/breeding season, there were even 2 cases of ball pytons goin off food for 22 months which is almost 2 years now im sure they were adults and not babies, now i stick to a strict feedin schedule:
babies/yearlings - offer food every 5-7 days
1 year olds and up - offer food every 7-10 days

now i say offer food becuase if they dont eat they dont eat and get food offered the next scheduled day, if you have a snake who didnt eat and u keep tryin everyday this will stress him out, another thing is you should weigh your snakes i weigh my snakes before every food offering that way i can see if they are losing weight, if your snake isnt eating and losing weight then you have something to worry about


like someone previously mentioned check the enclosure make sure everything is where it needs to be, and i think i saw u said he/she was losin weight . . . how much weight in how much time?

ok well i have everything right for my BP in her cage, or else i would not be asking this question of why shes not eating. Been doing this for seven years now, I know there isnt any problems with her humitity, lighting, heating etc. I dont want the general run around here asking who, what, where why and when. I just want to know at what point I should be worried and have her go to the vet. Its 6 years of total "love of food, then all the sudden..Im not hungry anymore". So I will ask again..everything inside and outside of her cage is normal except her eating habits of the last 4 months. SHOULD I BE WORRIED or SHOULD I WAIT IT OUT A WHILE LONGER?

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Originally Posted by Python Guru

Ball pythons are known for goin of feeding, even upto a year is not uncommon especially during winter/breeding season, there were even 2 cases of ball pytons goin off food for 22 months which is almost 2 years now im sure they were adults and not babies, now i stick to a strict feedin schedule:
babies/yearlings - offer food every 5-7 days
1 year olds and up - offer food every 7-10 days

now i say offer food becuase if they dont eat they dont eat and get food offered the next scheduled day, if you have a snake who didnt eat and u keep tryin everyday this will stress him out, another thing is you should weigh your snakes i weigh my snakes before every food offering that way i can see if they are losing weight, if your snake isnt eating and losing weight then you have something to worry about


like someone previously mentioned check the enclosure make sure everything is where it needs to be, and i think i saw u said he/she was losin weight . . . how much weight in how much time?

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Shes only lost 9g since December, her last vet visit was summer 08 so there are no parisites to worry about.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eulenspiegel

What is your humidity? Temps? Substrate? Whats in her cage etc...
What do you feed? Rats or mice? F/T, Live, Pre-Killed?

Ball Pythons sometimes just go off feed so watch weight, double check husbandry. Aside that you can't do much once she wants to eat she will eat.

Hope this helps :)

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Thanks ..I feed rats, live ones(she wont touch a dead one) Husbandry is great.

I know it sounds silly but I moved in with my roommate last Aug. She also has a BP. He goes off feed every winter with out fail, this couldnt rub off on my snake could it? LOL I know its a silly question but i feel its valid. They dont live together but they hang out a lot.

you said she was 6 years old so im assuming she is minimum 1500 grams . . . 9 grams isnt too much compared to her overall body mass assuming she is 1500 grams(im sure she is more) . . . but if the weight loss continues see a vet right away . . .


anyone else have any suggestions?

Welcome to the Non-Feeding Snake Club.

No need to worry until she start losing more than 10% of her weight. By the way, that percentage is just "my" opinion. I didn't find that in any of the books. You may have a snake that finally reached sexual maturity and, now that it is breeding season, is more interested in finding a partner than eating something. But a vet visit is always a good thing if you're worried.

I know you keep saying that her husbandry is right, but if you told us the numbers/etc it might help us to give a better answer to your "should I be worried" question.

It could just be that time of the year where it seems most bp's go off feed. If she's at the correct weight, has the correct husbandry, and has only lost 9grams then it shouldn't be a problem (IMO) and just keep trying to feed her ;)

Maybe even take a sample of her feces to the vet's office and check for intestinal parasites before actually taking her there.

Just my two cents, good luck ;)

If you sure that your husbandry is right, then you do not have anything to worry about. Tons of balls go off feed for whatever reason all of the time. Unless your snake is loosing a substantial amount of weight, then I would not worry about it. She should start back up within a few months.

Good luck.

Since you feed live she may have gotten a scratch or bite during her last feeding that has her a little scared right now. 9 grams is really probably empty weight. If she eats every 7 to 10 days she probably has never been completely empty before. I wouldn't really even think about it too much until at least 1/2 a year has gone by. Also I am guessing this is your only ball python. If that is the case she may not have really had much of a breeding sense and has finally developed the internal clock. Yea 7 years seems like a long time to mature to that level, but hey ask my wife, I'm 33 and still worse than a teenager! :8: