Young ball python not eating

[buckyballs]

Hi, so I know that it's not a big deal for adults to go off feed for up to months at a time, but my guy is a 175 gram '10, so he can't be more than a year old. I've had him for about a two and a half months, and I've got all the temps set up in a 20 gallon long, 90ish in his hot hide, and around 80 in his cool hide, and a humidity around 50%. He's shed twice for me, both in one piece, and he ate great the first 4-5 feedings. Then he stopped, and hasn't eaten for about a month now. And the last two times I've offered him food, I've put the mouse on top of the cage for a few minutes, and he comes out and checks it out. Then I put the mouse in the tank with him, and he looks at it and smells it and hangs out by it for a few hours, but won't eat it.
Is this normal? Or am I just being paranoid?

[Adam Chandler]

Temps sounds right, one possibility could be stress. Have you been handling him excessively? What kind of hides does he have? Are they identical? (which is your best bet) Is there alot of traffic by his enclosure?

[buckyballs]

Temps sounds right, one possibility could be stress. Have you been handling him excessively? What kind of hides does he have? Are they identical? (which is your best bet) Is there alot of traffic by his enclosure?

I've got identical hides, they're little caves. Zilla brand I think. I guess I handle him for maybe 10-20 minutes a day, and he's in my room, which doesn't get a whole lot of traffic, but I'm in an out a few times each day.

[Adam Chandler]

I've got identical hides, they're little caves. Zilla brand I think. I guess I handle him for maybe 10-20 minutes a day, and he's in my room, which doesn't get a whole lot of traffic, but I'm in an out a few times each day.

My main recommendation is to try giving your BP 5-7 days of alone time with no handling and then attempt feeding and see if that makes a difference.

Other recommendations would be to also cover 3 sides of the tank with black paper in order to give your BP a better feeling of security. Also try feeding at either dawn or dusk at these are the times BP's come out to look for food in the wild.

[Pyth]

My main recommendation is to try giving your BP 5-7 days of alone time with no handling and then attempt feeding and see if that makes a difference.

Other recommendations would be to also cover 3 sides of the tank with black paper in order to give your BP a better feeling of security. Also try feeding at either dawn or dusk at these are the times BP's come out to look for food in the wild.

I still think if the snake is hungry enough he or she will eat without a hitch.

As far as behavior around feeding time goes, I would look for these signs:

* Reptile tunneling or making small holes in the wood-chip base in the terrarium.
* Snake exploring hers or his way up the glass siding of the terrarium.
* Python attempting to escape the cage by pushing its nose against the screen at the top of the enclosure.

These clues have been a solid indicator my snake is hungry. The first time she fed took no longer than 2-3 minutes with the prey inside the pen a few inches away from her. This occurred with 2 people observing the entire feeding process.

Pyth

[rabernet]

I still think if the snake is hungry enough he or she will eat without a hitch.

I guess you've never experienced a ball python that has died from not eating then? It does happen when the animal is stressed.

As far as behavior around feeding time goes, I would look for these signs:

* Reptile tunneling or making small holes in the wood-chip base in the terrarium.
* Snake exploring hers or his way up the glass siding of the terrarium.
* Python attempting to escape the cage by pushing its nose against the screen at the top of the enclosure.
These clues have been a solid indicator my snake is hungry. The first time she fed took no longer than 2-3 minutes with the prey inside the pen a few inches away from her. This occurred with 2 people observing the entire feeding process.

Pyth

The two clues that I highlighted are "generally" clues that the animal is stressed out and is looking for means to escape to find some place more secure, not that they are hungry. If any of my collection behave in this manner, I can pretty much guarantee that they aren't going to eat that feeding.

To the OP, my very first BP was kept in a 20 gallon tank. He went on an 8 month fast that didn't break until I moved him to a tub set-up, where he felt far more secure. Once I moved him to a tub, I never used a glass terrarium again for ball pythons, and I've not experienced extended fasts since, except for males who were actively breeding.

I would suggest that you fill your enclosure with loosely crumpled newspaper - to the brim. It's not pretty, but it's effective. After about a week, drop in a live mouse (leaving the paper in the tank). Check back after 30 minutes, and the mouse will most likely be gone. Start to slowly "wean" your snake off the newspaper by removing a few pieces every few days.

This is a tip that Kevin McCurley of NERD has shared in the past that many of us have used with great success.

[Adam Chandler]

I still think if the snake is hungry enough he or she will eat without a hitch.

If a BALL PYTHON is hungry but it is stressed it WILL NOT eat to the point where it will starve to death.

* Snake exploring hers or his way up the glass siding of the terrarium.
* Python attempting to escape the cage by pushing its nose against the screen at the top of the enclosure.

There NOT signs of hunger, these are signs of stress. As Rabernet said if you see this during the day odds are your BP is trying to escape and move to somewhere where it feels more secure.

[buckyballs]

Thanks guys!
I left him alone for about 5 days, and made sure the mouse was really warm when I put it in there. He went right for it. It was actually the first time I'd ever seen him strike and coil around it!