8 Month BP hasnt eaten in around 1.5 months

[OntarioSnakes&Smoke]

Hi all, I've posted here before about my BP having issues eating but they resolved themselves. I recently moved almost 2 months ago. Last time she ate was Jan 30th, and hasnt since. I tried to feed last night and she DID strike but did not coil. I'm worried its either her hide that isnt allowing her to strike/coil properly because the entrance is too narrow, OR, that shes too weak from not eating to strike properly. I know I'm probably stressing over nothing as I know that BPs are famous for "Hunger Strikes". I just dont want her to starve and last thing I want is to get a vet to force feed her if she continues not eating.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Her tank is a 20 gal, long tank, her hot and cool sides are within the proper temperature and she shed a little while back so its not that. i'm just worried that something is wrong. Im going to try and feed her again next Wednesday and if she doesnt eat, I'm considering a herp vet visit the next day.

Thanks for viewing my post, and I hope you all have a great day/night!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

A vet is not gonna help and will likely be counter productive, this is a ball python that's what they do.

If the animal is below 500 grams downsize the enclosure if you can it may help resume feeding, make sure your husbandry is optimum, limit handling and wait it out.

1.5 month is nothing.

[OntarioSnakes&Smoke]

I'll go buy a scale tomorrow and see, but shes a pretty big girl so I'd imagine shes over 500 grams but I'll make sure.

Thank you!

[OntarioSnakes&Smoke]

How long would she have to go without food for me to actually start getting worried? Again, shes about 8 months old, I've heard of older BPs going off food for MONTHS but never really one under a year go for over a month. Although when I first got her, she also didnt eat for about a month but then she ate GREAT for months before I moved, but shes always been...a bit picky. She will only show interest in a rat usually only if I pre warm it before feeding with a hair dryer hahaha. If it gets too cool while shes inspecting it, she'll back off and ignore it until I reheat it again

Again, thank you so much for the advice. I really appreciate any help

[fadingdaylight]

I'm sure there are far more experienced people here that can provide better info than I can, but from what I have learned, the strike response has just as much to do with the temperature of the rodent as it does the sight and smell. Maybe even more. The heat pits detect the temp of the prey, signaling the brain that there is live prey right there, so if you aren't getting it warm enough, and again, hopefully someone with more experience can give us and ideal number of degrees, but the snake won't strike. After thawing, I have been using the heat lamp or a hair dryer to warm rodents up to around 90, and I consistently get strong strike, except for the other night when I tried to feed during shed.

To be fair though, I haven't even had my BP 3 weeks yet, but we have had 4 successful feedings during that time.

[Mr. Misha]

Definitely wait it out. The vet isn't going to help you. My longest was 9 month for one of my girls. She usually fasts during winter and starts eating again in the spring.

As Deborah already mentioned, make sure you double check the husbandry and make sure the BP's terrarium is in a low traffic area.

Additionally, try to feed during evenings or at night. They're nocturnal creatures and respond better to feeding at night. Once the BP strikes (i'm assuming you're feeding ft) give them their privacy.

[OntarioSnakes&Smoke]

Thank you for replying
I've been using a hair dryer for about 2-3 months now. Cleo(my BP) is a VERY picky eater and will usually not even bother LOOKING at a rat if its not warm enough, and I usually have to reheat the rat at least 2-4 times because if it cools down too much while shes doing her "inspection" of the rat, I gotta go warm it back up hahahaha.

[Jellybeans]

It could have even been the move that you made it threw the snake off its feeding schedule. Some are real sensitive to the slightest change and then some it doesn't bother them
I make sure my snake comes out of his hide before I offer him food because there's not enough room in his hide for him to raise his head up to let the meal go down

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[OntarioSnakes&Smoke]

Okay, my girl was eating really well before I moved, so she probably has a decent amount of nutrients stored up still as she hasnt seem to have lost weight, but even with my scale (a meh kitchen scale I bought just for her haha)I wouldnt be sure as I have never weighed her before unfortunately.

I was just a bit concerned because I had read/heard that most BP's under a year usually wont go off food for more than a few weeks at a time. But since she was eating pretty damn good for a whole 2 months or so before I moved, I'm hoping that she has a good reserve of nutrients to last her this little hunger strike of hers.

I'm going to try and feed her again this Tuesday or Wednesday night and I'll post here wether or not she finally ate again or if shes continuing her hunger strike.

Thanks everyone for the help and advice and I would still greatly appreciate any more advice or tips on BP's, their hunger strikes, quirks, common issues I should keep an eye out for etc,etc. This is my first BP so obviously I'm kind of ignorant of some things that a veteran keeper would think is common sense. Although my father had a decent amount of snakes for years, his and I's favourite being a Red Tail Boa Constrictor named Ziggy, who lived to about 16 or so iirc,(so I got to spend my entire childhood and adolescence with that big beautiful girl)but unfortunately I didnt pick up quite as much information as I probably should of

[OntarioSnakes&Smoke]

I make sure my snake comes out of his hide before I offer him food because there's not enough room in his hide for him to raise his head up to let the meal go down

I've been trying to get her out enough but she will usually just "give up" and pull back into her hide instead of pursuing the rat and coming out of her hide. I did switch her hides though, so her warm side one has a bigger entrance now, as I had a (probably wrong) theory that the small hole wasnt letting her coil after she struck because she would just strike and than....nothing.

Been considering a feed box or something similar, but I dont know how she'll react to that, especially while shes already stressed and not eating proper.