ditching food for a month - worries creeping in

[sIeepymoon]

So my usually super happy-about-food one year old girl has started to refuse her food. She started this weird project at the 3rd of April when she didn't want to strike, but ate the mouse afterwards. Next time she just looked at the mouse and slithered off. The four next times she completely refused to even acknowledge that there was any food present, and she'd just hide her head in her cute body pillow fort and then slither off to her warmer spot.

I haven't changed her method of mice thawing which is using water to heat up the mouse. I've tried thawing by leaving the mouse to thaw in room temp and using the hairdryer method, nothing changed. Her last shed was about two months ago so I thought that maybe she was in shed, but she has shown zero signs of a shedding process other than constantly hiding and never moving from her cold spot. Her visual body signs may be arriving late, I don't know, but it's a bit worrying.

She doesn't appear stressed, she's calm and curious per usual whenever I handle her. The only thing that has changed is her attitude towards food and moving around at night.

Her stats are 75-78 cold spot, 85-87 warm spot, humidity ranges between 60-70.

Eesh, I know it's normal for BPs to ditch food from a few weeks up till months, it's just a bit unsettling when you're a sort-of new ball python owner and it happens for the first time, I just want to make sure everything is aokay.

[Toad37]

I have the same exact problem going on with a 9 month old BI. Today is 4 weeks and I'm starting to worry. Hopefully some experienced people chime in here.

[Bogertophis]

How often are you feeding her, & what size prey compared to her size? Maybe she's getting too much food & just pushing herself away from the table a bit-
ie. maybe she's old enough to want more space between meals of the size she's getting?

And how often are you trying to feed? Too often (more than once a week) can add stress & promote their refusals.

[sIeepymoon]

I feed her medium sized mice once a week. She has always eaten that without any issues. She just suddenly decided to turn on it one day though.

[Bogertophis]

I think at one year old, it may be time to lengthen the time between meals. I wouldn't offer weekly, I'd try every other week, see if her interest improves.

[alittleFREE]

How big is she?

A medium sized mouse is pretty small for a one year old BP that's been eating well (previously, anyway). Mine spent 4 months of her first year off feed, and she's still on weaned/small rats...

Could be she is wanting a larger prey item. Or, as other mentioned, if she's being fed frequently, maybe she's trying to pace herself.

[Cheesenugget]

What is the weight of your female? While most female bp graduates to a medium rats, I think it depends more on weight than on age. In other words, being 1 years old matters little as you may have a small female who may not have started out or had a habit of being a picky eater.

Nonetheless, if your snake was eating fine before the fast, barely lost weight, husbandry is on point and she appears active only at night, I would save your worries for later. It is not unheard of with 8-9 month old bp fasting or even some as old as 5 years or more, so age is not a good determining factor. Keep in mind that wild bp usually eat for a season or two when prey is plentiful and then go on a fast for the remaining year when the seasons changed. Breeders have yet to breed this instinct to fast out of them.

If it makes you feel better, my male had been off food for 4 months (Or is it 5?). He barely lost weight.

[Craiga 01453]

It seems odd that she's not eating while at the same time likely underfed. Medium mice are likely too small for a year old female BP.

They may be small to the point that she's not even recognizing them as prey any more.

What does the snake weigh? What do the mice weigh?

[JodanOrNoDan]

It seems odd that she's not eating while at the same time likely underfed. Medium mice are likely too small for a year old female BP.

They may be small to the point that she's not even recognizing them as prey any more.

What does the snake weigh? What do the mice weigh?

This is probably the ticket. The majority of my females are on medium rats at a year. Every so often there is the animal that waits a year to start eating heavy, but it is rare. Medium mice are waaaaaaaaaaaaay smaller than a female ball should be eating at a year old.