Is "the Wall" possible at age two?

[angeliquedevive]

Or it is just only about the weight? The miracle ~1000g? How much should two year old bally weight?

My baby (don't know the gender) stopped eating in August 2019. Before it s/he ate without problems; mouses and rats, it loved everything. But then a sudden wild August came.

Rats? They were big NO. Mouses? Hmmm... Maybe one 30g mouse in December and 30g x 4 in March. Otherwise? No. Everything is a big no-no. No matter how bloody, small or warm the prey is... Nope. It just sniffs and leaves. I have had him for 1,5 years now, and we had no problems before this. So I don't understand what happened.

A terrarium is the same, no changes, sheds are 100% success everytime, and it appears to be healthy, no mites, "flu" or lethargy. Even now it is decorating the terrarium and running around it, looking for food. It stays hidden during the day. I don't handle it often, maybe once in a month when I weight it.

So it got me thinking, did it hit the Wall back then? Is it even a real thing? It was ~850g in September, and now it is 1030g so.. "the wall"? What do you think?

And more importantly, if it is the mysterious wall; how to get over it?!

I know I should now keep on weighing it, keeping an eye on it in case of weight loss or illness, but..., I'm just worried. Damn these picky eaters. Oh and sorry about messy writing and poor grammar, it is 1 am here, and I'm not good in English anyway. Thanks for your answers!

[dakski]

To answer your question, yes, a healthy and happy BP can hit the "wall" at that age. To get over it, just be patient and ensure everything else is fine and the snake isn't losing more than 10-15% of their body weight.

If temperature and humidity are good, and the BP feels secure in it's tank (hides still fit well, etc.), they can go off feed. It's what they often do.

My BP Shayna fasts every winter and is still being stubborn about getting back on track now. She's eating about once a month but I offer every two weeks now. She's about 1,800G and almost 8 years old. Healthy as can be.

A few words of advise. Offer the same food the BP has been eating. If rats were the diet, stick to rats. However, don't offer too often. I'd offer every three weeks to one month until he starts eating again.

Also, if feeding F/T, make sure you are defrosting properly, in room temp water, and then warming up just before offering. Young BP's have a very strong food drive and will be less inclined to decline a meal than older BP when things are optimal.

If you have questions on cage setup, humidity, temp, etc. or how to defrost properly, just ask.

Keep us posted and good luck.

[Moose84]

Or it is just only about the weight? The miracle ~1000g? How much should two year old bally weight?

My baby (don't know the gender) stopped eating in August 2019. Before it s/he ate without problems; mouses and rats, it loved everything. But then a sudden wild August came.

Rats? They were big NO. Mouses? Hmmm... Maybe one 30g mouse in December and 30g x 4 in March. Otherwise? No. Everything is a big no-no. No matter how bloody, small or warm the prey is... Nope. It just sniffs and leaves. I have had him for 1,5 years now, and we had no problems before this. So I don't understand what happened.

A terrarium is the same, no changes, sheds are 100% success everytime, and it appears to be healthy, no mites, "flu" or lethargy. Even now it is decorating the terrarium and running around it, looking for food. It stays hidden during the day. I don't handle it often, maybe once in a month when I weight it.

So it got me thinking, did it hit the Wall back then? Is it even a real thing? It was ~850g in September, and now it is 1030g so.. "the wall"? What do you think?

And more importantly, if it is the mysterious wall; how to get over it?!

I know I should now keep on weighing it, keeping an eye on it in case of weight loss or illness, but..., I'm just worried. Damn these picky eaters. Oh and sorry about messy writing and poor grammar, it is 1 am here, and I'm not good in English anyway. Thanks for your answers!

2 years old, eating rats normally and then goes off food right around the breeding season sounds like you have a male on your hands. Very rarely are our two year old females not in excess of 1500 grams by that age. Males get weird when they reach maturity. He's probably looking to breed and the males love going off food when they are in "breeding mode.." I wouldn't be concerned at all with that weight however. I have multiple males currently that haven't touched food of any sort in a few months now and most of them have dropped little to no weight at all. One day a switch will flip and he will go back seeing as how he sounds healthy otherwise and nothing has changed. I have one breeder male that eats rats 4 months out of the year and then won't touch a rat for the other 8 months and only wants live mice. Others won't touch anything for 2-4 months.

[Sonny1318]

2 years old, eating rats normally and then goes off food right around the breeding season sounds like you have a male on your hands. Very rarely are our two year old females not in excess of 1500 grams by that age. Males get weird when they reach maturity. He's probably looking to breed and the males love going off food when they are in "breeding mode.." I wouldn't be concerned at all with that weight however. I have multiple males currently that haven't touched food of any sort in a few months now and most of them have dropped little to no weight at all. One day a switch will flip and he will go back seeing as how he sounds healthy otherwise and nothing has changed. I have one breeder male that eats rats 4 months out of the year and then won't touch a rat for the other 8 months and only wants live mice. Others won't touch anything for 2-4 months.

I have four males myself. They almost stop and start like clockwork. Long as your husbandry is on, like Moose said, no worries. When they’re hungry they’ll let you know, lmao. Less (poop) cleaning during the breeding season, lol.

[bpbuk]

I have two males that are in the middle of the "wall" right now. Stopped eating a few months ago at around 950g, but minimal weight loss so far. A lot of people say it means they're ready to breed but these didn't show any interest at the start of their fast, so I just leave them in peace (I'm in no rush for a clutch anyway). That seems to be the best thing to do. Sooner or later healthy animals always come around and start eating again, I wouldn't worry too much personally, just keep weighing once a month. I would definitely agree that males do it more often than females though.