ball python refusing food, am i doing something wrong? should i be worried?

[Eggy]

Hello everyone, thank you for taking time to try and help me.

I have a two year old ball python named Egg, and hes been refusing food for the last two months.
This is the first time in his life hes refused food, I used to joke he had a 100% kill streak, and now nothing.

My setup is a large tank, I dont remember how many gallons but its big enough that he can stretch out his whole body.
I have an UTH taking up about a quarter of the bottom with a warm hide on top. Then his favorite hide I have on the warm side, but not on the UTH, and a hide on the cold side.
His temps on his warm side are consistently between 85-90 degrees fahrenheit, his cold side is between 78-84 degrees fahrenheit.
I recently fixed a humidity issue last month and it went from being around 40% humidity unless i sprayed a LOT of water to get it up to 60%, to now consistantly being between 50-60%.

I dont mess with his setup too much other than spot cleaning and cleaning his water dish every week, and holding him every week or two.
Hes never been very shy, but lately he will sometimes hiss when i go to pick him up.

I feed/offer him small frozen pre killed rats from the same place ive always gotten them. Ive been offering only once a week since he started refusing, but usually feed him every 14 days.

He has a 12hour timed light on his tank, but sometimes my bedroom light is on after his light turns off because i forget about it, then i will turn it off. This doesnt tend to be longer than an hour or two.

He doesnt look bloated or like hes lost weight, hes still drinking water and passing urates, and i dont hear any sort of respritory problems or see bubbling at his mouth or anything.

I dont have any other snakes, but ive read they can refuse food around this time of year even when there isnt a female snake around?

Is there anything else i should consider or try? I was going to call a vet tomorrow if he doesnt eat his rat overnight, but i figured id see what you all have had to say since this forum has been a fountain or resources for me since i got my baby.

[Homebody]

It's not unusual for ball pythons to fast. The only thing I would suggest is that you feed him according to his usual schedule, every 14 days. Don't adjust it because he's fasting. He'll eat eventually.

If you want to post pics of your set up and your animal, we may have suggestions as to how can set it up better. Though, your description sounds fine. This thread will show you how: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-Post-Pictures.

[Bogertophis]

Offering food too often just tends to stress a snake further when they don't feel like eating, so if anything, wait longer, like 3 weeks before offering- don't offer weekly.

And don't worry, 2 months is nothing for a young adult snake that's been well fed. If you could post pics of him- preferably lengthwise, not coiled up, so we can better see his weight/body condition- that would help. Also, what size rats are you feeding him? It might be that he's been eating too much? But without seeing him, I won't hazard a guess on that. See below>>>

[Zincubus]

Sent you the hair dryer feeding method by PM




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[EL-Ziggy]

I agree with Homebody and Bogertophis. Lots of snakes go off food this time of year. It seems to happen with males more often but some females also fast during the winter or breeding season. I have 3 males that aren’t eating at the moment either. They went off food in February and they’ll most likely fire up again in a month or two. I only offer them food once a month once they begin their winter fast. They do this every year without any issues so I’m not concerned. Just make sure your BP has plenty of fresh water until he decides to eat again.