Ball python body condition and feeding trouble

[Malum Argenteum]

You've described the signs of a hungry BP well -- when they're in ambush mode. The cruising behavior is usually something different -- here, they're either looking for a mate or "uncomfortable" with something about the enclosure or about their whole situation.

In the past 12 months mine accepted a meal 14 times. In the preceding 12 month period he accepted 21 meals, and during that period he took a four month break during April through July.

I would recommend that all keepers of any snake(s) keep a record of at least feeding (what prey item offered and also whether they were accepted or rejected) and shedding; noting weights if you have them can be useful too. This objective data (rather than relying on memory that is tainted by some worry about the snake's current behavior) can really help troubleshoot and help a keeper understand their snake better. I use 3 x 5 cards (one for each snake) and just scribble the date and what the snake ate on that date; other keepers might like some electronic system.

When I look at old feeding records I can see the "hunger strikes" as completely normal behavior for some snakes, and in a snake that has never taken such a long break from eating I can know whether to start looking for issues. I can look at patterns of refusal ("huh, never eats well for a month after I feed a medium rat"; "huh, never refused a pre-killed, ever"; "huh, stopped eating right after we got that new air conditioner") and figure out how to improve what I'm doing. And though this is more useful for younger snakes that keep to more regular patterns, knowing how often they shed and when the last shed was helps to give hints about whether I might not offer food right now because the snake is on schedule for a shed and it might go blue in a couple days.

[Bogertophis]

And that's ^ ^ ^ what I do also- keep a little chart for each snake- 3x5" cards work fine or however you want to do it, but it sure beats memory for really knowing how much (or how little) a snake has been eating. Especially when you have a bunch of snakes, as I always have. I finally stopped noting sheds, but anything else that's unusual gets noted too- not just meals. This really helps a lot if you ever need to take your snake to a vet- they get a lot more information this way.

[Luvyna]

Great advice above, thanks! I actually kept very detailed records of feeding, weight, shedding, and even poop and urates for the first 3-4 years I had my BP but fell out of this habit around the time when I moved. He was also so consistent with feeding for all those years that I had started to think maybe I wouldn't have to deal with the dreaded ball python feeding problems, but here I am lol.

I'll get back into recording everything and will probably do it electronically this time - I had a small notebook for this before but unfortunately lost it during all the changes with moving.

[Luvyna]

Some good news - Noodle took a rat today.

Thanks to everyone for the advice, this time instead of trying to feed him on my schedule I waited to see him starting to display "ambush position" behaviour, deep-cleaned his enclosure the day before as per the "Problem Feeders" thread recommendation, and followed the feeding tips from the Reptilinks videos.

The side-to-side motion recommended in the Reptilink video was surprisingly very effective, for some reason it seemed to make my BP very excited and he even struck and wrapped the rat, which he hasn't done in months (he became mostly a drop feeder over the past year).

[Homebody]

The side-to-side motion recommended in the Reptilink video was surprisingly very effective, for some reason it seemed to make my BP very excited and he even struck and wrapped the rat, which he hasn't done in months (he became mostly a drop feeder over the past year).

I'm glad it helped. I use the side tap technique (segment 3 @ 10:42) all the time.

[Bogertophis]

I use any which-way that works...sometimes you need to try new things on snakes. Luvyna, I'm happy for your success, & for sure, let go of the absolute feeding schedule & watch for the signs.