Hunger Strike?

[Wowdude11]

Hello,
have my male ball python. He turned 2 around October. He usually was eating a medium rat (90g) about every 7-10 days. He is now on 5 weeks of not eating. I weighed him oct 23 and he was 728 g and now he is 698g.

Last winter he ate no problem. I did read as they get older they sometimes don’t eat during winter ? Does that sound about right ?

Another thing is I switched him from eating in the middle of the day 1-2pm. I would usually have to wake him up to eat. The last time he ate I fed him around 9pm when he’s active and moving around that was first week of November and he had no issue so I don’t think that’s the issue.

how long can a hunger strike occur and when should I be concerned.

other things to note he is active at night like always and if I do grab him in the middle of the day he is a fine and moving around. I usually only hold him 1 time a week or every other week.

[Homebody]

Hello,
have my male ball python. He turned 2 around October. He usually was eating a medium rat (90g) about every 7-10 days. He is now on 5 weeks of not eating. I weighed him oct 23 and he was 728 g and now he is 698g.

You've most likely been overfeeding him, so he's taking a break. 5 weeks wouldn't concern me. I suggest switching to small rats. Most male ball pythons do well on small rats for their whole lives. You could also space your feedings further apart.

The weight loss you describe is substantial and it would concern me, but I don't know how careful you were in weighing. Are both of those weights taken when your ball python was empty (of food and waste)? If not, that could easily account for the difference.

[Malum Argenteum]

I only have ever had one BP (a male, which I've had for 15 years now). His first "hunger strike" (scare quotes, since that can be a normal behavior and so is simply a seasonal/natural pause in feeding, not a response to something terrible as that phrase can imply), was, if I recall correctly, more than six months. In recent years he tends not to take more than a couple months off.

I feed him small FT rats (very rarely mediums, and sometimes a couple adult mice instead), and only when he gets in feeding mode. BPs are (mine is, anyway) really easy to tell when they're hungry, so that's nicer than species that aren't so communicative.

[Wowdude11]

You've most likely been overfeeding him, so he's taking a break. 5 weeks wouldn't concern me. I suggest switching to small rats. Most male ball pythons do well on small rats for their whole lives. You could also space your feedings further apart.

The weight loss you describe is substantial and it would concern me, but I don't know how careful you were in weighing. Are both of those weights taken when your ball python was empty (of food and waste)? If not, that could easily account for the difference.

you know i dont know if he had pooped when i weighed him lol never thought of that.

Im going to wait 2 weeks before i try offering again. i will weight him the day before. if he doesnt eat ill weight in 2 weeks again and see if there is anything going on.

what is the max time when i should be worried

[Wowdude11]

I only have ever had one BP (a male, which I've had for 15 years now). His first "hunger strike" (scare quotes, since that can be a normal behavior and so is simply a seasonal/natural pause in feeding, not a response to something terrible as that phrase can imply), was, if I recall correctly, more than six months. In recent years he tends not to take more than a couple months off.

I feed him small FT rats (very rarely mediums, and sometimes a couple adult mice instead), and only when he gets in feeding mode. BPs are (mine is, anyway) really easy to tell when they're hungry, so that's nicer than species that aren't so communicative.

unfortunately next to me they only have Petco and Petsmarts so the small and medium rats are a big difference in weight. the Medium rat is always about 80-85g and the small rat is always 45-50g which i feel is too small. Thats why i do medium rats.

do you think moving to small rats would be ok?

[Homebody]

what is the max time when i should be worried

Two or three months. Even then, I wouldn't be too worried unless he was losing weight.

[Malum Argenteum]

unfortunately next to me they only have Petco and Petsmarts so the small and medium rats are a big difference in weight. the Medium rat is always about 80-85g and the small rat is always 45-50g which i feel is too small. Thats why i do medium rats.

do you think moving to small rats would be ok?

The smalls I feed (from Big Cheese) are 46-84g. For reference, my BP is ~2500g. Keep in mind that once a snake stops growing it requires less food intake.

If you wanted to see if the snake's feeding patterns are in part due to feeder size, trying small rats for a number of consecutive feedings would be perfectly appropriate. But I don't think that would be fruitful to do as a troubleshooting plan until he's back on his typical feeding habits (or until you know what his typical feeding habits considered over the very long term are).

Given that this short stretch without feeding may be due to either typical male behavior, or some response to enclosure conditions (which you've been adjusting lately, per your thread here), I'm not sure that adding another variable simply as a troubleshooting method would be fruitful.

On more thing -- you wrote this: "The last time he ate I fed him around 9pm when he’s active and moving around". BPs that are hungry will go into a feeding mode that involves being still and waiting for prey to come by. Exploring the enclosure is something else. This suggests that you were offering food when the snake wasn't hungry, which supports the idea that the snake is simply overfed. I think the first adjustment that might be made would be to only offer food when the snake is showing that it is hungry, and after that is on track then you might reconsider what prey item size would be best to offer.

[Wowdude11]

The smalls I feed (from Big Cheese) are 46-84g. For reference, my BP is ~2500g. Keep in mind that once a snake stops growing it requires less food intake.

If you wanted to see if the snake's feeding patterns are in part due to feeder size, trying small rats for a number of consecutive feedings would be perfectly appropriate. But I don't think that would be fruitful to do as a troubleshooting plan until he's back on his typical feeding habits (or until you know what his typical feeding habits considered over the very long term are).

Given that this short stretch without feeding may be due to either typical male behavior, or some response to enclosure conditions (which you've been adjusting lately, per your thread here), I'm not sure that adding another variable simply as a troubleshooting method would be fruitful.

On more thing -- you wrote this: "The last time he ate I fed him around 9pm when he’s active and moving around". BPs that are hungry will go into a feeding mode that involves being still and waiting for prey to come by. Exploring the enclosure is something else. This suggests that you were offering food when the snake wasn't hungry, which supports the idea that the snake is simply overfed. I think the first adjustment that might be made would be to only offer food when the snake is showing that it is hungry, and after that is on track then you might reconsider what prey item size would be best to offer.

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Thank you for the advice. i will wait a few weeks see if he gets hungry

[Zincubus]

you know i dont know if he had pooped when i weighed him lol never thought of that.

Im going to wait 2 weeks before i try offering again. i will weight him the day before. if he doesnt eat ill weight in 2 weeks again and see if there is anything going on.

what is the max time when i should be worried

I had a beautiful, big Royal Python go 18 months + without eating ANYTHING !!

He only lost about 50g in weight - crazy

I tried every rodent imaginable plus day old chicks ..

He eventually succeeded to 3 chick heads and has never missed a feed in the last 8 years


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