Not Eating, Odd.

[AliCat37]

Can a change in air freshener cause a ball to go on a feeding strike? I feed mine ASFs (f/t), so I'm confused as to why he has refused dinner for the last two weeks. The last time he went on a hunger strike it was from April to the end of July, he only ate three rats in that time and then I switched to ASFs and have not encountered a single issue with eating since. The only thing I can think of that has changed recently is that I have been using a new air freshener. He has a warm side of 90 and the room never drops below 75 degrees, it stays more around 80 though (the 75 degrees was the min temp it ever reached on the thermometer). His humidity is 60%. I've heard of breeding age males going on hunger strikes, but I assumed that is what happened earlier in the year before switching to ASFs. So, my main question is could the air freshener have caused this, or is something else going on? Thanks in advance.

[mschmied]

It could have but I doubt it. These things just happen with ball pythons and I wouldn't worry too much. What is his weight at currently? Do you plan to breed him?

[Ezekiel285]

What sort of air freshener is it? They can be dangerous to BPs and cause them to be ill.

The air freshener could have easily caused this.

[AliCat37]

It's a product from scentsy, it's just a room spray.

I'm not sure how much he weighs, I can get a weight on him later. But no, I'm not planning on breeding him, he's just a pet.

[FireStorm]

What's your setup like other than temps? It's possible that something is stressing him out and causing him to go off feed more than just the usual seasonal stuff.

[Ezekiel285]

No sprays should be used around your BP at all. They are very sensitive to these sorts of thing and it could cause him to be ill. Please do not use the spray in the room around him any longer.

[AliCat37]

Warm side 90, cool side no less than 80. 60% humidity. 4'x2' cage and a 14 hour light cycle.

I will stop using the spray and see if he will resume eating. Nothing else in his behavior has changed. None of my other reptiles have changed their behaviors or feeding.

[FireStorm]

Its possible that part of your problem is the enclosure size...its very big for a BP. I would siggest moving him to someting smaller and/or covering the cage and adding a bunch of crumpled paper or vines to make him feel more secure.

[AliCat37]

I actually moved him out of a 41 quart tub because he is always moving. He's been in this cage for over a year now. I do not believe in anything being "too big" as the wild is not "too big". He is extraordinarily active, so I cannot see putting him in something smaller. He has two hides, one on each side that are under fake bushes. He also has several branches along the back side.

[Ezekiel285]

I actually moved him out of a 41 quart tub because he is always moving. He's been in this cage for over a year now. I do not believe in anything being "too big" as the wild is not "too big". He is extraordinarily active, so I cannot see putting him in something smaller. He has two hides, one on each side that are under fake bushes. He also has several branches along the back side.

While i agree that the wild is not "too big" captive ball pythons can not in any way be treated as wild animals because they aren't. A happy ball python is a hiding ball python. And in your case an "extraordinarily active" ball python sounds stressed. I agree that he can be happy in that large of a tub but it needs to feel secure to him.