Ball python not eating

[sarah9739]

Hi, I am new to this site. I own a male ball python named Henry and he has not eaten since december. I know that males don't eat during the winter months, but I feel like this is extremely long for him. He is about 5 years old and a little over 3 feet long. I have not weighed him so I'm not sure if he is really losing weight. He feels about the same to me as he did when he would eat regularly. I can barely wrap my hand around his mid body. He has only eaten a few rats because he is picky, but always would eat 5-6 adult mice every 7-9 days with no issues. He has no visible skin issues and his tank temps are 90/70 for the hot and cooler sides. I am getting so worried and am considering taking him to a vet. I tried dipping his mice in chicken broth and even that has not worked. Any advice would be great and thank you! My profile picture is of Henry from yesterday (04/29/14).

[bcr229]

I would keep waiting. I have a male about the same age who went on a winter fast, before he started eating again two weeks ago his last meal was 10/8/13. Otherwise, make sure your cool side temp doesn't drop below 75*F, he may still think it's too cold to eat.

[sarah9739]

okay thank you, that makes me feel a lot better!

[GoingPostal]

You need to bump up your cool side a bit but it's probably nothing to worry about, my male quits every Oct-Nov and starts up again in May, he never loses much weight and pounds food all summer so I don't stress about it anymore.