off feed

[cosnakeguy]

I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice. My two BP's recently have not been feeding. 3 weeks for the female, ad 2 weeks for he male. Although I should clarify that the male was in shed for 9 days of those 2 weeks.

Anyway, the look healthy, act healthy when being handled and show now other signs of anything wrong. The only thing I can think of is that about 4-5 weeks ago I upped the size of their food from rat pups to small rats. They made the transition very well and they both ate twice at the next size.

My questions are:

1. Has anyone every experienced their snakes going off feed for a while when they switched to larger food?

2. Can anyone offer any advice as to why they arent eating if its not associated with the food size.

I should also say that the cage parameters are pretty much ideal. 80-90 degs F on the hot side, 70-80 on the cool side. Humidity about 73% (male cage as he was in shed) and about 60% in the females cage.

I know some snakes go weeks or even months w/o eating but I just want to make sure that I am not overlooking something and that I get to a point that I cant correct if it indeed is a husbandry issue.

One more thing that I should mention is that up until this point they were very very good eaters.

Thanks again to all who reply.

Ken

[Phreak]

I personally wouldn't know the answer to the first question but I'll do my best for the other one.

It may be husbandry issues.You should find out your exact temps and get them to 90-95 on the hot side and 80-85 on the cool side. Digital thermometers are best for finding the exact temps, most people on this site use accurite, which you can get at wal-mart for around $10. The other possibility is that it could be a seasonal fast that some BPs do although it usually takes place more early-mid winter. It may have been triggered by lower temps in the enclosures.

Hope this helps

[cosnakeguy]

Thanks,

Your idea that maybe the seasonal fast due to lower temps might make some sense as its kind of a weird time of year here. Not cold enough to keep the furnace on but not that hot yet. In the winter the house was nice and cozy due to the furnace being on. Now with spring here, I dont have my furnace on. Maybe the cooler temps might be affecting them.

BTW...I verified my temps. on the hot side its 94.3 degs F and the cool side about 79 degs F. I verified with a digital thermometer.

Ken

[Spaniard]

Rat pups to small rats its a pretty big jump. They're probably not feeding now to catch up with the larger meals they've been fed. If you're just switching from rat pups maybe you should try some weaned rats instead of smalls.

[lord jackel]

There are many reasons for Balls to go off feed.
1. Overfeeding - too large or too quickly (this usually fixes its self after they miss one or a few meals)
2. Husbandry issues (check all your temps, humidity, hides, etc...make sure everything is correct)
3. What I feel is the biggest - breeding related changes (climate changes - lighting, temp, etc.) can cause balls to stop feeding while they look for a mate). This is the time of year when Balls breed so we see a lot of snakes stop feeding for awhile.

But each snake is different. I have some breeders who never miss a meal, I had others that hadn't eatin since November but are starting to come back on feed.

As long as they are healthy and not losing weight I wouldn't worry about it.
(Just be sure to check #2 to be sure )

[cosnakeguy]

There are many reasons for Balls to go off feed.
1. Overfeeding - too large or too quickly (this usually fixes its self after they miss one or a few meals)
2. Husbandry issues (check all your temps, humidity, hides, etc...make sure everything is correct)
3. What I feel is the biggest - breeding related changes (climate changes - lighting, temp, etc.) can cause balls to stop feeding while they look for a mate). This is the time of year when Balls breed so we see a lot of snakes stop feeding for awhile.

But each snake is different. I have some breeders who never miss a meal, I had others that hadn't eatin since November but are starting to come back on feed.

As long as they are healthy and not losing weight I wouldn't worry about it.
(Just be sure to check #2 to be sure )

I'll check my husbandry again, but I had one question about what you said. These snakes are still small, around 300 grams each. Are they still looking for mates at that size/age?

[JLC]

I'll check my husbandry again, but I had one question about what you said. These snakes are still small, around 300 grams each. Are they still looking for mates at that size/age?

There ya go. Small rats are way too big for bp's that size. Not that they can't eat them...but if you want regular, consistently eating snakes, then you'll want to keep the prey size much smaller. I didn't move up to small rats until my bp was well over 600g.

And I have noticed that whenever I've offered her a larger-than-normal meal, she'll take it just fine...but then often not eat for 2-3 weeks afterwards. A fully grown BP can live and thrive very well on nothing but a small rat offered weekly.....so for a 300g bp, a small rat is a huge meal. My money is on the two of them just playing "catch up" and they'll be hungry again in a week or two. My advice is to use rat fuzzies until they are at least 500g.

[bigballs]

its a common thing for bps to go off feed for many different reasons. make sure you have a good scale handy, this way you can accurately keep track of weight fluctuations and come to better conclusions of why your bp in not eating.

[Spaniard]

I'm on board with Judy,

My 300g+ snake is still on rat pups. Here's a picture so you can see the size of the snake I'm talking about. I'm thinking about bumping this guy up to weaned rats soon. I haven't weighed him in a while but I'm sure he's near 500g now.