So I've had my male ball python for about 3 months now, he is around 5-6 months old. His first two months he ate every time I offered (weekly), and now in the past 5 or 6 weeks he has eaten once.

Everything in his enclosure is in check (temp, humidity, he has water, hides, it's clean) and I can't figure out what's going on. He has shed firing this period without any difficulty.

It's not like he's not interested in food, I hold the thawed rat over his enclosure and waft in the smell and his head pops out of his hide, I hold the warmed up rat with tongs exactly how I had been doing while he was eating, and he comes closer to it, checking it out. Then if it gets too close or moves he reacts as if he's scared of it and pops his head back inside.

If he wasn't interested at all I would think he just isn't hungry but he definitely smells it and is curious, just won't strike.

Also, at first I fed him mice, had rats in with the mice to get him used to the smell, and switched him over to rats fairly soon, so he's eating the same food from the same store and nothing has changed other than his eating habits.

Any advice or suggestions? I know they can go periods without eating, however it is my first snake and this just seems weird!

Any feedback is much appreciated!