BP on 9 week without taking food… cause for concern?

[newowner]

I got my ball python in July 2021, he (never actually got him gendered though, so i dont know) was approx. 3/4 months old then. here’s some husbandry info…

I have hides on either side of his tank and plenty of foliage. his cool side is around 77 and the warm side has a basking spot of 89, with a normal temp of 85, with a nighttime drop to 75ish. This is the temperatures I have used since I got him and he’s never shown any signs of stress.

I have been feeding him frozen small rats every 10 days for probably the past 6 months… but he’s been going anywhere between 10-21 (3 weeks) between feedings.

He just had a shed (no hiccups, all came off in one piece) on August 26th, and I find that he sheds every 6ish months.

He last ate September 1st, and ever since then has shown absolutely no interest in food. I have tried everything. I went down a size, Ive been using a blow dryer, and I even poked little holes in the rats head to help the smell come out (i heard this from somewhere lol).

Heres the weird part. Every single night, he sits with his head poking out of his hide as if he’s hungry (i found this to be his “tell” that he’s hungry). But no matter what I do, he will poke his head out from his hide, sniff it, and then either crawl right over it or go back into his hide.

He has also been incredibly inactive, I usually see him come out to bask, but he rarely does now. The only time he comes out is when he switches from the cool hide to the warm hide.

I have not been holding him or taking him out to help with stress. I am monitoring him though (just checked on him a few days ago), and he doesn’t seem skinnier than after his shed, no scale rot/mites/mouth rot/respiratory issues or anything of the sort.

I have basically ruled out everything but brumation, but i thought that didn’t really occur in captive snakes. Also he didn’t show any of this behaviour last year. I’m just starting to get worried since I have hit the 2 month mark now, he has never gone this long without taking a rat.


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