male BP lost interest in food

[DemmBalls]

My male pastel within the last two weeks has lost all interest in food. He seems restless and won't even stop to look at food. Temps are 90 on hot side and about 80 on the cool side. Nothing has changed with his tub temps or hides since he's been in there and was eating great. he was slamming f/t rats, then just stopped. Any ideas?

[rabernet]

How old is he?

[steveboos]

Try a Live rat and watch him very closely and he will probably eat. A lot of Snakes need some encouragement to get back to F/T. Have you tried live yet?

[blushingball419]

How old is he? When they get around 2 years or so, most of them will often go off food for a couple months during the winter. It means they're sexually mature and it's just what they do...and it's extremely frustrating. The only downside to ball pythons

As long as all your temps, humidity, etc are correct, I'd say he's probably just decided it's time for his hunger strike. As long as he doesn't lose any weight he'll be fine, and will probably start eating again in the early spring. You can still try feeding him every other week or so just in case, but it sounds pretty normal for this time of year

[DemmBalls]

He's only about 7 months old and 24" long. I havent gotten a scale yet because i didnt think any of my snakes were close to breeding age. what would an estimated weight of a snake this size be? He looks to be built normal.

[Kaorte]

A male can start looking for some lovin' around 300g.

How many hides does the snake have? What size tub is he in? Sometimes they can just be picky.

[fishmommy]

mine was on rats and when he started refusing them I switched back to mice and it got him eating again.

it *could* be normal seasonal fasting but it's worth a shot to switch his food

[cgator]

could also be cause he is going into shed .. some dont eat in shed

[DemmBalls]

He is in a 32qt Sterilite.

All of my snakes will eat through shed with no issues. It may just be seasonal...i'll try some live prey and see what happens. Thanks for the comments all!

[Kaorte]

You could try moving him to a smaller tub or giving him two hides and see if it makes a difference.

If not then its probably just that time of year.