BP Weight... Not Eating...ect

[hunter94]

So my BP hasn't ate for a while and I just weighed him and the scale came in at about 800 grams give or take 50 grams. And my BP is aprox. 10 months old so I'm guessing he is at a healthy weight. His enclosure is ideal. The Temperatures are usually 93-97 under his hide. And 80-82 on the opposite side of his hide. The humidity is not always perfect, sometimes to much and sometimes not enough. But I'm working on it. Everything else I know is good. Iv read that Adult Males tend to stop eating in the winter and start back up around April and May. And he did stop eating around the beginning of winter. Should I keep offering him food every week or should I stop until mid April.

Tank Setup:
20 Gallon Long
Large Hide (Good for his size.)
Large Water Dish
Aspen
2 Plants

I know he didn't stop eating because of his tank setup because I have it ideal for him and he still isn't eating. So its either he has some sort of infection/disease or he stopped because it was Winter time.

[kitedemon]

It could be that it is winter but your temps are too hot. 94 is as hot as most suggest and typically if you don't have a great thermometer the deviation is up to 2º +/- so if you are reading 97 it could be as high as 99. I'd suggest dropping the hot side temps for sure! 90 is what I use, the cool is ok but typically 80 is enough.

800gm is often a little early to stop due to breeding season but you never know. Is is very active? Roaming a lot and with lots of quick movements? Does he use both hot and cool hides or just the cool hide most of the time?

[hunter94]

It could be that it is winter but your temps are too hot. 94 is as hot as most suggest and typically if you don't have a great thermometer the deviation is up to 2º +/- so if you are reading 97 it could be as high as 99. I'd suggest dropping the hot side temps for sure! 90 is what I use, the cool is ok but typically 80 is enough.

800gm is often a little early to stop due to breeding season but you never know. Is is very active? Roaming a lot and with lots of quick movements? Does he use both hot and cool hides or just the cool hide most of the time?

He seems to be active frequently, but mainly during night time. The reason why the temps are so hot is because I have a decent amount of aspen under his hide but I'm going to drop temps and max out the hide at 95. I only have one hide in at the time because the 20 gallon long tank is a bit small and the water dish plus the hide he has in now just takes up all the room. And he doesn't really ever go to the cool side but he comes out to cool off every now and then. I'm afraid if I drop the temps to much he will get pissed, but I'll give it a try.

[majorleaguereptiles]

He stopped eating because he wants to breed and is active at night searching for the females. Any females close by? This I'm 99% sure of. I'd also turn the tstat down a couple degrees and recheck. 90-92 seems great hot spot for my ball pythons with an ambient close to 80 or so at this point in the season.

[hunter94]

He stopped eating because he wants to breed and is active at night searching for the females. Any females close by? This I'm 99% sure of. I'd also turn the tstat down a couple degrees and recheck. 90-92 seems great hot spot for my ball pythons with an ambient close to 80 or so at this point in the season.

Alright, thank you. And no, no females near by.

[Crazy4Herps]

For how long has he been fasting?

Fasting is normal for ball pythons, and, though yours is a bit young to go off of food, I wouldn't worry about it. Drop the basking temps to 90/92ish, and it sounds like everything is great.

[hunter94]

For how long has he been fasting?

Fasting is normal for ball pythons, and, though yours is a bit young to go off of food, I wouldn't worry about it. Drop the basking temps to 90/92ish, and it sounds like everything is great.

He has been fasting since about the beginning of Winter. Not sure exactly when.

[kitedemon]

A hyper active snake can be a lot of things but heat stress is one of them 97º is too hot and 95 is still very hot especially if you don't have a decent thermometer that you can trust to be correct 90 is safer as even 2º high is still ok.

It could be breeding but your temps are quite high and he is still a bit small for breeding yet, has he produced a sperm plug yet?

[AKA Reptiles]

I have the same problem. Last week I checked the temps and they were around the same as yours. I dropped them on Friday and am going to try to offer food this weekend. I have heard that sometimes this doesnt matter and they go into hibernation mode regardless.

[Crazy4Herps]

He has been fasting since about the beginning of Winter. Not sure exactly when.

Like December/November? That's a pretty long fast, especially for a young male. Turn down the basking temps and offer food every 2 weeks. A 4-month fast is nothing to worry about, a 5-month fast is usually okay (both of my bp's (both adult females) have been fasting for the past 5 months), but much longer than 5 months is cause for concern. At that point I'd consider taking a fecal sample to the vet's and possibly a checkup as well, just to make sure there are no health issues.