Males fasting

[Ben.L]

Hi all. It's my first breeding season and my male pastel het pied seems very keen to breed, so much so that he hasn't eaten properly in months - I got him to eat a couple of smallish live mice a couple of weeks ago, but before that he hadn't eaten since mid August! He's around 800g and still looks very healthy and not too lean; I'm just wondering if this is a common issue or whether I should be concerned/ pull him off breeding. I have paired him a couple of times with a female but that hasnt helped his appetite.

[dahlhouse23]

It is common for males to stop eating. I have a few that eat throughout breeding season but most slow down or stop completely. Make sure you give him enough of a rest between pairings and if you get really worried you can always stop pairing until he eats. I have a pet who is a male and he will stop eating in the winter just because he is near the girls.

[Domepiece]

Hi all. It's my first breeding season and my male pastel het pied seems very keen to breed, so much so that he hasn't eaten properly in months - I got him to eat a couple of smallish live mice a couple of weeks ago, but before that he hadn't eaten since mid August! He's around 800g and still looks very healthy and not too lean; I'm just wondering if this is a common issue or whether I should be concerned/ pull him off breeding. I have paired him a couple of times with a female but that hasnt helped his appetite.

Its pretty common. All of my breeding males went off feed last year. 800 grams isnt bad at all as long as you can get him to take a couple meals here and there and he hasnt lost an excessive amount, in fact I like all my breeding males to be between 800 and 1000 grams. Just keep an eye on him and make sure not to over work him. I found that by not cooling my males and offering them live mice has kept them eating for me this year and they are still locking machines. Good Luck to ya.

[West Coast Jungle]

As long as he looks healthy they can go long periods without eating and still breed. I once had a pastel male go almost 6 months and then bam, just started eating

Some BP's, especially males, can be real sensitive to cooler room temps so that is always something to gauge and take into consideration as well.

[jason_ladouceur]

you've got lots of time before you need to worry. i had a ball go 18 months without eating once. then one day he just started eating again. it is witout a doubt the most iritating thing about ball python's imo.

[Ben.L]

Thanks for the replies everyone! It is definitly noticably cooler in the room during the winter months (I've not cooled them down otherwise), but as he's been fasting since August I'm hoping it's just a breeding thing. I have had seveal picky feeders in the past, which I'm used to, and I like to think my husbandry is all good, so thanks for putting my mind at ease a little bit

[Vitto]

I'm having hte same issues with my male pastel. But he's in a room with 3 breedable females. I know he's hot to trot, but I'm not breeding him this year. I will be getting a space heater to up the heat in the general area, because my temps have dropped and I don't want RI!

[Bigfish1975]

It is common for males to stop or slow down. Last season I bred 2 males, 1 ate and 1 stopped during the season. Just monitor his weight throughout the season. If he starts to look like he's obviously dropping weight pull him and don't breed him anymore.

[snakesRkewl]

Just monitor his weight throughout the season. If he starts to look like he's obviously dropping weight pull him and don't breed him anymore.

This!
A lengthy fast during breeding season will make that 800 gram snake a skinny boy, watch his weight and if he drops under 650 grams be prepared to pull him for the season.
The lesser male I bred last season stopped eating in November and didn't take another meal until June, he was 1100+ grams and ended up about 875 grams before being pulled from breeding.
It took him 5 months to regain that weight loss.

Contrary to what seems to be a popular opinion, larger males make way better breeders than smaller males

[Ben.L]

Well he's housed near 4 breeding/close to breeding size girls and spends every evening very active, probably trying to sniff them out... Would moving him to a different room perhaps get him interested in food again or will that kill his breeding efforts?