How long can a 4 month bp go without eating?

[Niki Dunbar]

He is between 3-4 months. I know bp go on hunger strikes sometimes and can spend a long time without eat but is it the same for a younger ball pythons?

[sookieball]

Very much the same.

But he'll eat eventually.
Just be patient.

But for info sake.
Was his temp and housing like?

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[el8ch]

They can go off food for extended periods of time. Htachlings and Juveniles do not carry the same mass as adults so if they are off food for too long it can become a different issue all together.

Like Sookie said, lets get some Q&A going to see if we can't avoid a 'hunger strike' all together and get your little guy eating?

What size prey items are you feeding?
Mice or Rats?
Live or Frozen?
How is your husbandry? Temps? Hides? Enclosure Setup?

[Niki Dunbar]

What size prey items are you feeding?
pinkie rat.
Mice or Rats?
Rat
Live or Frozen?
Frozen and it was first time eating frozen. I honestly think this is why.. He has been fed live his whole life but I only keep frozen in the house at the moment because I actually have a tendency to become attached to cute little mice that are alive haha and my boa eats frozen anyways.
How is your husbandry? Temps? Hides? Enclosure Setup?

Right now his temp is at 84F on the hotside although that is with a light and not a heat mat/tap. (I am waiting for it to come in the mail.) He is two hides one on the hot side and one the cool side but the one on the hot cool side is a bit bigger..and at the moment he is in a glass tank.

He seems healthy is almost always roaming around, climbing on stuff in his tank, and extremely active. In fact he is even more active then my boa who tends to either hang out in his hide or if he is out then just chill on my pony tail or wrist.

With my python I can't get him to sit still.

He is a spider ball python and rather then eating the frozen food he sits on top or lays next to it and falls alseep...

[PorcelainxDoll]

All that activity actually points to something being wrong.

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[Niki Dunbar]

What could be wrong? I mean he defiantly does sleep and he does just chill out in his hide for a very large portion of the day if not almost all of it. But every so often you will see him come out and start climbing on the walls of his tank, go to his water dish, ect. for about half an hour and then heads back. And at night time he is up and moving around most of the time. I guess just compared to my boa he is extra active because my boa doesn't move around much during the day.

Although I could always be wrong and he may be overally active. if the is the case what could be wrong with him and what should I do?

[coldbloodaddict]

Hungary maybe...Feed him live if that's what he wants!

They won't all take thawed rats, so you need to be prepared to feed them what suits their needs and not yours!

Also your hot side is a little on the cool side...

[PorcelainxDoll]

Deff sounds like he may be hungry. I agree try live see if hell take it.

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[Niki Dunbar]

That is what I was planning on doing. I figured I would buy one more frozen him for him and try but if he won't eat it then I will just go back and buy a live one. And I know I need to feed them what he needs and wants not what I want. And I honestly don't mind feeding live I would just prefer frozen because I do not want him to get bit or hurt which I have heard happens to a lot of snakes who are fed live. Either way though I know I just have to feed him what he likes so he will eat something.

[sookieball]

I brought a ghost female home on the 12th last month.
She refused 4 meals (all mice)

One frozen thawed.
One live pinky
one fuzzy
One hopper

Today she finally ate.
And she only weighed in at 155 grams before she came home.
She took a sub adult mouse.
Which was barely smaller than an adult.
Guess she wanted alive, and in its youth! Hahaha don't worry.
They know how to eat. They'll just try your patience before they do :p:p:p

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