congrats. and don't sweat it. most people make this way more complicated than it has to be. as long as your temps and humidity are right, and your animal is not stressed...it will likely never have a problem. once balls get to a certain size, close to breeding size...some will go off food. this is completely normal and they usually don't even lose much weight. I have noticed that a lot of people try to 're invent the wheel' when it comes to feeding ball pythons. they are not bad feeders if the things I mentioned above are there. they are not going to starve themselves to death. just keep things the way they should be and it will eat for you. if it misses a couple weeks, don't sweat it as long as everything is normal. that is the way ball pythons are. I have had females go off food for six months and barely loose any weight, they have a natural ability to regulate body weight, and conserve energy if they need to. good luck and just enjoy your snake. ...I believe that is why God gave us such wonderful colored and patterned snakes.