Ball python will not eat

[200xth]

Hello everyone

I know there are a lot of knowledgeable people here with experience with regards to ball pythons so I need some reassurance.

My male ball python (approximate 4-4.5 years old) stopped eating the first week of January. He is now 1.5 kg and not quite 4 ft long. He looks healthy and the vet isn't worried yet but I sure the hell am.

He is active in his enclosure but when I throw in his food he looks at it then moves away as though he's disgusted. He eats live, I cannot get him to eat dead, tried and tried and tried. He eats mice, rats but his last meal was a Dagu because the store had nothing else. My vet said he can go five months without concern and there are 2 probabilities as to why he is not eating:

1. He wants to breed

2. He now likes Dagus and doesnt want anymore rats or mice (tried both there have been no Dagus in the store that he could eat, too big)


I am a bit stressed out as we are going into May now so we are close to the 5 month mark. Please give advice!

Has he lost weight? If not, I wouldn't worry about it. If they're not losing weight or appear otherwise unhealthy, they can safely go much longer than 5 months without food, so there is a possibility you are in for a long wait.

Breeding season is one big reason they go off food. That's normal and happens to everyone.

I would just keep checking his weight. If his environment is good (temps, humidity, etc), and he's not losing much weight, there's nothing you can do except be patient and wait til the day he decides it's time to eat again.