When should I start to worry?

[Megs]

I Know that ball pythons can sometimes be finicky eaters but I wanted to know when I should start to worry. Nora has always been a pretty good eater. 1-2 adult mice every 5-6 days. But now it has been about two weeks and she still has no interest in eating. I've tried live and frozen thawed but no luck. Do you think if I tried rat pups it would make a difference? She's not acting sick or anything. I'm holding her right now as I'm typing this and she seems fine, just not eating. I would feel so much better if she would take a meal! HELP!!

[Streller]

I am nowhere near as experienced as anyone else on this forum, who are the absolute gurus of the BP world, but you could give some helpful information so that you can get a swift reply prior to them visiting the thread. Try things such as the husbandry that your BP is accustomed to, it's weight, age, any other information you may see fit to include.

[Naraku]

BPs can go on fasts where they won't eat upwards to months. Just sounds like that's what's happening to your ball python. Heard some stories of even corn snakes not choosing to eat for 5+ months and being perfectly healthy. Just keep a eye on her weight and appearance. It could be a husbandry thing but considering she was eating perfectly for you it's more or less unlikely unless you changed something recently. To be on the safe side check out her temps and make sure they're consistent as it's getting a bit colder.

[imitha]

Im no expert either on bps but from what I do know and from what I know about corn snakes id say track her weight. If she's losing a lot then I'd check in with a vet if not than it should be fine. Plz correct me if that's incorrect

[BCS]

This isn't a case of her being picky, its more to do with not being hungry. How much does she weigh? How old is she and have you tried rats?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

First you need to understand that their metabolism changes as they get older and that 2 weeks is really nothing as people forget that they are overfed in captivity anyway.

There are several things that can affect a BP such as weather changes, the "wall", maturity etc, there are also things that can be attempted to help them resume feeding in some cases.

How old is your BP, is it a female (you had her sex yourself to confirm) and how much does she weight?

[Megs]

Nora is a female and is around 7 or 8 months old. Not sure of her weight. I don't have a scale yet for her. I haven't tried rats yet but I was told they are more nutritious than mice so I think I'll give it a try.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Nora is a female and is around 7 or 8 months old. Not sure of her weight. I don't have a scale yet for her. I haven't tried rats yet but I was told they are more nutritious than mice so I think I'll give it a try.

While there is a nutritional difference the nutritional requirements are not known so gram per gram of prey it's all the same, the advantage with rats is that you do not have to feed multiples when feeding rats.

Given she has been eating 2 mice every 5 to 7 days I would likely do more of a 7 days schedule at that point.

Try getting an idea on the weight, make sure she is well hydrated, make sure your husbandry is on spot and most importantly be patient.

You can also try to downsize her to the smallest enclosure possible sometimes it does the trick.

[cj2007]

I wouldn't worry at all. My ball python was just like yours she ate all the time. Then she suddenly went off of food for about two months it is fine I have seen where peoples balls have gone a year without eating so I wouldn't worry at all just as long as they are not dropping in weight really fast then maybe they are sick or there is something else wrong.

[gaitedappy]

As long as her weight is fine I wouldn't worry, Jynx went off food for nearly 5 months last year and he was just fine.