VERY Worried About My Girl

[RiA MaU]

So I had my first BP, Kayly for about 6 months before something happened to my apartment and I was forced to move. I couldn't find another place that allowed pets, so I had to move her to a friend's house. I go up to feed her still every week and I come to handle her once every week or two as well. She seemed to do fine adjusting to the new home and her setup is the same, so she had no big changes besides background,I'm I guess. She did fine for a couple months. She was eating her rats regularly and without any issue. About 4-5 feedings ago, though, she wouldn't eat. I didn't think much of it since snakes tend to just do that sometimes. My friend cared for the rat and we tried again 5 days later and said she ate. Basically the same thing happened the next few feedings. I thought maybe she just wasn't getting hungry every week anymore because she was bigger or something and that I'd wait a couple weeks before trying to feed her this time. It had been the e weeks since she'd eaten when I brought her a food yesterday and she did the same thing. Shows some interest, but doesn't eat. She stalks it, sniffs it, etc., but she gets her face outstretched right by it to where she wouldn't be able to strike and as soon as it moves, she just curls back up. Repeat over and over. I hadn't seen her do this until the first time she didn't eat. Does anyone know what she's doing and why? How do I help her and get her to eat normally again? I'm currently feeding in-tank because the risks of moving her after eating were higher than the risk of getting bitten from feeding this way. She's always eaten live. I've closely supervised every feeding and she's never been bitten or badly scratched. As far as I could tell, she's always loved the hunting part of feedings.

[RiA MaU]

Edit: She also has no habitat issues. A basking spot that stays at 90° with a UTH and thermostat. Ambients stay at around 80° with no issue. Humidity is kept in the 56-60% range, about 70% when shedding.

[piedlover79]

If she's a ball python then this is just par for the course. My ball pythons go from slamming f/t rats on a regular basis to not eating for months and back again. Just part of how they are. Just keep an eye on her weight and general appearance.

[RiA MaU]

Okay. She didn't look like she'd lost any weight. I just hate making my friend care for the rats as well.

[piedlover79]

Yeah. It's why I really like f/t. If I have to care for a rat for a month it's just going to become a pet. . However ball pythons are famous for going on hunger strikes.

[bcr229]

How old is she? Once my females mature if I'm not planning on breeding them then I put them on a two week schedule. If they refuse I offer weekly until they eat again, then I don't offer another rat for two weeks. Many of them self-regulate to eating every 3-4 weeks.

You could also offer a smaller rat at each feeding, especially since you feed live and your snake is refusing meals, as otherwise the rat could eventually grow larger than your snake should eat.

Or do what I did and get a boa to dispose of any leftovers.

[BeelzeBall.]

Or do what I did and get a boa to dispose of any leftovers.

haha yup! same here they're the garbage disposals

as for the ball, just follow what spiedlover and bcr said.

[dr del]

Triple check the temps since it is possible the ambient has changed enough to throw things out of whack.

[RiA MaU]

I have a constant thermometer to check the temps, so I know where they're at. She's about a year and a half old, so I'm not sure if that's mature or not. I know for a fact that she's not full-size yet, though.

[Hannahshissyfix]

Like everyone said, all normal. Is she around 1000g? Seems like some fast around that point.