Help!!! My BP hasent eaten in two months!

[benrocks8599]

I bought my ball python about 5 weeks ago and have been offering him a thawed out pinky twice a week and has turned it down every time. The place the i bought them from has two other ball pythons and apperently none of them have eaten either! my snake is about a little over a foot long and is very non aggressive. He had mites for a little bit but i was able to get rid of them completly (including ones in his eyes). My snake is in a 20 gal take with mulch, two hides, some things to crawl up, a couple or rocks, water bowl, and obviously a heat lamp. The temp almost always stays at 85-90 (although when i used the laser temp reader on his hot basking area it said 92). He doesnt seem to be losing weight but he also clearly isnt gaining any! Also, he has jot shed at all and i dont know the last time he has. I was getting desperate and tried to feed him a TINY live mouse and he even turned that down (i nade sure the mouse never bit him) If anyone could please help I would really appreciate it, i dont want to lose my first BP!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

How big is the snake? (Weight?).

Pinkies are the first part of you problem, pinkies are counties food not BP, hatching get started on hoppers out of the eggs, that means a prey that is too small may not be recognized as food item.

Second you are offering too often, when an animal refuses you want to offer once a week not twice.

[Alexiel03]

Ball pythons are known to fast even young ones but one thing I would do in that situation would be to get rid of the heat lamp and use belly heat. Heat lamps reduce humidity a lot, I would also try a smaller setup, maybe use a tub setup instead, he may be stressed from too much space. Are you able to feed him rats instead of mice? If he hasn't lost a lot or any weight he should be ok, try offering once a week instead of twice a week. He may just not want food lol bps are picky eaters.

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[benrocks8599]

Wow thank you for the fast response guys! Okay, so i dont have anything to actually weigh him but for example he weighs about as much as my Iphone 6! He is not very big. What do you suggest i feed him then? Also his humidity is always between 40 and 50 percent. Again, i appreciate the quick responce!

[benrocks8599]

Im not sure if im supposed to reply to you or on the thread, but i posted on the thread lol!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

At that size your BP should be voracious do this to a T https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-hatchling-101

The longer it goes without eating on it's own for you the more you are getting in a vicious circle.

[decensored]

Find out what the pet store was feeding it. Don't feed it pinkies, up the prey size, and consider feeding a live rat/mouse/asf. If the pet store was feeding mice or ASF there's a good chance it's not going to take rats if you're trying to feed it rats
It took me years to get some of mine off of live ASF and onto FT rats.

Go get a food scale from Walmart for $10 and feed the snake 10% of its body weight every 3 days. He sounds very young and if his weight is under 500g I would feed every 3 days.

My rule of thumb for feeding is generally this; 3 days 10% of bodyweight birth -500g, 5 days 10% 500 grams -1500 grams, males 1500g + 15% 10 days, females 15% 7days.



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[decensored]

I know people are saying feed once a week, and for an adult animal they would be right but you're dealing with what sounds like an underweight juvenile who has been sick. I bred for years and have been keeping for more than a decade.

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[Stewart_Reptiles]

My rule of thumb for feeding is generally this; 3 days 10% of bodyweight birth -500g, 5 days 10% 500 grams -1500 grams, males 1500g + 15% 10 days, females 15% 7days.

I really I can't think of anyone (with experience) that would feed a 225 grams rat to a 1500 grams male every 10 days or a 525 grams rat every 7 days to a 3500 grams female.

Considering their metabolism food is not increased in adulthood but decreased, an adult male does not need anything larger than a 75 grams rat and a female even at 4000 grams does not need anything more than a 150 grams rats, unless of course you like inconsistent feeder that are sluggish for days at the time and will refuse food several weeks in a row after such a large meal.

There is a difference between what they can take down and what they need, over feeding is a real issue so is fatty liver disease.

[decensored]

I really I can't think of anyone (with experience) that would feed a 225 grams rat to a 1500 grams male every 10 days or a 525 grams rat every 7 days to a 3500 grams female.

Considering their metabolism food is not increased in adulthood but decreased, an adult male does not need anything larger than a 75 grams rat and a female even at 4000 grams does not need anything more than a 150 grams rats, unless of course you like inconsistent feeder that are sluggish for days at the time and will refuse food several weeks in a row after such a large meal.

There is a difference between what they can take down and what they need, over feeding is a real issue so is fatty liver disease.

You're absolutely right, I gave bad advice. I don't weigh what I feed my adults. 4000+ females I'd give larges to, males get mediums. It's been a while since I paid attention to rat weights when I'm dealing with adults. Thank you for catching that.



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