Feeding

[Bogertophis]

I feed my ball python weekly and the past 3 weeks I haven’t gotten her to eat. I was wondering if someone could give me some answers. She hasn’t been eating for the past 3 weeks I’ve probably tried to feed her around 6 times in those 3 weeks. I’ve used the same rat and I was wondering if she wasn’t eating it because it has been freezed and dethawed so many times? Another reason i think why she may not be feeding is because 4 weeks ago I changed hides. When she was in her old hides she would lift it up off the ground because she was big. I put in the hides and she ate the first week with the new it, but has net eaten since so I don’t know if that’s the reason. When she gets hungry she usually comes out of her hide at night and she has been doing that, but she ignores the food. I even put my finger in front of her just to see if she reacted to the heat but she didnt. My tempatures and humtity are fine. Is this just a feeding strike and if so how long do they last or is it one of the reasons I listed?

How old is your BP? (or how big if you don't know the age?) Adult BPs are more likely to skip meals in winter than young ones...

I'm also not a fan of refreezing prey...it spoils & BPs are not carrion-eaters....their nose knows. (gag!)

Stress is also a factor: how long have you had this snake? how much handling have you been doing? (sticking your finger in her face didn't help any) As already noted,
when a snake refuses, leave them alone for a week or 2 before retrying. Trying too often = stress & more likely another refusal.

Most BPs like to ambush their prey while peeking out of a hide at night (dim light preferable); they don't usually feel as brave to feed when they're cruising their cage.