Feeding issues

[btucker7587]

My Ball has not eaten since the Beginning of November 06. He went from a Med rat a week to not eating at all.

Is this a natural occurance? I have not been able to get him to get interested in med / small rats or even mice.

I do know that BP's can go 6 to 8 months without eating, but this is the first time it's happend for me.

Anyone have any insight for this?

[juddb]

he/she probably went off feed for winter. but it might also be your setup, temps/humidity, stress. it all depends what is your setup like?

[tmlowe5704]

My Ball has not eaten since the Beginning of November 06. He went from a Med rat a week to not eating at all.

Is this a natural occurance? I have not been able to get him to get interested in med / small rats or even mice.

I do know that BP's can go 6 to 8 months without eating, but this is the first time it's happend for me.

Anyone have any insight for this?

A med rat is arguably a bit big for any ball python. It could be the snake's way of letting his body catch up to what he has been eating.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

My Ball has not eaten since the Beginning of November 06. He went from a Med rat a week to not eating at all.

Is this a natural occurance? I have not been able to get him to get interested in med / small rats or even mice.

I do know that BP's can go 6 to 8 months without eating, but this is the first time it's happend for me.

Anyone have any insight for this?

Medium rat is big, in my experience feeding a smaller prey (small rat) allow more consistency with feeding.

You might also want to check the following.

Temperature: 80-84 on the cool side, 90-94 on the warm side
Humidity: 50%-60%
Hides tight enough (All side touching your BP's body).

[LadyOhh]

I feed Med Rats all the time.... Depends on the animal's size.


May be the season, maybe stress... Just wait it out. I have girls that haven't eaten for me in at least 4 months now.

No worries.

[btucker7587]

My BP is a little over Four feet long, in a 100 gallon tank, cool side averages 73 to 78 degrees, hot side 84 to 88. Humidity holds strong at 84% (+/-1%).

I have been feeding him med rats for almost a year. I know it isn't because of people because he was in my Wifes classroom at the elementary school where she teaches and we never had any problems with him there.

He has shed twice since he started fasting, so he is healthy. It is just a little upsetting that this is the first time he has done this.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

My BP is a little over Four feet long, in a 100 gallon tank, cool side averages 73 to 78 degrees, hot side 84 to 88. Humidity holds strong at 84% (+/-1%).

I have been feeding him med rats for almost a year. I know it isn't because of people because he was in my Wifes classroom at the elementary school where she teaches and we never had any problems with him there.

He has shed twice since he started fasting, so he is healthy. It is just a little upsetting that this is the first time he has done this.

Ok well 100 gallons is big an adult does not need anything bigger then 30/40 gallons. Big enclosures are stressful, to that you add temperture that are off and you have a good combination for a BP to go of feed.

Try to get your BP in a smaller enclosure, adjust your tempss like I mentioned previously and feed a smaller prey and see where it goes from there.

[btucker7587]

Temperatures are fixed already.

He has been in the same tank for his entire life. This is the first issue. i am afraid that if I do take it down, the reduction in size will do the stressing. He is out every night and quite active in there.

I will move him to the spare bedroom for less traffic. I think us being in the room almost nightly may be contributing. I also keep the food in the same room as the snake. I have two 10 gallon tanks with rats in them that sit in the same room. Wondering if that is also a factor.

If the move and the heat does not fix it, I will reduce tank size.

[rabernet]

Temperatures are fixed already.

He has been in the same tank for his entire life. This is the first issue. i am afraid that if I do take it down, the reduction in size will do the stressing. He is out every night and quite active in there.

I will move him to the spare bedroom for less traffic. I think us being in the room almost nightly may be contributing. I also keep the food in the same room as the snake. I have two 10 gallon tanks with rats in them that sit in the same room. Wondering if that is also a factor.

If the move and the heat does not fix it, I will reduce tank size.

A ball python that is quite active can be a sign of a stressed out ball python. They prefer small cramped spaces - I also imagine that the size of the enclosure is the source of your stress.

[Sadie]

The things that have not changed (enclosure and prey sizes) likely won't be the issue. The temps are low though- I suspect once you get those up, he'll get his appetite back.

A ball pushing 4 feet is probably adult and it is breeding (and brumating) season. So don't worry too much. If you are worried, you can buy an electronic scale to monitor his weight. I've heard 10% is an acceptable weight loss during a fast, assuming he isn't over/underweight to begin with (but don't quote me on that).