Still not eating

[IllumiBunny]

I know...I've kept BPs in the past...they can be frustrating. Like when we cannot decide about something, I think they "want to eat" but their instinct over-rules
their stomach. Remember that in the wild, a snake that gets stuck with a meal when it's too cold to digest can actually die when it spoils in their stomach.

Natural selection has weeded out those that made that mistake- those that didn't make that mistake went on to live longer, breed & pass their genes forward to
the frustrating pet you now have... They had no way of knowing that humans were going to come along with RHP's & thermostats, & build them "condos", lol.

Yup and this is only the 2nd year she's done this, last year she did this but my boyfriends sister and husband had her for a year I had to give her up for a while because of some personal stuff I was going through so I just got her back in September this past year. I was really excited to get her back I missed her. Now she's a pain in my ass lol

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[Bogertophis]

Yup and this is only the 2nd year she's done this, ...

I've kept multiple BPs years back & they mostly do this when they're a couple years old (once they mature). If you want a snake that eats regularly & reliably, get a rat
snake (including corn snakes), bull/gopher/pine snakes, king snakes, even an Australian spotted python will happily eat all year. It's just not in a BP's job description.

[IllumiBunny]

I've kept multiple BPs years back & they mostly do this when they're a couple years old (once they mature). If you want a snake that eats regularly & reliably, get a rat
snake (including corn snakes), bull/gopher/pine snakes, king snakes, even an Australian spotted python will happily eat all year. It's just not in a BP's job description.

Lol well I love her to death she just worries me sometimes since she is my first ball python first snake really in general I've had her for 2 1/2 years she was at the petstore for a year before I got her then my boyfriends sister had her for a year but I've just been trying to do everything right. She had wood mites a while back luckily not on her just on the bedding I get the Aspen stuff but haven't had a problem since being told to put it in the freezer since it will kill any mites. I would honestly love to have a black mamba lol deadly but I think their gorgeous their my favorite snakes. My snakes name is Syria though at the time I named her I never heard of the country Syria I thought I was being unique >.< she's a good snake though only bit me once that was my fault though me and my boyfriend were having an argument and I guess she felt my anger and thought I was going to hurt her it was feeding day so I went to take her out and she got me right in between my pointer and middle finger on the webbing hurt like hell I would of been alright with that if it was maybe my arm or any other part of my hand :/ though I didn't panic or throw her or try lol I just waited for her to release she hasn't bit me since then

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[Stewart_Reptiles]

I'm not breeding her I only have one snake she's my only snake and I don't plan on breeding her

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Not sure what breeding has to do with anything, I did not mention breeding?????

[Sonny1318]

Wow, this story is a little bit of a ride. My adult males stop eating every year from 4 to 6 months, during that time I offer monthly. Probably not a good idea to handle on feeding day, if they can smell the prey, your probably gonna get tagged. And I’m sorry life is been difficult for you (I truly am). And while I don’t think moving the snake from home to home was bad, it would sure be hard to get an idea of the animals yearly behavior. I also don’t recommend switching prey items because of a hunger strike in an older snake. Peace, good luck.

[rottn]

I got my 2 1/2 year old BP May 13, 2018. She refused to eat for 5 MONTHS! My first BP, so kinda was really freaking me out!
She weighed in at 1189 grams on June 4th.
I finally took her back where I got her from in October, and he got her to take live food (I didn't want to feed live).
NOTE: she was eating f/t before I got her from him, but wouldn't take it from him either in October - but she did take the live.
Between Oct 20 and Oct 30 (when I got her back) she had eaten 3 live rats.
When she came back home, she again wouldn't take f/t from me.
She finally took her first f/t from me January 20 (another 3 months gone by!) - OMG talk about a happy dance!
So bottom line, between May 13, 2018 and January 19, 2019 - she only ate 3 live rats.
Jan 20 she took f/t. Following weekend she wouldn't take it.
Feb 2 she took a f/t from me. Following weekend was another bust.
Feb 16 she took one. But nothing since. Will try again this weekend.
She's obviously VERY finicky, but doing much better than when I first got her. lol
So since June 4th to now, her weight went down from 1189 grams to 1103 grams. That's not bad at all, considering the amount of time that she HASN'T eaten!
I will keep working with MY pain in the ass BP, but we're getting there. Slowly but surely.
I hope this helps to reassure you.

[-ryan-]

My personal record with an adult BP is 8 months with no food intake. At that point I was starting to stress, but he went back eating when he was ready. My female BP eats mostly throughout winter, but not as reliably as the rest of the year. For either snake after two missed feedings I generally wait about a month before offering again, regardless of time of year. They are quite often very overfed in captivity.

So I wouldn't sweat it yet. Not for a long while at least. I think the longest I heard of a BP going without food was just over the two year mark! Going a few months is nothing if the snake is healthy.

Good luck! You will get more comfortable over time. The first few years I had my first BP I was a wreck trying to get him to eat when he would go off food in November. Now I view it as a favor he does me to save some money in the food bill!