Ball python stopped eating

[Adam87]

Ok so me and my girlfriend have thing 4foot 2 year old ball python and im getting annoyed haha

we got it in febuary for 3 months it didnt eat until finally one day we put it in a box threw a live mouse in there and he took it after 15 mins and it was at night now we started off with one female mouse then another female mouse the week after then the next week we tried 2 female mice everything was going great so we finally jumped to what it was suppose to be eating which is a small female rat it took the rat right away no questions asked the next week we tried a small male rat and it almost took my hand instead of the Rat so the next week we tried again this time nothing but then figured out hey he hasnt pooped in awhile just then wouldnt you know he dropped a bomb a big one too. so we waited a few days and still nothing to this day.... so im thinking it because he hasnt shed yet in awhile since his first couple of mice but if not has anyone else experinced this with there ball pythons i mean i know there picky but this is just getting really annoying

 

[dragonmetalhead]

My ball python once went over 6 months without eating. Had me worried sick. i took him to vet and he couldn't find a medical reason why he wasn't eating. At the time, I was finishing up my senior year at UC Santa Barbara so I sent my snake back home and he started eating again. The only thing I can come up with is that he didn't like the Santa Barbara climate. Pythons can go a very long time between meals, so I'm sure your snake is fine. If you're concerned, take it to the vet. What sex is your snake? The females sometimes hold off on food during the breeding season.

 

[Strange_Evil]

Just one word of advise, never leave your ball python alone with a rodent.

My male did this once when the rat i offered was too large, he struck but it was more of a defensive bite and then he just sort moved away. Try bumping back down on the next feeding, the rodent should be just as wide as the widest part on your snakes body.

Then again you have a mature snake, maybe a seasonal thing? Is yours showing any signs of shedding, at that age they really don't shed too much. Does he have a pinkish/gray belly or cloudy eyes? Whats your set up like, temps,cage size exc?

 

[Adam87]

hes got a really nice white belly wicked clear eyes i dont notice him having a milky color on his skin and he is in a 36"x18"x12 and the temps are always 85-90 and we keep it pretty hummid around 60%-70% in his hide box... hes not very active most of the day he mostly in his hide and is active at night but my Girlfriend takes him out side and lets him curse the room but before feeding we leave him alone for a few days and the rats we did offer were a bit smaller than his gurth but i guess today she fed him to large mice and he nailed them so idk whats with this snake i really hope he hasnt become addicted to the mice but i only heard of that only happening to Boas

 

[Strange_Evil]

Its actually pretty common for Ball pythons to get stuck on mice, people make the mistake of using mice all of the time and ball pythons like you know are picky eaters, you could try scenting a rat with a live mouse or some mouse substrate.

 

[Jefroka]

I had a wild caught ball python many years ago. It went 14 months without feeding. Wound up having to force feed and B12 injection, fed fine after that.

Try and get out of the habit of feeding live rodents. You could regret doing that one day.

I always feed FT or freshly killed.


...Jefroka

 

[Adam87]

its so werid cause my buddy said it was feeding on small rats then it went off food for 4 months so we started off small we only fed him mice i think 3 maybe 4 times and ate 2 small rats but now all of sudden it will only eat mice I'll deffenatly try the scented mouse on a rat cause thats what i do at my job with the ball pythons from switching over from live to frozen but thanks alot guys