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Ball Python won't eat :-(

Posted By:

Chels187

In Relation To:

Captain Crunch

I have a almost 5 foot ball pythong that was eating a medium size rat once a week until about 3 weeks ago, he is now refusing food. I feed live because he won't eat anything dead. its been almost a month n im serously considering force feeding him, i've offered mice but again he refuses them, any comments or suggestions would be helpful. he's still very active at night and is housed with my diamondxcarpet python. they are both showing no aggression and she's eating 3 live mice once a week. any advice?


Points:	150
Topics:	Feeding
Species:	Pythons > Pythons > Python regius
Administrative:	Show/Hide

Member Comment

11/14/2008 11:28:02 PM

NCherper

It is normal for male pythons to go off feed, and a month without eating definitely doesn't warrant force feeding. As long as he isnt losing any weight then it doesn't matter. Dont stress...However, get him out of the cage with a diamond carpet....They are two different species from two different continents, and have different requirements. Gt him his own cage...asap.

Member Comment

11/14/2008 11:28:07 PM

FyreFocks

Your snake didnt make it to 5ft being force fed. A month is nothing for a snake of that size.
>>Get him his own cage...asap.
I agree.

Member Comment

11/14/2008 11:28:14 PM

Sonja K. Reptiles

First off, it is very common for Ball pythons to go feed - especially during the winter months. I would recommend you start keeping track of its weight, and there should be no need to worry (or force - feed) unless there would be significant weight loss. And then, it would be best to have it seen by a vet prior to considering force-feeding to make sure there is not an underlying cause to it not eating. BPs can go MULTIPLE months without eating.

Second thing that stands out is that you have two snakes housed together. I need to ask, "Why???" This is typically not the best option - especially with different species. Snakes are solitary animals in the wild. It can be stressful on them to be housed with another snake. (Possibly the reason for not eating, too.) There are also oportunistic feeders. They may seem to be getting along fine, and then one decides to eat the other. It is also much more difficult, if not impossible to track if both are defecating, etc. I hope you have been feeding them individually. It is also possible that it's choosing not to eat because of an oncoming shed cycle.

Member Comment

11/14/2008 11:28:25 PM

Kaiyudsai

I continuously hear of snakes dying as a result of forcefeeding.... forcefeeding should only be done as a last resort.......... THat ball python definately needs to be in a different enclosure....I'm with Stephen on this one....I would be his cagemate is a real source of stress.... snakes aren't social animals.... interaction only occurs during mating.... any other confrontations usually induce stress... Just out of curiousity how are you feeding these guys with them together....

Member Comment

11/14/2008 11:28:36 PM

dalvers63

All of my adult ball pythons (except females recovering from laying eggs) get a small/small rat once a week. This is more than enough for any adult ball python as they are very sedentary creatures. Ball pythons are known to go off feed to "recover" when they're fat.

A male ball python refusing food for 3 weeks is nothing. I've had one of my males go for 3 months before he decided to start eating again. Just make sure his temps and humidity are correct and offer him an appropriately sized food item every 3 weeks or so. When he's hungry, he'll eat. I'd also suggest weighing him monthly to make sure he's not losing weight. If you see a significant drop off in weight, it would be time to go the vet.

I have to second what other have said though - housing snakes together is just not a smart or safe thing to do. There is too much chance of stress and disease between them. When you see them "cuddling" what you are actually witnessing is competition and dominance for the best spots. Snakes are solitary creatures for the most part and do best when housed separately.

Member Comment

11/14/2008 11:28:44 PM

dalvers63

To amend what I just said, cause I didn't read your whole post (my bad!) - housing your ball python with another ball is bad enough. Housing him with a snake that has totally different husbandry needs is another thing entirely. There is no way you can provide the proper environment for both snakes if they're in the same cage. Please get another cage and separate them so that they can have the right environment to thrive.

Member Comment

11/15/2008 1:08:19 AM

aaron

>> I continuously hear of snakes dying as a result of forcefeeding

Although this could be that they are sick already, dying already (which something else necessitates the force feeding), and would have died, forced or not... so the force feed not necessarily the culprit.

Yes, separate them. :)

Accepted Answer

11/15/2008 2:35:09 AM

amarilrose

I'll echo a lot of the advice above:
Yes, please separate them (I used to keep many different species together too, once-upon-a-time, but we know better now).
No, don't force feed. This case does not call for it.

As far as male Ball Pythons, the male I have now is amazingly finicky. This time of the year, if he gets so much as a tiny little whiff of a female anything, he doesn't want food, just to breed. Such a guy.

The first Ball Python I ever kept would easily go 6 months without eating. He was also nearly 5 feet long, and a full-sized adult. We got very nervous about his fasting many times, and we weren't smart enough to track his weight, but he was perfectly healthy. He would eat everything that was put in front of him for several months at a stretch, and then fast. Sometimes he would only fast for 3 months. More than once he fasted for 6 months. We didn't like it, and we got worried about him, but he didn't lose body condition (the one decently intelligent thing we did watch). Take pictures now, and refer back to them over time to watch his body condition, in addition to monitoring his weight. This can help you to make sure that he isn't starving. He will probably stay off feed for a few months. Keep offering food on a normal schedule. He might surprise you and randomly feed once or twice over the winter. I would expect him to fast a while though.

Good luck with your animals! Happing herping. :)

Member Comment

11/15/2008 2:38:06 AM

amarilrose

wow, I'm too tired... time to go to sleep... that was supposed to end "Happy herping"

good night

Member Comment

11/15/2008 10:06:42 AM

Sparkle

Hmm, just a thought, are you housing a carpet python and a ball python together because you're trying to make a "carpetball"? Since the ball is a male and the carpet is a female...

Member Comment

11/15/2008 6:27:22 PM

coralluslove

wow your snake is overeating once a week is way too much especially for a male, an adult ball should only be fed once a month anyways maintenance diet my friend!!!! most captive snakes are so grossly overfed! the adult amazon tree boas i look after only eat every 4-6 weeks!! same goes for a ball

Member Comment

11/15/2008 7:23:00 PM

MegF

I've heard of male ball pythons going off food for almost a year. A month is nothing...even for a cornsnake. Separate, separate, separate!!!!! I would only feed a 5 ft (i.e. adult) ball python every 3-4 weeks. My chondros get fed every 2-3 weeks as do my amazons and corns. Only young babies are fed weekly. Pythons and boas have slower metabolisms than the average colubrid. I'd be willing to bet that if you fed less often, your diamond and probably your ball would take f/t. Well heated is a must and feed at night. I think most people don't heat the mouse enough and the snake doesn't have a good heat signature to go for. I've got 40 snakes...many of them were w/c adults and not one refuses f/t mice or rats.

Member Comment

12/2/2008 1:29:18 PM

TigerLilly

Everyone else has already said most of what I was going to say, most importantly about housing your snakes seperately and tracking the weight. In addition, though, if you find that the ball is loosing weight on a very noticeable basis, check/adjust the temperature.

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