Snakes Aren't Eating

I was looking for some advice.

I have 8 bps, 6 eat f/t, 2 eat live. I feed weekly. I went to the pets store at the end of January and bought the two live rats, came home and gave the two live feeders the rats. My one ate his and the other did not. I don't have the set up to house rats, so I figured one of the 6 f/t eaters would take him. Not one of the f/t eaters would touch the rat and were very scared of his presence in their homes. Ever since then only 2 of the 6 have eaten a f/t meal and that was only once in between the end of January and now. I attempt to feed weekly and end up having to throw away 6 rats each week. The snakes are all in the 1000g - 1300g range and have been loosing some weight. Some of the snakes were extremely strong feeders and would strike as soon as the lid came off the tub, now they shy away as soon as I offer the rat.

In hindsight I never should have offered any of the f/t feeders the live rat and fear my actions have spooked the snakes so bad that they are now off feed. Could this have been the case? Is the only thing I can do to continue attempting once a week?

Also can you refreeze rats once they have been thawed out? I don't want to risk the snakes eating spoiled rats so I just throw them away.

Thanks for the help!

I have had f/t feeders who were reluctant to eat live prey (I fed f/t for a while before switching to live) but I doubt that the fact that you offered a live rat is what caused your snakes to go off feed. How old are the snakes that are fasting? How much weight have they lost? Ball pythons are prone to going off feed, especially during this time of year.

Oops, read the post again...1000 to 1300g is plenty big enough to withstand several months off feed as long as all your husbandry is correct. What are your setups like? My guess is this is a seasonal fast, but it never hurts to review everything for potential issues...

They are all with aspen bedding, hides. Water is changed every couple of days. Homes spot cleaned daily with complete cleans once a week.

I'm not worried about them dying from not eating, just was worried it was something I did. They were all eating so strong and packing on weight, sucks they decide to fast now. I had thought it may have been the live rat because they all ate the week prior to that.

Thank you though =]

It's a little late for this now, but in that situation I would've killed the rat myself before offering it to your snakes that were already eating F/T... no reason to introduce a live prey item to a snake that already eats dead ones just fine.

They very well may just be on a seasonal fast now, or they may feel less comfortable with eating, but either way I'd approach it the same. What I've done with snakes on a fast or finicky eaters is I check on them at least once every day and see if they look like they're in hunting mode. If they are then I offer them something asap and if not I might just wait. This limits the amount of wasted feedings and capitalizes on their hunger when they do feel it. But yea, patience and persistence is about all you can do now.

Originally Posted by mgoblue347

They are all with aspen bedding, hides. Water is changed every couple of days. Homes spot cleaned daily with complete cleans once a week.

I'm not worried about them dying from not eating, just was worried it was something I did. They were all eating so strong and packing on weight, sucks they decide to fast now. I had thought it may have been the live rat because they all ate the week prior to that.

Thank you though =]

welcome to keeping ball pythons,they can go off feed for months,no worries they will eat again longest I had was 9 months,I feed all live what ever they want to eat mice,rats,ASFs? Mine are shutting down now because of breeding season.

I thought it might have something to do with breeding season. I am just hoping they all start eating soon to be big enough for next season, my first season breeding. I had one of mine go 6 months without eat, 9 is a long time.

Thanks Greg and Evan

my thoughts exactly...welcome to Ball Pythons...I have 35 Balls and at any 1 point in time I have several that are in a fasting situation...if they goto long I might offer ASF's and that usually kick starts them...good luck with them...Im sure they will feed again and Im sure the live rat had very little to do with it...

Welcome to the ball python breeding season. It's not uncommon at all for larger balls to stop eating for months at a time. Just monitor their weight. SOME loss is ok, a lot means something is wrong. They'll start eating again when the want to.

Thanks guys