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i have a few questions...

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cherrykiss

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Hey I am new here I just registered but I have a few questions for you guys.

I have a male ball python and i've had him for about 6 months. He always used to eat really well. He would always only eat live mice and never prekilled. Then one day he stopped eating. I tried everything, different times, prekilled and live, and every possible way. After he didn't eat for 2 months I took him to the vet and the vet had no explanation for why he wasn't eating. Then another 2 months rolled around and he still didn't eat. Finally I bought him a baby tiny live mouse and he finally ate. Hopefully he will continue to eat.

Do you think it was because the mice I was trying to feed him were possibly too big so that is why he wouldn't eat?? He always ate that size of mice before and then he just stopped. He is still a young python. I would guess about a lil over a year, he's a good 2 feet and pretty thick although he lost some weight from not eating.

anyway i was just curious about that and also right now i'm using reptile bark for his cage but i want to change it for something else any recomandations???

Thanks for your help

Amanda
 
The size of the food probably didn't have anything to do with it unless it was REALLY big.
Ball pythons tend to go off feed. Nothing to worry about as long as the enclosure is set up with the proper temps/hides/etc. Your vet should have pointed this out after checking the snake.
One of my BP's stopped eating in Oct last year and is still off feed.
One of the joys of keeping ball pythons is the fact that a majority of them go off feed.
As long as the snake isn't losing weight and there is nothing that is stressing it out (another snake being housed with it) and the temps are correct, it will eat again when it is ready.
 
Welcome to the forums Amanda.

Its not an oddity for Ball pythons to go off feed for 4-6 months.
As far as the food being too big, I doubt thats the case. A yearling ball should easily be able to comsume a small rat.

If you can, offer him a small rat at his next feeding and see if he accepts it. And as far as the non feeding issue, I wouldn't worry about it unless it gets close to a year and he starts to lose weight.

I use paper towel for my smaller animals, and care fresh for the adults. Another great substrate option is newspaper.
 
Ball Pythons are notorious for going off feed. many things can make them do so. Things like slightly cooler temperatures (often caused by winter time conditions - yes even indoors), less light in the natural daylight cycle, being bitten by a prey item, ingesting a piece of substrate when eating, having a bacterial or viral infection, having parasites, etc.

If it did not loose lots of weight in that time, and kept well hydrated, then chances are it is none too much the worse for the wear. I don't think it was the size of the mice, but if one or more scared him in some way (usually by a bite) that could put it off feed for months. I routinely fed my baby balls live small adult mice with no problems.

I do suggest you find another vet who knows something about herps, or who knows more about herps than does your vet. Better yet, you could have saved yourself a vet bill by doing a bit of research on BPs first, and discovering that these fasts occur with some regularity among the species, even among captive bred specimens. If there is no rapid weight loss and/or no great weight loss chances are the snake is fasting for reasons other than disease or parasites - such as environmental concerns in its enclosure.

Does the snake have a hide-box or two. They will grab a mouse that is just outside the entrance to the hide-box. A hide with the hole in its top as opposed to its side seems to work best for my snakes. Try feeding it at night, lights out except for a dim light that is just enough for you to watch to keep an eye on the mouse (never leave unattended live rodents in with a snake unless they are incapable of biting such as crawlers or pinkies).

I am surprised at all that it took a pinky or a tiny baby mouse. Usually mine would not even bother with stuff that small. This does make me wonder if the snake was in some way intimidated by larger mice for some reason. Now that it is eating though, my guess is that it will continue to do so.

Good luck.;)
 
thank you guys for all ur help i appreciate all your repsonses. i was still wondering though what i can use instead of reptibark? isnt there anything else thats better??

thank you all! :)
-amanda
 
i was still wondering though what i can use instead of reptibark? isnt there anything else thats better??
Click to expand...

I use paper towel for my smaller animals, and care fresh for the adults. Another great substrate option is newspaper.
Click to expand...
 
substrate

Amanda, I use shredded aspen for all my snakes. From cornsnakes to womas I have found it to be the best for my situation. Each herper has their own preference for substrate and you will get many different answers to this question. You should not feed the snake in the cage on aspen, reptibark, or care fresh though. I use rubbermaid tubs for feeding. Reptibark is ok too. You can lightly mist it when you see the snake about to shed and the moisture will help him shed easily. Reptibark, aspen, and care fresh all have the advantage that you can spot clean the enclosure when the substrate is soiled rather than replacing it all as with cage liners, newspaper, and paper towels. Make sure your snake have the correct heat, light, and humidity. Give him a hiding spot at the warm and cool end of the enclosure. Good luck, David
 
As far as preference in size of prey I have noticed some differences. In my collection there are pythons that prefer a certain size of prey and will not dare going for another one (I'm talking about live). Substrate preference: I use newspaper. As far as not eating it could be a seasonal thing but at one year old some males are almost ready to breed (it goes more by weight than by age though). When in breeding mode some males will quit eating altogether while there will be others that don't stop. In short, I keep boas and breed balls and boas. Ball pythons can be very unpredictable in their feeding patterns and preferences. That's why I breed mice, gerbils, and siberians.

Regards.
 
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