ball wont eat

[taralynn]

My ball python is about 4 years old.. Its never had a problem with eating, its always had the same temperatures and bedding ect. She hasnt eaten in about 3 months and I dont know what to do to get her to eat... How do you force a snake to eat something??

[alessia55]

My ball python is about 4 years old.. Its never had a problem with eating, its always had the same temperatures and bedding ect. She hasnt eaten in about 3 months and I dont know what to do to get her to eat... How do you force a snake to eat something??

Unless she's losing weight, you shouldn't worry yet. Ball pythons can go off feed for whatever reason for months and not lose weight and be totally fine. It's more stressful for us humans than it is for them.

How often are you attempting to feed her? Offering food should only be ever 7-14 days, and not any less. Offering food more often than that will only stress her out.

It's also recommended that you don't handle her while she's off feed.

[taralynn]

I havent been handling her Iv only got her out like twice as apposed to every day.. every time I feed my other snakes I buy her a mouse too and she doesnt eat it.. then I keep them and try every 10 days when I feed the others. She sometimes looks interested then she flinches away from it like shes scared. It makes no sense! She isnt really losing weight that I can tell... Its just bothering me so much! She wont eat and my Green tree Python has mites.. Iv tried everything with that.. someone just told me to get Prevent a mite.. they said that is the best so I just ordered it... these pets are worse than dogs haha

[alessia55]

It sounds like you're feeding her live. Has she ever been scratched or bit by a mouse? Sometimes that'll make a ball python more wary of live prey. Try offering her a frozen/thawed prey and leave it with her overnight. Again, if she isn't losing weight, you don't have to worry about her yet.

You should be actively treating the mites on your GTP as soon as possible. Provent-a-Mite will help. You will need to treat the rest of your snakes that are in the same room too, since mites can spread easily.

[KORBIN5895]

Alessia pretty much covered it but it could be because of breeding season. Also once it starts eating again do you feed more than one mouse per meal?

[mattchibi]

Pictures speak a thousand words. If she doesnt look skinny or underweight, I wouldnt be worried. Invest in a digital scale if you want some peace of mind, and keep track of your snake's weight every week.

[Lankyrob]

Is there any reason why a four yr old ball is only eating mice? My 18month old is eating medium rats??

[mykee]

The only reason a four year old ball python would be eating mice is ignorance of the keeper. I would imagine with that said, that the husbandry is off and it finally caught up. OP; post how you keep your balls. Heat, size of enclosure, bedding, temps, etc. I bet dollars to donuts that your problem lies here.

[taralynn]

Im pretty sure its 4.. thats what the pet store told me. I used to go to get mice and I would always go in the reptile room and there was this older ball in a tiny little tank it couldnt move at all... after seeing her there for over a month I decided to buy it so I could give it a better home. They told me that she was eating large mice and that she didnt go for rats. I have the thin wood chip blend bedding with some moss in the one corner to help with humidity... I keep the temp in the eighties in the day and like 75 at night.. I dont know what size the tank is but it is long enough for her to fully stretch out. The scale is a good idea! She doesnt seem to be losing weight but I'll be able modify it better. Thawed mice hopefully could work too...
For the mites, Iv been keeping an eye on the snake that is close to her.. I got this other mite off spray.. sprayed her bought all new stuff for her tank and cleaned it.. then they just came back.. Hopefully this new spray will work.. If not can a vet give me something different?

[Lankyrob]

Day time temps should be 91f at the hot end - i assume you have a hot and cold end?

Do the mice leave a nice bulge in the snake after it eats? My BP is only 18months and a large mouse wouldn't be noticeable once it was in its belly.

[youngster]

Large mice are what I feed my adult corns which have about 1/3 or less of the girth of full grown royals. Have you tried feeding rats? Sometimes they just take them. Also how many mice are you feeding her? 1 adult mouse is definitely not big enough for an adult ball.

[theapexgerman]

A ball that 4 years old should be on rats but balls and other go on a hunger strike every now and then so like other said if not loseing weight should be ok I would diff invest in a scale

[mykee]

This is a husbandry issue for sure.
Hot spot: 90-95. DON'T drop the temps at night unless you're breeding it.
Cool spot: 80-82
Two hides; one at each end.
Relative humidity: 60-65%
Bedding is up to you, use something that will hold enough humidity to aid in that 60% but not so much that you'll end up with scale rot.

[jarich]

Good grief, there's nothing wrong with feeding mice. Nutritionally they are the same (very slightly better even), so what if you might have to feed more of them? I generally feed rats, but its not like feeding mice will do any damage to your python. The size of prey to girth ratio is to keep people from feeding things too large, not a measure of minimum size of prey.

[mykee]

Nothing wrong with mice at all. I feed my hatchlings mice for two or three meals until I can get them onto rats.
The issue is that mice never get above 40-ish grams, so the issue lies with adult balls (namely females who get over 1500 g (all of them) and the fact that you can't avoid feeding 4-5 mice to equal one good sized rat to attain the proper nutritional requirements and caloric intake. I breed my own feeders so it's not a problem for me (though I don't own a single mouse eater in my entire collection).
The secondary issue is cost; pure and simple for those who don't breed their own feeders and I think that most here fall into that category. An adult mouse is roughly $3 from a pet store, and if you're feeding 4 to a 1500g female, that's $12 a week as opposed to $4 a week for a similarly sized rat.

[jarich]

They are a little cheaper if you are buying them, and yes it does take about 3 or 4 to equal one rat. Thank you Mykee for that much more clear and understandable second post on the subject.

[shaunyboy]

For the mites, Iv been keeping an eye on the snake that is close to her.. I got this other mite off spray.. sprayed her bought all new stuff for her tank and cleaned it.. then they just came back.. Hopefully this new spray will work.. If not can a vet give me something different?


mite off don't work mate its crap

the prevent a mite you ordered will do the job and sort out your mite problem

its always worked first time everytime,on the occasions i used it

follow mykee's husbandry info and things will work out

she may be off her food due to breeding season,as its not only males that do that

once you get her feeding regular,you can always try swapping her over to rats

cheers shaun

[taralynn]

Well the only reason I was feeding her mice was because thats what the place I got her from fed her. I was going to switch to small rats but then she stopped eating. I called a couple different places and they said stick to mice until she eats.. but thats just not happening. I do have a hot and a cold area it is 80 and 90 degrees.