Ball Python suddenly always relentlessly wants food

SUPERCHARGE · 11-13-16, 12:34 AM

Hey ladies and gents. Need some advice here. Have a 4 ft female ball python which I've had for 2 yrs. Always took care of her, proper temps, humidity and all. After somehow miraculously healing from bad scale rot and not eating for near 6 months, she started to eat again... A LOT. Got much, much stronger in a short period of time and bigger, but her hunger concerns me. Always had her on two mice a week, sometimes she'd take both, sometimes not.

After recovering about three months ago, she gradually started eating more. She started to be hyper-active, always circling her feeding tank looking for mice. I decided to keep her on the simple two ASF rats a week, until 3 weeks ago, when she snatched a chicken wing from a roommate. So I fed her more. In a 7 day period, I've fed her 3 ASF's and 2 mice in a week and is still looking around for critters. She acts starved, she doesn't even wait till she's fully in the tank before she attacks, will eat very quickly, and just keep looking around the tank.

She doesn't rest after meals either. I let her out a lot and always moving around. What do I do? Keep feeding her till she's content or limit her? I don't know if she's simply acting like this because she's still recovering from last winter and really needs the protein.

**Andy_G** · 11-13-16, 09:34 AM

Snakes can literally eat themselves to death. Make a regimen for her and stick to it. Slow and steady.

Albert Clark · 11-13-16, 09:49 AM

Well, for sure I am glad that she made a nice recovery and that you have the husbandry on point. However you should consider drastically cutting back on the over feeding even if it seems like she continues to crave food. Consider getting a scale to weigh her and once you have her weight in grams estimate giving her 15% of that weight in a single prey item once a week. This is a guideline that is used mainly for younger animals but in this case you need to start a specific regimen to avoid the bp becoming unhealthy. Feeding an appropriate sized meal consistently is what you want to aim for and is actually sufficient nutrition based on her weight.

MartinD · 11-13-16, 10:05 AM

Friend of mine has a female bearded dragon and she is the same, she will eat and eat and eat, if my friend walkss past the viv she look at her as if to say "What! no food?". Now my friend has limited her to 4 locusts every other day and the usual Rocket or Kale for her veggie's. Now when she walks past the viv her beardie is not looking at her for food and is comfortable with her new feeding regime.

**Aaron_S** · 11-13-16, 05:30 PM

I'd be really shocked that she grabbed a chicken wing from someone....

bigsnakegirl785 · 11-13-16, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

I'd be really shocked that she grabbed a chicken wing from someone....

lol

My bp has been a terrible feeder since I first moved back in 2012, and this past year he has randomly become a good feeder. Only refused one meal, and that's because I was feeding him mediums rather than smalls. I wanted to see if I could get him back on rats before ordering some and didn't have any smalls at the time. What do you know, he took it first try. He ate 2 mediums in a row spaced 3 weeks apart and refused to take a 3rd one, but ate a small when my rodent order came in.

Lately, he's been a voracious feeder, striking at me when I walk by and coming out of his hide at the slightest vibration. Now that he seems to be gaining weight back from his fast last year he's finally calmed down. No more striking although he still comes out in the hopes of food. He did this last year coming off his fast, too. Lost 13% of his weight in 3 months then started eating again. Once he was eating for awhile he got rather enthusiastic about food, striking the tub and everything. Once he broke 1,300 grams again he calmed right down.

So that may be what's going on here, now that she's had a chance to get some food in her, her appetite is running high. Give her a few months on a regular feeding schedule and see if she goes back to normal once she's less desperate for food.