How long until I should worry?

Koumansa · 06-07-17, 10:07 AM

Hey guys,

How long can my BP (about 1 year old) refuse to eat before I should start to worry?

Background:
A while ago I got myself my first BP (yay!) and she adjusted herself quite well I'd say. For a while there weren't any problems with feeding frozen/thawed mice but about 2 weeks ago she just refused to eat and was more interested in my hand than the dead mouse. She didn't attack it, just looked at it and then left.

Here's what I do to feed her:
She got a lot of space in her enclosure, so I remove part of the half in which she isn't at the moment and put the food box in (just a wide open container so she knows it's feeding time). I place her in there, go grab the mouse and place it in the other half of the box while pulling the prey around a bit.

It gets her interest, she comes to smell what's going on but then goes and does other things. For example, today she just climbed up to my hand and then left again. It's like she acknowledges the fact that there is food but then says she isn't hungry.

Anyway, that's totally fine by me, I just want to know: How long can I let her refuse to eat before bringing her to the vet? I know 2 weeks is nothing and I shouldn't worry. I just want to be prepared in case this lasts a bit longer than hoped.

**Andy_G** · 06-07-17, 10:33 AM

I'd ditch the feeding container enitirely. In order to warrant being worried, your snake has to have lost significant weight.

Albert Clark · 06-07-17, 03:09 PM

Don't worry, this is typical ball python behavior. You do need to ditch the extra container during feeding times. That is only a stress increaser. She is about 1 year old but what is her current weight? Try and get a baseline weight on her and monitor it twice a month. Most times inappetance can be traced back to husbandry shortfalls. Illness and or injury must be ruled out first. Checking your temps and humidity are a given. Try adding a extra hide to aid in security and consider switching your substrate to 100% cypress mulch. Or at least mixing in 100% cypress mulch to the existing substrate. The weight that most usually starts to be problematic with ball pythons refusing food is known as the 1000gram wall.

Koumansa · 06-08-17, 09:57 AM

So I checked, she's 8-9 months old as of now and weighs 500+ grams. Seems like we've never even hit the 1000 gram wall in the first place x) Checked temperature and humidity, they seem fine. She behaves as she usually does, neither aggressive nor apathic behavior that might indicate any sort of injury. There are 4 hides but I'll add some more fake plants to some spots to create more of a "secure" living space.

Albert Clark · 06-08-17, 10:46 AM

Great job! Were you able to grab some 100% cypress mulch? Also, the hides that you have, are they really tight fitting? A snug really tight hide works well for security sense with ball pythons. I didn't think she was 1000 grams at a year old but it certainly is a possibility.

trailblazer295 · 06-08-17, 10:50 AM

General rule is 10-15% lost weight. 2 weeks won't hurt a snake. I skipped a feeding when my guy was in shed plenty of times. He is 3 and pushing 2000g now.

**Aaron_S** · 06-08-17, 12:43 PM

I read two weeks and skipped the rest of the post. It'll be fine. Just be consistent in your offering. Also at 500 grams you'd want to start switching over to rats.

Koumansa · 06-09-17, 08:06 AM

I haven't gotten the cypress mulch yet, I'll pick it up on my next trip to the store, as well as the recommended rats. She has different sized hides and the one she's in most is very tight fitting.
Thank you all very much for your help so far