Hi,
Im posting cuz im pretty worried about my ball python Hes small about 130g) but I dont know his exact age. I got him about 6 weeks ago and from the first month he was taking mice fine every 6-7 days. Now for the past 2 weeks he has refused feeds. I really dont know what is wrong cuz there have been no changes in his envirmoment. I cant think of any reason why he would stop eating and im very worried. He was a very keen feeder to begin with taking his food by strike. His 2 most recent feeds we had to leave in his viv and he eat them after a while. Now he just wont eat his mouse! Im scared he will die.
does anyone know how I can get him to eat? btw I havent held him since he first refused.. so I dont think im stressing him out.
any ideas?

I'm new to ball pythons so I'm still learning too, but what I do know is that they can become really picky eaters. I don't really know what I could tell you but I hope your little guy eats soon.

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0.1.0 Brazilian Rainbow boa (Sakura)
1.1.0 Leopard geckos (Tasuki, Sango)
2.0.0 Ball pythons (Tsume, Kenshin)

dont worry its normal for balls to go of their food, last year my big male went for about 10 weeks without eating, however 7-8 months is not uncommon. just keep offering a mouse every week and sooner or later you will get a sucessful feed
just stick it out

First of all, try to relax... he won't die. BPs are notorious for being fussy eaters for no reason at all. Even at his current weight, he can go more than a month without food.
A few possibilities: is he due to shed? Sometimes before they turn blue they don't feel like eating. Mine usually eats every 7-10 days, but then he'll refuse a few times and then I'll notice his colour getting dull and then he'll turn blue and he'll only eat again a full day after he's shed. This can mean a good 3-4 weeks without food for my little one.
Check your set up and temperatures. If the temps are too cold, he could just be noticing that it's winter time and going into a winter-fast. You should have a warm side and a cooler side with hide boxes on each end.
My guess is the shed cycle is due. Make sure he has enough humidity. I use a moist hide box (a tupaware container with moist sphagnum moss -- just cut one hole in the short side big enough for the BP to get into... keep the moss moist but not soaking wet.) My BP only uses his moist hide when he's in shed. He'll go in there and won't come out for 2 weeks.
Good luck. Don't worry... if he ate for you well before, he will again. Give him about 5 days before trying again. If he turns blue in the meantime, just wait till a day after he's shed.
Keep us posted! And welcome to HC!!

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Andrea

Hiya
thanks for ur reply.. my python has a heated tank, and I have a thermostat and in-out thermometer. The basking temp is set to about 32c He shed about 4 weeks ago, but as I dont know when he shed before that previously I cant tell u when hes due to shed next. (ive only had him about 6 weeks) Although I keep corns I am new to BPS so anything like this freaks me out. A guy sent me a nonfeeding corn snake which I have to assist feed so anything like this really stresses me out! I seriously dont wanna go through this with BB
I really hope the little guy will be fine, he is very special to me

Shedding is not usually on a predictable schedule. When they're young it can be quite often and irregular. I noticed that my BP shed whenever he had a couple of good meals or when I switched him to a bigger size mouse or rat.
Just wait about 5 days before trying to feed again. Then you can see if he's going into shed or not. Make sure he has plenty of fresh water at all times.
"Assist-feeding" is VERY stressful for both you and the snake. You really should avoid it. The animal might swallow but the stress of the feeding might cause regurgitation as well as the risk of you getting bit or the snake's jaw, mouth, neck and or body getting bruised or injured in the process.
Have you had the corn checked by a vet for parasites? There are a lot of feeding tricks to try before resorting to assist feeding.
What are you feeding? Mice? Rats? Live? Fresh-Killed? Frozen-Thawed?
There are A LOT of cornsnake keepers that can give you good advice on how to get your corn eating on it's own too.
We'll try to help any way we can.

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Andrea

don't worry about it. Elvis my BP is kinda weird like that. I just switched to frozen/Thawed and from mice to rats at the same time and he didn't eat for 3 weeks(although the first week he was in shed). I offer weekly but for some reason he only eats bi-weekly. I waste alot of money that way as i'm currently buying single mice from the pet store, but I guess he'll eat when he gets hungry.

I kinda forget sometimes that not everyone here is from the United States. I got the conversion for Degrees C in my head(its like double and add 22) But for the life of me I just can't do grams.lol

Fluffycorn,

Like it has been said, balls can be fussy when it comes to feeding. We had a Cal. King go a few months without eating, and even after he started eating if he got spooked by the f/t, then he wouldn't eat until next feeding. Even tonight we had a boa who refused lunch. I guess they will eat when they want to. Maybe thats why we do not see "obese" reptiles!

Steve

As everyone has said RELAX! Snakes are capable of going a ridiculously long time without feeding. Magic, my adult male, usually stops eating in November and starts back again in April or May! Its part of their breeding cycle and quite normal. First year it happened it almost drove me crazy. And that's a short trip!
Being that it is a young snake you can reasonably expect a shedding about once a month. My guess is the snake is fixing to shed.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!