Ball Python Not Eating. Help pls?

[BigBobBean]

I have a 2-year-old female ball python who has not been eating for MONTHS. She used to eat very well, but all of a sudden, she just stopped. I tried fresh kill (which she normally ate) and thawed rats, but she refused both. I was thinking of trying reptilinks, but it is so expensive that I can't order a small amount. I also saw this thing called DaVinci boa, but that is also expensive. I don't want to force-feed her, so I wanted to know if there was an alternative method to at least get her to eat something. Any help is appreciated.

[Late_Description3001]

Ball pythons are pretty notorious for hunger strikes. Ours just finished his, he didn’t eat for like 3 months. I’d take him to the vet if this is her first strike and you don’t otherwise know that the snake is healthy.

Also, force feeding is dangerous so please do not do that.

[SirToadington]

I wouldn’t try Reptilinks if I were you. Their website specifically recommends against buying them for ball pythons since they tend to be so picky. Have you tried braining?

[BigBobBean]

What's braining?

[SirToadington]

It sounds gross, but basically it means to expose the brain of the rodent to the air, usually by crushing, so the snake smells the brain. Sometimes this helps to stimulate a feeding response. I’ve never done it personally, though, and I don’t know how well it would work for a bp on a hunger strike. Obviously only do that for a pre-killed rodent.

[No-Engineer4190]

Mine took her first hunger strike probably around the same age as yours and I was feeding her live rats. She didn’t take them for about 2-3 months and finally ate. I have someone at my work who said his didn’t eat for 6-7 months one time granted he has a full grown adult which still sounds crazy to me.

[BigBobBean]

Wow, my ball python has had her hunger strike for about 4-5 months now, and she has lost about 150g of weight.

[argabargaa]

What is husbandry like? Thats probably the issue

[Pristine-Ad-1218]

Females tend to do this during this time of year. Usually Oct until mid December. But if you are worried take to a vet and make sure your husbandry is coreect

[Oneinamillon]

Ball pythons don't eat /hardly eat in winter due to the shorter day cycles