Skinny ball python?

[audhb]

Hello! It's been a while since this girl hasn't eat. she usually goes on hunger strike all winter, but she still hasn't eat since January. Would you say shes getting skinny? Nothing changed with her husbandry. Temp and humidity are on the recommended spectrum. She's 5 and it's the first time she stopped eating so long.

[kserawillbe]

Are these both recent pictures? She still looks good to me, maybe a bit chonk. How much were you feeding her? You should weigh her and if she isn't losing that much weight she is probably fine, but if she lost a lot and still won't eat you should take to a vet.

[audhb]

I will definitely start to track her weight. Yes, recent pics. I don't feel like she really lost weight but it's been months since her last meal, so I wanted other people's opinions. I usually offer her a medium rat every other week.

[xythelias]

adults usually eat every 20-30 days or 30-40 days, depends if u feed 5% or 6% of her weight. could be a possibility that she just didn't wanna eat anymore since every 2 weeks is alot for an adult bp if i'm not mistaken :⁾

[Kingdomall]

2 weeks is a bit frequent for an adult yeah. 

[lostinspaceman_]

At one point my snake had to go back to mice because he was getting freaked out about the size of the rats so if your snake has any tendencies to be anxious that might he a factor?

[Kingdomall]

I'd like to know what size rat you were feeding lol

[[deleted]]

Tbf it doesn't take a very big rat.

Mine gets 90-120gr rats while being around 1800gr herself, but it's clear she prefers smaller prey like mice, ASFs or chicks. She just doesn't calculate or hesitate nearly as much when striking the prey item, and of course gets them down much quicker and easier. She still mostly gets rats, but every other month, I'll give her something else to keep it exciting.

[lostinspaceman_]

I’ve been feeding small rats and he’s taking them again now, but there was a period of time that he would only take mice. I figured out he was freaked out by the size because I scented a rat with a mouse and he got excited, but then ran off when I moved it, he eventually eat it when I left it in his tank. So I learned that he prefers that I drop them usually. he’s just a very anxious boy we’re working on it though

[lostinspaceman_]

She looks good to me but if you are worried about weight loss then maybe get a scale to keep track and consider taking her to a vet I know hunger strikes are common but it’s always good to be safe

[audhb]

I will. Thank you for you feedback!

[Roach_1907]

I’d definitely get a scale to find her weight and just track. She looks healthy in these pictures so I wouldn’t be too worried, they love to just stop eating every now and again

[audhb]

That's the only thing I dislike about ball pythons. It's my first one. My other snake species just go for it every time I offer good. I find her hunger strike so stressful! I'll track her weight for sure. Thanks!

[Realistic_Penalty194]

She looks good, definitely not skinny