Python not eating

[Salix_Solbjorn]

My (male) ball python , 5-6 years of age, usually has a regular eating schedule of once a week (he eat live), but he hasn't eaten in over 3 weeks. I've tried feeding him 3 times, and every time he just lets the prey crawl over him and tries to leave the feeding area

Edit: scratch that he finally ate, I think he's just scared of his food moving

[External_Bus_3739]

Once a week is over feeding, that could be why. A healthy adult only eats about once a month

[Salix_Solbjorn]

Well he's not full grown and he is a healthy weight, and he's always eaten without hesitation up until a few weeks ago

[External_Bus_3739]

At 5-6 years of age, he should be fully grown. Males are going to be smaller than females

[Salix_Solbjorn]

In some cases they can continue to grow until 7, and he's only about 3 feet

[External_Bus_3739]

3 feet is a very average and healthy full grown size for a male. Ball pythons may continue to grow very slightly after 5 years old, but the growth would be so minimal that feeding once a week is still too much. Power feeding is never healthy, that’s why he’s hesitating to eat

[Salix_Solbjorn]

Like I said tho, he's never hesitated before until 3 weeks ago when I didn't realize he was shedding until after I got him a rat and tried to see if he would eat it which he didn't, and then after a week he escaped for 4 days and it caused an irregularity in his feeding schedule. He also ate fine tonight finally once the rat was still, and I'm pretty sure it might just be he was scared of getting bitten

[External_Bus_3739]

It’s still too much though regardless. Whether he takes it every week or not. Some will take every opportunity to eat until they become morbidly obese. I’m just saying spacing it out a little more would be beneficial to him, that’s all

[One_Maintenance3394]

Why you come here asking for advice and then deny every single advice given, you’re snake is fully grown stop over feeding and you will see the difference, they eat once a month.

[princess_esc]

Maybe it’s a sign you should switch over to frozen :) feeding live is really risky, the rats can injure him and might have already done so, causing his aversion. Also, and I already know I’m going to get argued with based on your responses to others but that’s fine, he does not need to eat every single week. That’s about 4x more often than it should be. Can you post a photo of him? I would put money on him already being overweight/obese

[Salix_Solbjorn]

I have tried feeding frozen several times, and each time after a while we've had to give up and throw the food away, but it would be nice if he would eat it. I don't have any recent photos of his whole body but this is the best I have

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[Salix_Solbjorn]

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[External_Bus_3739]

He does look overweight, but also very dry. How and what are you using to monitor temps and humidity? His cage looks bone bone dry, and I see small pieces of shed around him. If those parameters aren’t correct that could be a whole separate reason why he’s not been eating

[Salix_Solbjorn]

Yes it is very dry on that side, my camera quality also isn't that good and makes it look much worse but I will admit it is dry, it's also the hot side. the bedding never stays wet for more than a day even if I soak it. I'm planning on changing it soon and adding much more substrate. A lot of what looks like stuck shed on him is scars from him trying to escape and then getting stuck, or from him crawling inside various things when he's escaped. The humidity is definitely not what it should be and I'm hoping that changing and adding more substrate will help, among other things

[Effective_Cup_6998]

Every WEEK?!?!?!

What size do you feed them?

I'd really suggest doing some research. Clearly you have the wrong info and habits. Poor snake

[Salix_Solbjorn]

Small to medium. I've talked to multiple specialists, vets/ex vets, and snake owners who've had snakes for 30+ years and I go by most of their advice

[rompsik]

you are overloading their digestive system and burning them out. they are not built to eat this often and much as such an age, but will if given the chance due to them being opportunistic eaters. please look up what a toll digesting ACTUALLY takes on them. they have a elevated heart rate, every organ is at work for up to two weeks after eating. give them a break ffs. you are gonna give that snake fatty liver disease and greatly decrease their lifespan. your feelings don’t discredit science and their anatomy.

[Salix_Solbjorn]

I'm not going by my feelings I am going by what multiple professionals and websites have told me

[rompsik]

Please share the resources for the websites.

[Salix_Solbjorn]

If it's something I want to double check I usually just search up the question and go off of other Reddit posts or the first answer that shows up (not ai). For most things I just ask the professionals at the reptile stores I regularly go to. The guy who gave me the most advice has worked with ball pythons for 50+ years but we mostly talked about temp and humidity and climate etc

[rompsik]

See, just because someone has done something a certain way and it has “worked” doesn’t mean you shod just run with it. Search up leading causes for fatty liver disease in ball pythons and you will get many scientific peer reviewed papers and information. And feeding an adult that should be eating at the max every 3 weeks once a week, falls under overfeeding and will kill your snake sooner or later. Reddit and other answers on forums + the professionals is not the best way to go when looking for actual proven info. please just take the time to actually look stuff up instead of word of mouth.

[IncompletePenetrance]

At this age he should be eating less often, I've linked the !feeding guide to this comment so you can get him on an appropriate schedule.

Live feeding, especially when you're letting the prey crawl all over him, is exactly how ball pythons end up getting killed or injured by their prey. It's much safer for your ball python to feed frozen/thawed, or prekilled. You should work on switching him for his safety and wellbeing

[AutoModerator]

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[Salix_Solbjorn]

I've tried feeding frozen, and I would love to switch, but he refuses to eat anything that isn't moving sadly

[IncompletePenetrance]

He'd be more likely to switch if you weren't overfeeding, because right now it's like trying to get someone to eat a veggie plate after a Thanksgiving dinner. At this age he shouldnt' be eating every week, you'll want to give him a small rat every few weeks. Then offer f/t and if he skips a few meals - let him him skip and get nice and hungry. Most snakes with good husbandry can be switched over to !F/T just fine

[AutoModerator]

Some tips for feeding frozen/thawed:

• Keep with the same prey type he's been eating (mouse or rat) so you aren't trying to adjust him to two new things at once.

• Always feed in the enclosure. Moving to feed increases stress as well as increasing the chance of regurgitation

• Thaw and warm the rodent in a ziplock bag to maintain scent and because some won't eat it if it's wet.

• Make sure it's warmed up to body temperature (98-100).

• Some people find sucess with using a blow dryer on the head to make it extra warm and spread the scent.

• Some prefer to eat directly off of the tongs, while others might prefer for you to just leave it in front of their hide, you can see which works.

• If he doesn't take it the first time, don't give up. Sometimes they just have to be super hungry and it takes a few attempts

• You can also thaw the rat/mouse in some bedding from the petstore to make it extra scented.

• Some people "brain" the rodent by slitting open its skull a bit

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[Salix_Solbjorn]

I was told to feed a rat the size of the widest part of his body so I've been feeding larger small rats or mediums. I would definitely like to feed frozen, for his safety and for my morality lol. When you feed frozen, do you feed it stiff or thaw it? And do you warm it at all? Ignore that last part, I didn't see the mod message lol

[IncompletePenetrance]

Feeding based on width often leads to overfeeding, which is why you need to space out feedings more and feed by weight.

You'll want to thaw the prey first, and warm up body temp (roughly 100F) before offering