My four year old ball python is not eating! Can someone help please?

Question

My ball python, Tessie, used to live in Virginia with my dad until this June. She moved up to live with me in New England and she has been fine until about a month and a half ago. She was getting ready to shed so she was not eating as normal but she finished sheding a month ago and every attempt to feed her has ended in a failure. She is still active and healthy and I know snakes can go a long time without food but I want to get this problem over before something does happen. The same thing happened to my friend whose Western Hognose did not eat all winter but ate again in the spring. My snake will stare at the rat as though she wants to eat it but then turns her head away. Any help would be much appreciated!

Answer 1

if you want to make her eat get some help and you can force feed her it will not be easy tho I used to have one to.

Answer 2

She is living in a colder climate and may be too cold. An under tank heater should have temps set in the 85F-88F range. Use a digital probe thermometer to measure the glass temp. A hide over this area is needed, as well as a cooler hide on the other side of the tank. A mild heat source like a low watt bulb may be needed to raise temps a bit (only during the day).
Snake will stop eating with illness as well. Checking for parasites and mouth infection is a good idea. A check up by a herp vet would be a good idea.

http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/

Answer 3

A gravid or egg-laying female may not eat. Winter months are the breeding season, so they sometimes won't eat at this time. Snakes can go 8-12 months without eating and be fine. There is no need to worry at this point, as she is still active and healthy.

This site has some more information on it:
http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/

Answer 4

my ball python "Montee", didn't eat for three months after I got him....then one day he just did it, i was amazed, and now he eats good but on occasion he won't eat and just stares at his food too. I wouldn't worry too much, he or she will eat when its ready....sometimes they are just not in the mood. I worry about my snake all the time too.....You can also force feed him if you need and there are some good articles on line on how to do this...you can also call petsmart and ask someone there about force feeding. I wouldn't worry too much. They eat less much less in winter...and have been known to go a year without food. Happy New Year..

Answer 5

Ball (royal in B.English) pythons are notorious for this kind of thing. See if you can get hold of an African mouse, ball pythons adore them and it might just get her feeding again. If you feed from frozen you could try freshly killed or live feeding but live feeding should be considered a last resort as it is pretty inhumane.

Answer 6

To the person that recommended force feeding, where did you get that information from? no snake should be force-fed so early on and it's defiantly not recommend for beginners.
P. Regius(latin names make it easyer) is notorious for going off feeding, some will stop feeding for up to a year. Make sure the temps are correct and don't bother it(handling) it for a month. Then try feeding it.

Answer 7

she may not be warm enough. i am assuming she has heat rock? is her tank near a wall? maybe the cold of the wall is slowing her metabolism down. Maybe wrap a blanket around back and sides of tank and make sure she either has a place to hide or has ample light and dark times. it may be that she knows she is not staying warm enough to digest well.

Answer 8

I have had this problem also. I have found that a bath really helps with shedding, exercise, and appetite. I would try that!! It worked for me!