just kinda ranting and wondering

[dieselbrnr73]

Well, this is my first winter with my BP's and Shiloh quit eating a month ago. The rat He wasn't eating i was doubling up on Stonewall,my other bigger BP and it was chowing down the extra one like nothing every week. Finally last week i only bought one rat, well then Stonewall decided he/she wasn't gonna eat its rat so i gave Shiloh the opportunity and he didn't hesitate and took it. This week both of them refused so now i gotta keep their rats in an old aquarium until they do. Damn brats. i hope this doesn't go on all winter. My baby little lesser Gabriel is still slamming her Lil ole mice like no tomorrow. Just really hope she doesn't stop, she's just a little one, just now pushing 183 grams. She just doesn't have the reserves Shiloh1062 grams and Stonewall1325 grams to go a few months without feed. When do they usually go back on in spring from your experiences guys? And how much weight loss would be considered something to start being concerned over. Don't get me wrong, these two are definitely chunky healthy kids by all means for sure. So not worried so much but still in back of my mind.

[Donnie_K]

the babies don't usually go off feed... the adults almost always do... may be march or april before they eat again.

[SnakeGirl]

Agreed with Donnie--mine are usually offered food between the first and middle of March: some will take it that early and some won't (typically the females are the first to take it, but even they won't if they've been bred and have already ovulated).  But most all of mine are back on feed by April (unless they are gravid females).

For my larger balls (3,000+ grams), I don't really sweat 200-400 grams of weight loss.
For my big balls (2,000-2,999 grams), I don't sweat 100-300 grams of weight loss.
For smaller ball pythons(800-1,999 grams), I don't sweat 50-200 grams of weight loss.
Granted, all of these weights are over the period of the entire winter, not just a week or two.  Any huge amount of weight loss all at once should definitely be monitored closely, and even a visit to the vet if subsequent weighings also show another significant loss.  Bear in mind that if your snakes voluntarily refuse food, you might consider dropping the tank temps about 5 degrees, so as the keep the weight loss to a minimum until they act like they want food again (they typically stick their heads out of their hides around feeding time/day when they are hungry).  Since their metabolism is based on their temps, cooling them a bit slows their metabolism, and thus they don't lose as much weight.  However, if they've had any meals in the past 3 weeks, don't cool.  Once they've refused meals for 3 weeks, it's OK to cool them.  If you cool earlier, they might not properly digest their last meal.

Another trick you can try is lowering their temps for a few weeks and them bump them back up.  It can trick them into thinking spring has come again and that they should begin feeding again.  However, balls are the finickiest eaters, so sometimes even this doesn't work for them.

I've read somewhere that most weight loss during the hibernation months is water loss rather than fat (based on a slightly cooler tank temp).  I try to weight mine every 2 weeks to determine if there's a huge amount of weight loss, or if it's just typical water loss (which is generally around 25-75 grams per 2 week period, and depending on the size of the snake).

Hope this helps!

[Peter_Steele]

Yeah all mine have been off feed now for like 2-3 months now. Brom 2100g Arya 2000g and Blaze 850g are all off for now. I still offer once a week but they are too busy getting busy lol As long as they dont lose too much weight all will be good. It can be a bit stressing though when they will go on and off like yours are. I know my solomon island ground boa did that year round but he was wild caught. They should be back to normal in a couple months. And yeah babies hardly ever go off feed. those little guys will slam down like crazy and just want more lol.

[dieselbrnr73]

Thanks everyone. It is frustrating not having them eat. Am gonna offer something every other week for now. Might try the Temp drop then bump later next month, Am gonna put lights on a timer in my room to make the daylight hours go a little longer.Guess the bright side is i can save few bucks every week for a time while their off and save for a new critter LOL.

[illbeyoursoldier]

You need to switch to frozen Bro so that you can just pop them back in the freezer when they refuse!! It's the only way to go! No hassle!! Ball Pythons are too picky to worry about buying live prey regularly. The only way I can see doing it is if you breed your own rodents.

[dieselbrnr73]

Finally my spider ate!!!WoooHoooo . He shed yesterday somehow, don't know how he managed to grow with out eating, LOL And He looks fantastic with his new paint. will post some updated pics, like i said he just ate.  Still got one more i need to start eating, but got hope now.

[Peter_Steele]

Ooh pics I  can't wait. I'm glad that he ate for you. They should be coming around now off feed. It's not guaranteed but some start to eat again when it warms up a bit.

[Southern_Boa_Gurl]

Congrats!!!  My female pastel has still be on/off so far.  She last ate March 9th and has refused now twice since I just have offered her every other week.  My young spider eats every week tho without a glitch, but he's only 8 months now so I'm sure he'll stop next winter.  It is rather annoying when they don't eat though, but like Chelsea said, switching to frozen was the best thing I had ever done.  I usually offer and if they don't eat, I will re-freeze once and then offer again.  If they don't eat that then I usually throw it away.  It does seem that frozen feeders are cheaper too and especially if you don't have to keep them alive if the snakes refuse them!!  Anyways, glad to see your spider ate and can't wait to see pics!!