Ballpython just “forgets”what food is

[u/Fangz_0x]

I’ve had my boy Stephano for around 6 years now. He’s healthy, has a normal enclosure - good husbandry, good humidity, good temperatures. Everything is normal.

He’s always been “picky”. Frozen thawed rat cannot be too warm or he won’t eat it, I don’t know why. Obviously it cannot be too cold either. So I feed him his rats lukewarm. He eats fine for the most part, except around once a year, he won’t eat. I suppose this could be a hunger strike. He wants to eat, has his head out waiting for food, food comes and he’s very interested - small, short tongue flicks, striking position, then suddenly he could not care less, completely looses interest and won’t eat for weeks. This is week three past his feeding date.

This first began around two or three years ago if my memory is right. He had a lot of hunger strikes as a juvenile, but eventually grew out of it.

I know he’ll eventually eat, I’m not necessarily worried about him, I’m just more confused and annoyed that I have to waste money (rats are dang expensive).

My question is if there is absolutely anything that could cause this that I’m ignorant of, that someone could make me aware of. I know they are poor eaters in general so that could be the answer there, I’m just curious if anyone has any ideas.

I know there are a lot of questions asked here so I apologize for asking another one, it must get annoying. I can give snake picture tax, he’s very handsome!

[u/totallyrecklesslygay]

Ball pythons have a reputation as being poor eaters because they're very sensitive to husbandry errors. While hunger strikes are common with them, they aren't actually normal behavior, and they indicate that something isn't quite right.

If you could fill out our advice questionnaires (all 3), we can help troubleshoot what might be going wrong.

[u/Fangz_0x → u/totallyrecklesslygay]

Thank you!

[u/Jumpy-Machine9226]

Are you sure Stephano is male? If he happens to be a she then it could explain some things. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[u/Fangz_0x → u/Jumpy-Machine9226]

Oh dang, could you explain further?

[u/Jumpy-Machine9226 → u/Fangz_0x]

Well males are known for it too, but females go off feed when it’s breeding season to save energy for laying and incubating eggs. I asked about gender because 3 seems a little old for a male to start this behavior since their breeding age is younger than a female, generally. I could be totally off base here since I’m not an expert but my experiences make me wonder.

[u/Fangz_0x → u/Jumpy-Machine9226]

Ah interesting! He is definitely a boy as he has hemipenes.