My bp is about a year old now. He has been refusing food for 7 weeks now. He went from eating regularly to refusing. He still looks healthy but at his age is this normal to go this long? I’m worried about him.
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Need waaay more information. What does his setup look like? Parameters? How long have you had him, and has there been any switch up in his diet? What was he eating when consisent and how often?
Pictures help, as well. He could just be in shed - a little guy of mine that usually eats like a champ randomly took a whole month off. Shedded out, then right back to eating without issue.
A small scale to monitor weight is super useful for cases like this, a cheap kitchen scale that tracks weight in grams. I’ll bet he’s alright, but again, pictures of him and his setup would be incredibly useful for helping determine what may be the cause of his fasting and how to fix it!
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I’ve had him since the beginning of May this year. He is on f/t rat pups. He was eating every week or 2. Temps are about 84-89 on hot side, 78 on cool side. 50-65% humidity. I’ll attach pictures.
The only thing I can think of is it’s been soooo hot down here we’ve had trouble with air conditioning so I’ve had to turn his heat source off because if the air conditioning can’t keep up it gets to hot in there for him. So I turn it off to be safe. Other than that there’s been no changes.
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Is his heat source connected to a thermostat? If so, then it shouldn’t be necessary to turn it off - even with additional heat, it should never push beyond the set temperature. If the area he’s being kept in is nearing/exceeding that, then you may need to consider relocating him to somewhere cooler in the home - excessive heat could definitely be attributing to his lack of appetite. What temps are the ambient hitting, with the heat wave you’re experiencing?
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It’s on a thermostat but I read that even when it exceeds what it is set on, it’s still on and heating at 10%. Usually when I get in it is about 78-80 and I turn it back on since I can watch it at home. One day I came in and it was 96. I freaked out and moved him out. Since then I figured it would be safer to turn it off than risk him get to hot.
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Yikes. 
Might be worth your while to take a little money and invest in a better thermostat, if that’s what it’s doing. It definitely could play a hand in what made your little dude go off food, though again sometimes ball pythons are just finicky like that. His body condition looks pretty typical of a young bp, and if he isn’t dropping dramatic amounts of weight with access to fresh water he should be alright while fasting.
I’ll assume you’re only offering once a week? I would try no more frequently, as trying too often can equally stress him out and put him off food. Try to keep hands-off until he’s eating again, outside of weighing him to monitor his body condition, maybe every other week. I know that’s hard, but minimizing other stressors is important to help him regain his appetite. Feed him late in the evening, maybe just before you go to bed, and if he doesn’t take it immediately just leave it near him overnight. I have a boy who goes back and forth on taking his food off the tongs or if he just wants drop-fed.
If your little guy continues to not want to eat, you could try offering him a live rodent as well. I’ve used that tactic before for a youngster that suddenly decided he wasn’t interested in eating for a few months, and giving him a live feeder seemed to kick-start his appetite again. He went right back to f/t after that. There’s a couple other tricks you can try as well before trying live, but I’d just start with the other stuff and go from there!
Hopefully little man starts eating again soon. He’s gorgeous!
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@ldk1991 If it does get to point that you are thinking about offering live, try a ft small or medium mouse first before you go to live. I have a ball python that quit eating several months ago. He was about the same age as yours now. I offered him a mouse that he happily accepted. Sometimes it’s that tiny tweak that does the trick.
He should go back to rats easily…..
If this doesn’t work then go for live…..
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What sort of thermostat are you using? My Herpstat definitely does not run at 10% when the max temp is reached, it goes straight down to 0%.
For a while, I balked at the high price tag on higher-end thermostats like Herpstat and VE, but now that I have one, I can confirm that they are absolutely worth the money.
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+1 for Herpstats. Absolutely worth every penny. Buy them now, because they’re having issues with trade uncertainty lately and might run out of stock.
I’ve had a couple VEs fail, but would use one if Herpstats simply weren’t available.
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Thank you so much. What thermostat and all do you use? I only offer once a week and I usually do it at night when he’s more active and there’s less going on in the house so he isn’t stressed. Hopefully he’ll get to eating soon.
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It’s a reptizoo I got on Amazon. Is there a certain model you use?
This is the brand I use: Temp and Humidity Controllers : Zen Cart!, The Art of E-commerce
I use the Herpstat 2 that’s currently out of stock, unfortunately. But if you only have one enclosure/heat source, the Herpstat 1 would work. (The numbers indicate how many heat sources that thermostat model can accommodate.) The SpyderWeb line has some more advanced features, but I haven’t used them, so I can’t vouch for those features personally, but I’ve heard good things.
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