Hey guys, I acquired a (rescue) banana pinstripe male in December. He was maybe 230ish grams then and is currently weighing in at 380 grams. He literally has never denied a meal… until recently. He usually eats whenever offered food (weekly) but has not eaten for 2 weeks going on 3. But I think I have a loose theory of what’s going on… I recently acquired 2 breeder females (>1800grams) and they both live in the tubs beneath his. Since then, my male banana pinstripe seems to always be at the front of his tub, and when I open it he seems to want to come out and explore, in a friendly non hungry way. Is he smelling the ovulating females beneath him and trying to reach them? I’ve heard some male bps can go off of food for months if he smells ovulating females. I’ve tried offering him food multiple times and he has zero interest. With all of this being said; I am not too worried, he is still in a healthy condition but ideally could use a meal sooner rather than later. Is this just a matter of letting time pass? Thanks
I am new to this hobby. I can only speak from my experience. My male Banana Pastel skipped two meals in a row (I feed him every 3 to 4 days as he is young and growing him up for future breeding. I noticed when attempting to feed for the third time his eyes were opaque. After he shed I tried again and he refused. I then cleaned out his cage completely and put new bedding and all and the next day attempted to feed and he took a meal. My Banana also takes frozen thawed majority of the time but when he skips a meal or two I offer live and that usually works. This is my experience.
I’ve found putting my male in a tank in a different room (as opposed to in the same rack with breeding age females) has resulted in a much higher success rate with feeding
At 380 grams he’s still a bit on the smaller side to be breeding but if he’s a rescue(not fed often) he could be older than his weight would suggest and mature enough to be interested in the ladies. Yes I’m sure he can sense/smell females, almost all of my boys(of age) are doing same thing, cruising front of tub popping out as soon as opened etc. Some are still feeding but most of the more mature males aren’t right now. As long as he still has good body form he’ll be fine and probably start feeding again soon.