not eating

[Pookie]

I've had my ball for about 3 years now and ever since i got him he's been a great eater. Switched over to frozen rats in a second. But for the past 3 months he seems to not be interested in eating...at all. His cage temps/humidity have been the same and i haven't noticed any behavior changes with him. He looks the same and even roams around his tank as if he was looking for food but when i offer it, he just slithers away. Any thoughts/suggestions? I'm tempted to try to feed him a live small mouse but wouldn't want him to get used to it.

[Kathy Shaw]

Sometimes they just fast.
I would offer him a live mouse or gerbil and see if that interests him.
I feed all live so I am not sure from experience if you would have a problem getting him hooked on live.
But My experience is a rat eater stops eating and I can't get them eating again i try a mouse if that does not work I break down and try a gerbil. Most of the time that works and the next feeding I switch back to the rat and they useually take it fine. I have never had a rat feeder that I fed 1 gerbil to get hooked on gerbils.
So I would think that a snake that eats dead food regularly and then fasts will probably eat dead again even if you give it one live prey to get it eating again.

On the other hand a 3 month fast is nothing for a healthy ball and you could just wait it out.
I have one wild caught adult(pet store rescue) that fasts 7-8 months every year then eats 1 gerbil a month for 3-4 months then fasts again... she is healthy she just stays at about 900-1000g.

If your bp is loosing weight at a significant rate(or muscel tone) do anything to get them to eat. But if the are healthy and maintaining weight and tone....they don't really need to eat much.
good luck

[Edmond Y]

Kathy is right, don't just stick on something, eat alive is natural for a snake, give him a try. Sometime temperature too stable is not a good thing too. Snake need to feel seasonal change inorder to stimulating their activities. I allow the temperature rise and drop within their comfort zone by adjust the dimmer. But most important is don't disturb him too much.
Edmond