Can ball pythons be afraid of eating rats

Question

My adult ball python 3ft was eating small rats for at least a year an suddenly stopped eating for 3 months I tried everything to get it to eat and finally I tried a mouse and it ate the mouse.

Answer 1

im guessing it was the size my  ball python did that same thing and she just killed it and left it if ur snake doesnt eat then i suggest getting 2medium size mice its better to feed two medium then one large i feed her 2fuzzys instead of one mouse ok so i would buy a medium mouse ok so buy two small or medium mice and see how he/she goes good luck

Answer 2

It could be-- are you feeding live? or thawed mousicles? Think back to the circumstances when he ate the last rat. If it was live, did it fight back, and maybe injure him? Was this mouse a different color than the rats he normally ate? :)

Ball pythons are VERY picky eaters. I have 2, and one of them right now hasn't eaten for about 2 months. They go on strike sometimes, I've even heard it's not too uncommon for them to go on 1 or 2 feeding strikes a year.  

Answer 3

Sounds to me that your snake just wasn't hungry when you tried to feed it - or it was sick, or gravid.  Glad to know it's eating again.

Answer 4

Chances are the rat scratched the python, and since the incident its left them alone otherwise. I've heard accounts of this happening to corn snakes and ball pythons alike.

Just make sure you're feeding him the equivalent of one rat.  

Answer 5

You are feeding live food.

The last rat bite scared the snake.

If a lobster jumped off your plate during dinner and took off half your nose, and made you bleed... no... let's go from no wounds, to it PINCHED DA c**p outta ya?  And held on for a while?

WOULD you order lobster the next meal?

Live food can hurt/injure, and SCARE your snake.  IS the prey too large for the size of your snake?  Or was it an aggressive cuss, and scared your snake?

Snakes who experience this can shy from ever taking prey of the same color again.  Or fall off eating at all, due to stress.

I recommend feeding only frozen/thawed prey.

A 3 ft. ball is NOT a large animal, and the prey is OBVIOUSLY larger than the "shouldn't budge when in mouth" rule for feeding!

You are lucky you don't have a vet bill, and a snake bearing a scar which could complicate future sheds.

BE a responsible owner, and don't put your pet into situations which can injure or scare it.  It's dependent on YOU for care and feeding.

Would you be afraid if your mom offered you nothing more than a fish too large to swallow, and you couldn't cut it up, or bite off pieces, and it was swallow this and "live, or die"?

Yes, snakes can be afraid, and hungry.  They can't call Domino's.  They have no choice but what you toss into the tank.  And a bad experience can stay with a snake.  It's a survival thing.

So, you can either offer more of a smaller prey animal (and less chance of injury, but more work to eat), or keep doing the rats.

Ask your vet.  They are SUCH a marvelous well of information.  They see so many sick and mistreated animals daily.  JUST ASK YOUR VET how to feed your snake the best way.

If you don’t already know of a qualified exotics/reptile vet in your area, google: “Herpetological Society” -or-

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/  for the one closest to you.

An informed owner is a happy one with a content and healthy pet.

I hope this has been helpful.

Answer 6

it could have a bad history with one

Answer 7

Maybe the rat was to big maybe your snake was bitten by a rat of the same size the last time you fed him one.

Answer 8

I've had several snakes, and have seen this before, in my case it was a columbian boa. I was feeding her large rats, & small rabbits. One day I put a rat in for her to eat, & the rat went crazy on her, bite her face pretty bad. she would not eat the rats after that for a long time, so I tried small rabbits & small chickens. It was over a year before she would eat rats again. Try feeding your snake with just mice for  few months, then try a small rat & see what happens!!

Good luck!

Answer 9

hey you should just try othe animals like small quail or baby chicks.  Or even a small lizards.  You shouldnt keep your snake on the same diet anyway.  Its not to healthy

Answer 10

maybe he got bite last time http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 11

did it every occur to you that he was not hungary and you know what the more you feed that snake the bigger he gests and the worse it is to be alone with him be careful and never go alone to feed him and you hae someone with you all the time.