Hi,
I have a young male
children's python which was around a few months old when I bought it 2 months ago. It was about 50cm long at the time. His first meal was a fresh killed adult mouse in the first week which he ate quite happily. The following is his complete meal pattern:
1st week (exactly a week from buying): fresh killed adult mouse
2nd week: two defrosted fuzzies, a few days apart
3rd week: same as previous week
4th week?: I think he was eating fuzzies again this week but I'm not 100% on when I started him on defrosted adult mice
Following two weeks: defrosted adult mice a week apart. The defrosted stuff didn't seem to bother him at all. He ate them just as eagerly as the fresh killed one.
He hasn't eaten for about 2 1/2 weeks (since 5th May) and I'm a bit worried because he normally grasps the mouse as soon as I put it in the cage and starts eating straight away. He has had no problem with me taking him out of his hide to make him aware of the mice in the past, so I think I can eliminate him getting a scare from that.
The seasons here are changing so maybe it's the cooler weather that's bothering him, but he has been just as active (if not more active) around his cage as he was before the colder weather set in. He's even been actively trying to get closer to the vents/mesh where the air gets in - more so than he did with the warmer weather. Which seems strange to me because snakes are cold blooded and need heat, right? He hasn't been hanging around near his UV light as much as he used to either.
Children's pythons are native to here so the weather shouldn't be a problem should it? I know wild snakes are on the move now so maybe he's feeling restless?
I tried feeding him at night time when he's roaming around the cage but he just slithers right past the mouse, sometimes sniffs it, but then leaves it to go cold. I tried two mice and a fuzzy at least a few days apart after my scheduled feeding time didn't suit him (a week and a few days since the previous defrosted adult mouse) and another adult mouse tonight but with no luck.
He had already shed his skin overnight around the 12th April (just over month ago) and he doesn't look pale or have bluish eyes. But then again, before his first shed I looked at him and didn't really think he had pale eyes and then he shed the next day.
Maybe he's just plain not hungry and I'm overreacting, because he did seem to struggle with the defrosted mice, so they were a big meal. He pooed the other day too so maybe he's still digesting? I think that 2 1/2 weeks should be enough though, and he did eat the second defrosted adult about a week after the first one. I avoided handling him at least a day before feeding, unless it was to get him out of his hide and put him near the mouse.
The other option is to take him to the vet, but as I said, he's been just as active as he always was and doesn't seem sick. Like no abnormal faeces or anything.
His cage is a 30 x 30 x 45cm exo terra glass terrarium with a fake rock and a fake plant to hide in. I only put the plant in a week or so after his last feed, so maybe he's intimidated by it? He has been crawling around in it and hiding in its shade though so it doesn't seem to scare him. I also put some newspaper in his fake rock after he stopped feeding to make him feel more snug because the rock has a lot of space.
He certainly seems snug in his new(ish) home and has been eating for a few months already, which is why I am doubting the problem lies in him feeling insecure or the climate not being right.
Children's python not eating 
