Ball Pythons are NOT Picky Feeders - Prove Me Wrong?

(Ball Python photo I took for Outback Reptiles)

New Age Thinking….Ball Pythons as a species aren’t picky feeders.

That myth goes back to the days of 80’s husbandry - heat lamps, astroturf and log hides in fish tanks and fresh caught imports that have never seen a frozen rat in their lives. People who keep them that way tend to have confirmation bias- see, my animals don’t want to eat all the time…. Must be the animals’ poor survival instincts, not my end of the deal where I am responsible for giving them what they need in return for the pleasure I get from practicing this hobby in keeping them.

It’s not uncommon for ball pythons to go off feed due to stress when their environment is changed or inadequate. I don’t believe this qualifies as picky- they simply have requirements that need to be met in order for them to thrive. A ball python that is stressed out will not eat as consistently as one that has its needs met. If I don’t give them enough water they will die- does this mean they are tricky? No, it means they have needs to be met in order for them to thrive.

A lot will go off feed during breeding season, a natural cycle they go through in the wild. I do not believe that qualifies them as “picky” either.

Kept properly in appropriately sized and set up rack systems, and given reasonable privacy for a species that spends their days underground- they almost always feed just as well as, for example, corn snakes or boas in my experience.

Sure, i am positive that people do have animals kept in certain subpar ways that still feed well and thrive. But I’m not interested in keeping animals in a manner that works anecdotally, or works 75% of the time even. I am interested in methods that work 99-100% of the time. I’ve regularly gone on feed-day streaks where 80-100 animals in a row came out of their bins to grab a thawed out rat before I come to one that’s in shed and i miss it. Granted, not all of them want f/t, that is just an example, but with those animals that need live or feed more consistently on live, then that is simply what they prefer and I’m happy to give it to them.

Are we coddling newbies or pet-keepers by reassuring them that, no, its not their fault their snake wont eat- they are just picky! Seems to be a disservice to the animals and to the keepers to intentionally promote blissful ignorance and refuse culpability. I see this a lot with sensitive species as well, where we blame poor survival rates on the fact that an animal is wild caught, not that we are not meeting their needs properly. Food for thought?

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