# Ball Pythons > General BP's >  My BP is afraid of mice!

## TimmyG

:Snake: Ok I think I have a feeding problem now. I left my BP over the holidays to visit relatives for two weeks. I get back and expect him to be hungrey but he doesnt eat. Then a week later I try again with a new frozen rat no bigger around than the snake and he reacted with fear if the rat was wiggled toward him. So today I try a hopper, I figure the wiggle mouse that he used to eat as a baby wouldnt scare him but it did! :Surprised:  Everytime they got close the snake hesitated, moved back a little more, then the hopper hops over the snake and he acts almost terrified by the sudden movement. HELP!

----------


## WesleyTF

what are the parameters in your setup?  more info needed before the situation can really be assesed.

----------


## TimmyG

Cocoa Fiber, two identical hides, 82-88degrees each side, humidity about 60% tank is as long as the snake. Pretty much standard perameters which si why im confused. Its the fear im seeing thats bothering me not the fact hes being picky. I also see no evidence of mites, scale rot, ect

----------


## withonor

If by leave with relatives you mean you moved him to their house, he may just be stressed out. Not that big of a deal, just give him time to relax again, then try to feed him. Wait a week or two.

----------


## TimmyG

No, I left for the holidays, he stayed at home for the two weeks.

----------


## steveboos

I had the exact same problem with my new Het Pied female. she wouldn't eat at all for me and would hide her head from the rat as if she was so scared she didn't want to even look at it. Heres what you do. Put her in a BIG container, in my situation she lives in a 12 quart container and i put her in a 28 qt with the rat that was smaller than what she should eat. The rat was far enough away from the snake that she wasn't scared and she just smelled rodent. It got to the point where she was so hungry she slowly approached it and attacked. After doing that a few times, she now feeds fine in her cage. She missed 2 feedings for me when i first got her, now she is ALWAYS hungry!

----------


## Elise.m

My pinstripe did this. He gets up super close to the mouse, and if the mouse moved he would back up. He did this for at least 10 mins before I had enough. I took the mouse, pre (or post) killed it, put it in his tub and left for a Christmas party. Was gone for at least 2 hours. Came back and the mouse was gone.

----------


## don15681

I have snakes that will not feed as yours is doing from time to time. This is how some snakes react as when they are not going to eat. You can try some of the methods that some members posted. Becareful not to over do it and stress the snake out. Not eating because it's not time is alot different than not eating because you are trying too many new ways without giving the snake some time and causing stress. I would recommend when trying to get a snake to eat, once every 3 days, don't try every day. The temps should not be the same on both sides of your tank, not sure if I understood you correctly on this, but 82 is Ok for the low side and 88 on the hot side is the low end of where it should be. You can try 90 to 92 and see if this gets him to eat. Give him a quick look over and check him for mites. If you do all this and he still doesn't eat, Unless he's a hatchling or very young, give it some time as ball pythons will go off feed and some will act afraid of their food. I have 50+ ball pythons and shying away from their food is not uncommon.

----------


## j_h_smith

Don't sweat it.  Snakes don't eat because of boredom, they eat when they're hungry.  Try feeding it every 2 weeks until it eats.  It will eat.  At some point it will eat.  Maybe not when you want it to eat, but it will eat when it wants.  I've got a male albino that drives me crazy.  He eats a LOT less than any other snake.  I've learned to feed him earlier than the rest.  If he doesn't eat, the rat goes to another snake.  He eats when he wants, not when I want him to eat.  He stops eating for a week to a month, then he eats, then he stops again, etc.

Don't sweat it!
Jim Smith

----------


## dsmalex97

> Cocoa Fiber, two identical hides, 82-88degrees each side, humidity about 60% tank is as long as the snake. Pretty much standard perameters which si why im confused. Its the fear im seeing thats bothering me not the fact hes being picky. I also see no evidence of mites, scale rot, ect


Cocoa Fiber?

Im not saying this is the cause of your feeding prob, but I DO know they are not supposed to be housed on dirt.  Switch to Aspen, paper towels, or newspaper.

----------

