Why won't he eat it?

[toxicvixen]

So I have a baby albino ball and for the past 2 feedings, he had struck the hopper and killed it with no issue. Then... He doesn't eat it. I leave it in there all night with out disturbing him and in the morning the hopper is still there. I have tried different colors of mice, the temps and humidity are good, I don't handle him a few days b4 feeding day either. In fact I have been just leaving him alone since he isn't eating. He had eaten twice for me before, both times a hopper. I just got him nov 18th. I ordered a digital scale online that should be here soon so I can make sure he is maintaining weight. It appears that he is maintaining... No loose skin and active when held, clear eyes, flicking tongue. Any ideas? Should I try a rat pup?

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[ballpythonluvr]

What exactly are your temps and humidity at? What kind of enclosure do you have the snake in? You can try a rat pup. How many days in a row are you offering prey? Offering the prey to many days in a row will just stress the snake out and cause him not to want to eat. Wait at least a week before you offer any type of prey to him.

[SlitherinSisters]

I've never had a snake strike and kill without eating the prey. My het pied girls are really touchy and if I move their tub at all before they swallow the rat they will spit it out, but they always eat it later after I leave the room and shut off the lights. My advice it to put the rat pup/hopper in there later in the night 9 or 10 and don't even look at him till morning. The hopper won't have teeth so you won't have to worry about the safety of your snake. You will have to check for teeth on the pup before you leave it in all night. If you must, you can wait till he strikes then leave, shut off all the lights, and don't check back till 2am at the earliest. They some times need several hours to get the job done. If he's striking and constricting he wants to eat it, something is just throwing off his mojo!

[Exotic Ectotherms]

Try a slightly smaller rat. My baby did the same thing when I gave her too big of prey. I went back to the rat pup and she ate it without hesitation. Good luck.

[toxicvixen]

I only offer it once a week... Just checked on him, and it looks like he may be going into shed. Didn't want to disturb him so I just sprayed the tank to boost the humidity some and went to run some errands. The temps are 82 cool and 87 warm using probe therms. I will check on his progress tonight and see if it truly is a shed

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[Emilio]

I only offer it once a week... Just checked on him, and it looks like he may be going into shed. Didn't want to disturb him so I just sprayed the tank to boost the humidity some and went to run some errands. The temps are 82 cool and 87 warm using probe therms. I will check on his progress tonight and see if it truly is a shed

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I'd raise your warm side temp a bit follow what Stephanie posted next feeding.