Month-old BP Feeding Dilemma?

[Vine]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum but have been lurking for the past week or so and this looked like the place to join up and participate...thanks for having me!

Not really wanting to use my intro. thread to 'bombard' you with questions, but I guess this is as good a place to start as any...

Two weeks ago I got a ball python from work, which hatched on July 11th (last month). His feeding log showed he'd eaten three Wednesdays in a row (I'm told mouse hoppers) prior to me bringing him home.
I gave him about 5 days in his new setup prior to offering a mouse hopper, but all he did was stay coiled-up---even when it brushed against him repeatedly. So I decided to wait another week, which brings me to tonight. Thought maybe he'd need 'waking up' this time first, so I handled him a bit outside of his setup and then let him crawl around his tank some in the hopes he'd be 'awake enough' to want to eat...which is when I tried offering a mouse hopper.

After a few minutes of nothing happening, he just went into a hide.
So I decided to wait a bit, and then I noticed the snake poking his head out of the hide. So I returned (literally a few min. ago as I'm typing this) and dangled the hopper in front of the hide opening in the hopes it'd entice him. No luck. He just went right back into the hide after barely paying any attention to the mouse.

Sorry to start off with such a long-winded message, but I could sure use some feedback...please & thanks.
Vine

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Being so young assuming you got this animal from a breeder it was likely kept in a 6 quarts tub and fed live mice.

What you need to do is have his environment as close to what it used to be as possible, 6 quarts tub would be ideal with aspen bedding and no handling until the animal eats for you.

With very young BP it's all about security given it was well started there is no reason why it should not be eating now unless it is shedding (they might skip a meal at that time)

Also avoid disturbing the animal while eating.

[rexrem]

Assuming your husbandry is perfect, there's no need to worry, he's still adjusting. Offer him a meal after a week. It's also better not to handle him before feeding. Try not to handle hin too often until he eats for you. If he's interested, eventhough he's in his hide, he will go out to hunt the mouse. No need to wake him up. Maybe what you can do next time is just put the mouse in his enclosure and turn off the light. Check after 15 mins, this usually works for me with new additions. Good luck!

[fredanthony]

Assuming your husbandry is perfect, there's no need to worry, he's still adjusting. Offer him a meal after a week. It's also better not to handle him before feeding. Try not to handle hin too often until he eats for you. If he's interested, eventhough he's in his hide, he will go out to hunt the mouse. No need to wake him up. Maybe what you can do next time is just put the mouse in his enclosure and turn off the light. Check after 15 mins, this usually works for me with new additions. Good luck!

I would say the same as far as leaving the mouse in there by the hide (assuming this is f/t over course). That being said, are you sure the breeder wasn't feeding live? If so and you're offering f/t this can also take some time to get a snake in tune with it. Best thing you can do is keep on trying, they can go quite a while without eating or loosing weight. If you can't get anywhere with him f/t try a live fuzzy or hopper. Keep us posted.

[Egapal]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum but have been lurking for the past week or so and this looked like the place to join up and participate...thanks for having me!

Not really wanting to use my intro. thread to 'bombard' you with questions, but I guess this is as good a place to start as any...

Two weeks ago I got a ball python from work, which hatched on July 11th (last month). His feeding log showed he'd eaten three Wednesdays in a row (I'm told mouse hoppers) prior to me bringing him home.
I gave him about 5 days in his new setup prior to offering a mouse hopper, but all he did was stay coiled-up---even when it brushed against him repeatedly. So I decided to wait another week, which brings me to tonight. Thought maybe he'd need 'waking up' this time first, so I handled him a bit outside of his setup and then let him crawl around his tank some in the hopes he'd be 'awake enough' to want to eat...which is when I tried offering a mouse hopper.

After a few minutes of nothing happening, he just went into a hide.
So I decided to wait a bit, and then I noticed the snake poking his head out of the hide. So I returned (literally a few min. ago as I'm typing this) and dangled the hopper in front of the hide opening in the hopes it'd entice him. No luck. He just went right back into the hide after barely paying any attention to the mouse.

Sorry to start off with such a long-winded message, but I could sure use some feedback...please & thanks.
Vine

I would not handle your snake at all on the day of feeding. Your snake does need to be "woken up" but not by you. When you reach in and take him out of his hide you showing him that he is not safe. Clearly he should not eat someone could come along and take him at any minute. Best to not slow himself down with a big meal.

Instead you want to "wake up your snake" with the smell of a rodent in the room. If you are feeding frozen thawed then turn down the lights and thaw the rodent in the room with the snake. If you are feeding live, then leave the live rodent in the room for 15 to 30 minutes prior to feeding. Wait for your snake to pop his head out of his hide and start flicking his tongue. Mine will often get in a nice S curve in anticipation. Then dangle the mouse in front of him but not so close as to startle the snake. Keep the rodent 4 or 5 inches from your snake. The snake should come out of his hide a bit more to strike. Good luck on your next feeding. If F/T doesn't work try live.

[Vine]

First off, thanks for the replies.
I'm sorry I didn't specify, but I meant to say 'live' mouse hopper. And yes, the prior feedings from before I got him were with live hoppers as well.

Secondly.......SUCCESS!!!

Not long after posting here my wife noticed he was sticking his head outside of the 'cold' hide a bit. So I decided to just drop the live hopper and leave it there in the hopes he was curious (and hungry). Sure enough, he emerged from his hide and approached very slowly and cautiously---then paused whenever getting really close and the mouse scurried away. This stalking occurred slowly, all the way from the cold side hide to just outside the hot side hide (from one end of a 29 gal. tank to the other), which I thought was pretty impressive for such a little guy.

So in the end he ended up cornering it, striking, and then downing the meal right out in front of me on the heated end of his tank as I sat here at my desk watching. I tried staying as still as I could while he stretched out/up and got the hopper all the way down, and then watched as he crawled into his 'hot' hide before I got up to take the dogs out, as I was really paranoid about disturbing him and causing him to regurge.

That said, thanks again for all the feedback.
Everything mentioned about not disturbing him prior to feeding makes sense, thanks for explaining. Not sure why I felt the need to 'wake' him up... Well that's not true---I was getting impatient, as if you couldn't tell. lol

Maybe now I'll be able to sleep soundly---and I had better not find a regurge in the tank tomorrow morning!
Vine

[Vine]

Quick update...
Well it's morning now, and no regurge...so far so good.

Deborah...I meant to also respond to what you said about his environment.
You're right---before I got him he was kept on aspen bedding in a small 'drawer' on a rack system for babies, and he was fed live. Since I put him right away into his permanent setup (29 gal. tank), I was hoping to ideally have him eat right in there from the get-go, but I knew there might be issues (as it's obviously huge compared to the baby cage he was kept in at the breeder's). I told myself I'd keep trying to get him to eat in his admittedly oversized (for a baby) home for a reasonable period of time before changing tactics. Fortunately turning most of the room lights out and leaving the live hopper in there worked out, so I'm optimistic that I shouldn't need to resort to altering his environment. Feeding results over the coming weeks will dictate whether or not that holds true!

Thanks again for all the help.
Vine

[PitOnTheProwl]

Tank is way huge for the little guy. If anything, throw a couple more hides in there in random places to crowd it up a little.