HELP!! my new BP won't eat!

[Janus]

I bought a 3 month old BP from a pet store about 4 days ago. They told me he is captive-bred. He is very active and inquisitive (always exploring the tank and flicking his tongue around) but he wont eat!!

Before I bought him the pet store told me they fed him F/t pinkies. So I thought I'd stick with that for now because that's what he is used to. I dangle the lil thing in front of him with chopsticks and he just stares at it. Sometimes he gets scared and will curl up or even retreat. Should I switch to live? (he is still relatively small). Any advice would be highly appreciated.

Thanks a lot, and happy holidays!

[avd88]

Hes probably just adapting to its new environment, you should let him acclimate 2 or 3 weeks (no feeding or handling),then you should feed him once a week, and the prey should be no larger than the snake at its widest point. If the problem persists, then there are methods to make him eat, before trying force feeding.

And Merry Christmas to u too, and to everyone else in the forums!

[Shelby]

Welcome!

First off.. relax. Ball pythons are FAMOUS for not eating. Even a baby can go months without eating and be fine.

You say pinky.. I hope it is not a mouse pinky! Even a newborn ball python can eat a rat pinky. The rule of thumb is to feed something the same size as the snake's belly at it's widest point.

The reason your snake is hiding when you dangle the pinky is because you are scaring it. Leave the pinky overnight in the enclosure with the snake.. the best spot is right in the doorway of the snake's favorite hiding spot.

Another great trick is to take some sheets of newspaper, and ball it up, and put it in the cage. It makes the snake feel more secure, and more likely to eat.

If your snake won't take food for the next couple of weeks, you can try live food.

Make sure when it does eat, not to hold it for 48 hours after it's meal.

[Janus]

Thanks so much for the advice. I will try to somehow restrain myself from handling or feeding it for the next couple weeks.

And they were tiny lil pinky mice (I suspected they were too small but that's what the pet-store had been feeding him so I wanted to stay consistent) Can I just start him on live fuzzies in a couple of weeks when he is aclimated to his new home and ready to start feeding?

[Shelby]

Yes you can, no reason not to unless you want to try for frozen/thawed. Snakes accustomed to eating live are often very difficult to switch over to frozen.

Did this pet store give you most of the information that you have on ball python care? You may want to give our ball python care sheet a look.. and if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Here's the care sheet: http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52

[tigerlily]

I agree with Shelby, and I wanted to add one other thing. If your temperatures aren't correct you will have problems with feedings. You need a digital thermometer to measure your hot and cool side temps. 92 hot and 82 cool. Do NOT let temps go under 80 degrees. Husbandry errors can cause a lot of stress to a new ball python, as can a lot of open space (that's where that crumpled up newspaper trick comes in handy!!) If your temps are correct then I would make sure the hides are not too big and there are at least too hides. Hmmmm... I can't think of anything else just now, so I'll wish you luck. I'm sure you'll have a successful feed under your proverbial belt in no time!!

[Janus]

I wasn't aware that he needed two hides. Right now he has one and it is on the hot side under the basking lamp, but it would make sense to put one on the cool side of the tank as well.

-Also, he has a climbing stick but it too is on the cool side, should I move it to the hot side so he can really get right up close to the lamp?
-I currently use two thermometers but they arent digital, is it imparative to have digital ones?

[Shelby]

I would ditch the heat lamp and get an under tank heater (or two if your house is cold). Heat lamps take all the humidity out of the air and make for poor sheds. Matt (username justcage) can set you up with flexwatt under tank heaters and a thermostat to control it/them. It really is the best way to go if you ask me.

None of my snakes have climbing branches, so it doesn't matter where it is really.

A digital thermometer/hygrometer is SO important! The non digital ones are usually crap, pure and simple. Go to Walmart and get a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer/hygrometer (humidity gauge) the brand most people on here use is Accurite.

[Janus]

I didn't know that basking lamps have such detremental affects on humidity. An under the tank heat pad alone will be sufficient to maintain the necessary heat on the warm side (right now I use both). And if so, what percentage of the tank should the heat pad cover?


Additionally, I've been told that temperatures should drop during the evening hours, so what I've been doing is turning off the basking lamp at night, and leaving the heat-pad on full time. What should I do at night if I use just the heat pad?

[JASBALLS]

Dont drop the heat on a Baby!