Too soon to try again?

[BMorrison]

I know this is a dumb question. I brought Furio home Tuesday the 5thth and tried feeding him the 7th and he was interested for a short while then ignored it so I'm wondering if tomorrow is too soon to try again. He's yawning alot which last I knew was cracking his jaws. Any thoughts?

[mtxsub7]

I would try feeding again, but thats me

persistence is key, worked for me

[2kdime]

You normally want to wait a week with no handling. Just changing the water dish.

Then try and feed. And if they're not interested. Then skip that week and wait till the next feeding day. Which on average is every 7 days for most of us.

If your trying to feed him every 2 days. And tried feeding him the 2nd day you had him. I'm not suprised he's refusing. He's stressed. And trying every 2 days is gonna stress him out even more.

Just wait a week and try again. Ball pythons are finicky eaters. And very shy.

Hope this helps.

[BMorrison]

Wouldn't not handling him be worse because if I pick him up to put him into the other box to feed and he's not been handled much he's going to be nervous from that plus being in a different box isn't he?

[giaach]

Wouldn't not handling him be worse because if I pick him up to put him into the other box to feed and he's not been handled much he's going to be nervous from that plus being in a different box isn't he?

With any new bp you should give them a week to get settled into their new home. This means not handling them for at least 7 days. When they kill and eat their prey they are in a very vulnerable state and if they feel threatened by things around them (eg. people, loud noises, shadows) they won't eat. Which is why your first attempt failed. Wait a week (with no handling) and try again. Picking him/her up to put in a different container should not be stressful enough to cause them to not eat. Getting them comfortable in their home is key, once thats done you shouldn't have any problems.

[extensive]

I would try feeding again, but thats me

persistence is key, worked for me

ok, you have owned your BP for like 1 week. now you are giving advice to people saying "persistence is key" persistence has killed a lot of snakes let a lone a lot of ball pythons. please research a little bit and learn some things before you go spouting off to people. i am sorry if im being rude but seriously man read a book, read a bunch of websites and learn from experience.

[Gloryhound]

Our Pastel het albino ate 1 day after showing up, but he was striking at anything that moved! Our bumblebee ate on day two after having her, but it was the regular feeding day the breeder was feeding her on. Second feeding which was 4 days later to the bumblebee and she ate F/T for the first time with no problems, a little hesitent and slow, but it went down. We are planning on putting the Pastel on a 5 day cycle and the bumblebee on a 5 day schedule to help them grow! Once we get our albino female we will put her on a 5 day schedule as well. Our normal male is on a 5 day schedule with F/T. We are looking for a female normal of breeding size and a board member here is trying to hook us up. If we get it we will probably put her on a 5 day schedule as well since she will have no eat times during breeding and loose some that will have to be regained. All of this could be dumb luck with feeding as I don't think 3 ball pythons readily eating when getting here is enough to state a case compared to the more experienced people here on the web, but it has been our experience so far.

[NickP]

Are you feeding live or F/T?

[BMorrison]

F/T. Was told that's what the breeder was feeding.

[giaach]

Alright. The chances of getting a refusal with F/T is a lot more common than live. I would suggest going to a local pet store, getting a small live mouse and trying that. No need to pre-kill it or anything, just drop it in. BUT MAKE SURE YOU MONITOR. You don't want the mouse taking a bite out of your snake if he/she doesn't eat it.
Once you get about 6 consistent meals you can try F/T.