Ever Refused A Meal?

Has anyone ever had a snake refuse a meal if it's live?

If so...If you feed in it's home.....remove the mouse to another spot or just leave it in there til the snake is ready to eat.

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

Has anyone ever had a snake refuse a meal if it's live?

If so...If you feed in it's home.....remove the mouse to another spot or just leave it in there til the snake is ready to eat.

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Yes many times.

NEVER leave a live rodent untended with your BP.

If uneaten within 20-30 minutes remove the prey and offer again next feeding day (5 to 7 days from refusal)

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Yes many times.

NEVER leave a live rodent untended with your BP.

If uneaten within 20-30 minutes remove the prey and offer again next feeding day (5 to 7 days from refusal)

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I agree. I have seen a snake get chewed up pretty bad by a very small rat that was left in with it for days. If you leave a live prey item in the cage unattended I would leave a little bit of food and make sure there is water for it. But never leave them in for a prolonged period of time if the snake is not interested when the rat gets hungry or thirsty it will start to eat the only edible thing in the cage which is the snake.

Alexander is just on mice right now. As a habit I always put in an oatmeal cookie for the mouse to chew on for it's last meal. Since I'm still on the idea that he can eat frozen or else.....He is usually hungry when I give up and get live.

Do you find if a snake hasn't pooped that they won't eat again til they do? A couple of weeks ago he pooped in his feeding box instead of eating and in a couple of days he ate just fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

Has anyone ever had a snake refuse a meal if it's live?

If so...If you feed in it's home.....remove the mouse to another spot or just leave it in there til the snake is ready to eat.

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Have you ever read a post on BP.net? Seriously though yes that's what ball pythons do. Just when you think they are eating again, or eating consistently, they decide they don't want your hand delivered meal. I second that you don't want to leave it in there more than 20-30 mins. You may just be feeding a mouse now but it's good to get in the habit of not leaving a meal in there. Sometimes they won't eat if they haven't poo'ed but sometimes they will eat and will go a long time without pooing. So yeah you just don't know. Offer the food. If after a few minutes they don't go for it take it out and try again next week.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

Alexander is just on mice right now. As a habit I always put in an oatmeal cookie for the mouse to chew on for it's last meal. Since I'm still on the idea that he can eat frozen or else.....He is usually hungry when I give up and get live.

Do you find if a snake hasn't pooped that they won't eat again til they do? A couple of weeks ago he pooped in his feeding box instead of eating and in a couple of days he ate just fine.

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What is the enclosure like that you keep him in? Do you have a picture? If he is eating sporadically like this, he might feel a little un-safe in his house.

Also, no I do not find a correlation between when the snake "needs to poop" and when they will eat. If they are hungry they will eat. If they need to poop they will poop.

Also, do you feed this snake in its home enclosure?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

Do you find if a snake hasn't pooped that they won't eat again til they do?.

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One has nothing to do with the other I have snake eating weekly and only defecating once 1 month or more.

Given you appear to be new I would suggest you to go over our caresheet, if your BP is young and not eating there is likely something going on,likely husbandry related, however we cannot give you any suggestion without knowing more about your animal (it's size), your enclosure and also your handling habits.

Very few of mine have refused live. Only one male refused week after week and that was when he was a juvenile. The other male refused because I was powerfeeding him for an extended period, so that was understandable. My female refused live because he was breeding, so that was also understandable. Usually they don't refuse live and if they do, there's a reason.

You should never leave live food in the cage for more than 30 minutes. Also make sure they are well fed and watered before you put them in the cage. If the snake doesn't eat within those 30 minutes, wait for a week, then offer again.

I would suggest getting a basic enclosure for "leftover" mice or rats. It is much easier to be prepared for when your snake refuses.

Our 1.5 year old went off feed in December. We feed in a separate enclosure (yes, I know, no need to tell me).

We discovered that Charlie won't eat mice from PetCo. They have to come from a certain local pet shop and then she devours them. I don't know if this is just a coincidence, but she also won't eat white mice or white rats. They have to either have color splotches or be a full different color. Picky ball pythons I tell ya :rolleyes: