only likes rats?

My 4-4 1/2 month old normal BP he's about 2 ft 2 inch and 1 1/2 to 2 inch wide( not the circumfrence) had been eating rat pups last week he had a small rat, and today i took him to the reptile shop and the guy told me that he was out of rats in the size he needed but gave me a mouse to feed him, well i brought them back home and come feeding time, he took about 30 sec to a min longer to strike him, he also did not stay coiled as long as normal, then sniffed him and dunked him in the waterbowl, i jiggled the rat in front of him nothing, then i just left it alone, he sniffed it some more and then didn't eat him, should i try a different store and get a rat tomorrow or wait a week and try again or what, (p.s. i put the mouse in a baggy and froze him, just in case)

Ball pythons can be picky. Just get him a rat.

How soon

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Originally Posted by dryates

How soon

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You can offer a rat this weekend...

well today both pet stores in town do not carry the right size rats between pups and small rat, but i took the frozen mouse, thawed him and heated him with hot water and hair dryer, and dried him in the rat carrier i had, and he took the mouse after a sec, but he struck and ate him, it was either this or wait till tommorow till the reptile shoop i normally go to opened, but he was ready to eat today.

He'll be fine taking a meal that's a bit too small. They don't have to be huge for them to get a good meal, and having a meal that's too small every once in a while isn't going to hurt anything. Also (if he's big enough) you could feed him 2 rat pups instead of 1. I still think he'd be fine with a smaller meal if a large one isn't available. My oldest snake was fed smaller meals a few times and he never stopped growing. I noticed no decline in weight gain or anything.