Refusals are not fun !

Keep getting refusals week after week because Im trying to switch two of my new hatchlings to f/t. Husbandry should be spot on 91-79, 50+% humidity, fed in the tub, rats are 95-100 F after thawing + hair dryer, feeding 10-15% of body weight (usually I try 10% with the picky eaters so they arent intimidated), feeding rat pups (which they are used to), have not handled them at all except for their weekly cleaning and weight tracking. What am I doing wrong?

Orange ghost feeding records:
-Brought her home Dec 31 2011 and she was at 295 grams
-Refused food Jan 8 (striked twice but missed, then wouldnt eat)
-Left a rat in her tub Jan 15 & she ate it!
-Refused again Jan 22 (striked wildly twice, not in shed)
-Refused again tonight Jan 29 (this time I heated up with a hair dryer after thawing to make sure it was hot enough but she didnt strike or show any interest)
-She is at 290 grams now, after defecating once.

Pastave feeding records:
-Brought him home Jan 8 2012 and he weighed in at 188 grams
-Refused food Jan 15
-Refused food Jan 22
-Weight is at 180 grams now, will be trying to feed him again tomorrow.

Am I doing anything wrong? I havent had to deal with any picky eaters as of yet because my normal and lesser girls are piggies and will eat absolutely anything. I get paranoid because theyre so little, even though I know they should be okay for a while.

Should I keep trying f/t? I really would rather them be eating f/t, but at the same time, it bothers me that they arent eating, so Im considering feeding them live. Should I just continue to perservere and keeping trying to switch to f/t? How much weight loss is a bad sign? Thanks for reading :)

You can keep trying but I wouldn't wait a whole week to try again. Maybe 3-4 days but a bp that size should be eating every 5 days. You seem to be doing everything right, just some bps take a while and others like mine just won't do it. But they say its easier to convert while they are young so I wouldn't give up just yet. Just keep an eye on the weight and make sure he doesn't start losing it. Otherwise you may need to go with live for a few feeds and try again later due to weight loss in a young snake not being the best thing to have happen.

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Originally Posted by VEXER19

You can keep trying but I wouldn't wait a whole week to try again. Maybe 3-4 days but a bp that size should be eating every 5 days. You seem to be doing everything right, just some bps take a while and others like mine just won't do it. But they say its easier to convert while they are young so I wouldn't give up just yet. Just keep an eye on the weight and make sure he doesn't start losing it. Otherwise you may need to go with live for a few feeds and try again later due to weight loss in a young snake not being the best thing to have happen.

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Thanks Joe I will keep on tracking their weights and probably will try f/t a few more times. Still wondering how much weight loss is unhealthy for hatchlings?

How does the switch usually work? If my ball pythons are showing no interest in f/t week after week, will they magically decide they want to strike and eat one day?

No sometimes you have to leave it in the tank because the "smart ones" won't strike knowing its already dead. So just drop it in and see what happens. Try different ways to figure out your bps feeding interest. Remember that even if you warm up a prey item the bps heat vision is 100 times stronger than any man made infared device so they can tell if its alive or not. Depends on the snake and if it uses its normal vision, heat vision or both at the same time during the feeding response. But I have a feeling that different bps use different senses more than others to feed like their own personal eating style. That's just my theory though. And weight loss at any point is not good folr a hatchling. Unlike older snakes that can go off feed for months with no problem.

The striking and dropping sounds like a stress action to me, defensive strikes. I would actually wait and not increase the stress of offering more frequently. What was the breeder feeding I'd find out and feed the same live mice live rats F/t ? it doesn't matter exactly the same after 5 feedings (successful) then attempt a switch too much at once is a bad idea.

I personally would prefer to see them eating whether it is live or f/t. At that young I think its more important to get some size on them before trying to switch them to f/t. I let my new girl get up to 400 grams on live and she switched without any problem to f/t just a couple of weeks ago. Just give them some time to grow a bit.

I would hate to see a hatchling get sickly from not eating. This is just how I do things.

Maybe someone with more expertise will chime in.

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

The striking and dropping sounds like a stress action to me, defensive strikes. I would actually wait and not increase the stress of offering more frequently. What was the breeder feeding I'd find out and feed the same live mice live rats F/t ? it doesn't matter exactly the same after 5 feedings (successful) then attempt a switch too much at once is a bad idea.

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I missed that part. Oops. That's why we shouldn't scan read.

I agree destress perhaps also try black out boxes. Sometimes that makes the little insecure ones get ahold of themselves. You should try live although I understand you're trying to converts. Sometimes they need to go back a couple steps get some weight on and then try again. I'm also someone who likes to see babies eat rather than not.


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I too would feed live, until they get some size, and are established eaters. They are still babies, I would rather see them eating. Sounds like defensive strikes to me too. We had one that did that when we got her, and she wasn't a good eater for a week or two. Then we tried putting a live (eyes still closed) rat pup in her tank, covered it up and left her be. Hour or so later she ate. We had to do that a few times, and now she is a great eater.

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Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

I agree destress perhaps also try black out boxes. Sometimes that makes the little insecure ones get ahold of themselves. You should try live although I understand you're trying to converts. Sometimes they need to go back a couple steps get some weight on and then try again. I'm also someone who likes to see babies eat rather than not.


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

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Im thinking the pastave is stressing a bit because hes out and about a lot more than the other snakes. Should I add in a second hide on the cool side ? And how would I black out the tubs?

Thanks for all your help, I think I will try live for a few feedings until they are about 400 g. If they refuse a live rat pup, what would I need to get in order to house the rat until the next feeding?