Settling in period

OK guys, i have obtained 5 adult balls in the last 7 days: 3 females and 2 males. Now i already had a green tree python (had him 2 years0 and a dwarf boa ( got him the start of this year) Neither snakes are shy. In fact they both ate within 2/3 days of me getting em (i cant help myself!!) The boa in fact just cruised about his viv for 2 days until i fed him and he was handled in the meantime! Hed been living in a rub as a grown on yearling from a breeder, who has hundreds of snakes (gazboas) so he wasnt handled regularly. He just went straight into a 3 x 2 and show him a rat BAM!

Anyhow, i understand Balls are a different game and am trying to be a little more patient as i dont want to scare them etc. I got the 3 females(these were bought from a reptile vet who posts on a uk forum i post on so have been well looked after etc.) on thursday last week, the first male friday, and the second sunday :) . 1 of the females was deep in shed when she arrived so understandably went straight into her hide(with sphagnum moss) and stayed there, the other 2 were a little more inquisitive having a look about etc. I was given 2 rats by the seller of the 1st male i got on friday which were well on their way to thawed when i got home so i left 1 in the females rooms, and 1 in the males room (am quarantining separately due to diff sources so i now have snakes all over my house at present lol and the heatings gonna cost me a fortune!) to defrost. 2 of the females were showing interest, but 1 of these is a drop feeder. I decided to show it 2 her first and see if she would strike. No joy even after heating (no surprise really), so i showed it 2 the other girl who didnt really seem interested(after all that LOL) so i heated it a bit more on the rad went to show it 2 her, dropped it (am feeding by hand as i dont have enough tongs for all my diff quarantines) went to pick it up and got tagged so decided id leave it there. LOL. Anyhow she took it overnight and i was 1 happy chappy!!

This post is starting to get longer than i anticipated, but ive started so ill finish lol...

The second male was bought cheaply from a family keeping it as a pet. They hadnt had him long, and had a hatchling ball there also when i went. They said they were getting rid as he was a bit nervous/boring and the children were intimidated by his size, so were starting again with the hatchling. He hissed when the lid was removed from his tub and wasnt really pleased to be taken out, although once he was out he was fine. Now he hisses loudly when i pick him up (have handled only twice as he settles in due to this) so i can imagine the children would be scared (hes 1.1kg so q. big for a first snake!!!) so dont think he was sold as he wasnt feeding. They seemed genuine. He had been due a feed and he came with his tub hides, water bowl etc. and i had heat pads and covered the tub with the blanket and put in on the back seat of the car, minus the water bowl. So i thought well he hasnt reaally had much stress y not drop a rat in and see how he goes. No joy(again no surprises really although i thought there was a good chance, as he was in his own hides etc. only an hour and a half in the car).

He stayed in his hide for a few days but is now out an about (only today i have got his ambients up to 82f they were around 76 - 78 although this is higher than where he was before so dont think this is much of a factor!!) its 11:30pm in the UK if i didnt mention im here, Would you take that as a sign hes ready to feed?? Would just leaving 1 in for him overnight stress in him anyway if he didnt eat it? Hes only a drop feeder so thered only be minimal disruption dropping it in. Its only been four days since i last tried i know but really want to get these snakes established and feeding asap in time to breed this year, so am weighing up the pros an cons of trying him now. He was being fed every 10 days on 170g rats, and he hasnt eaten for 16 days as i asked the seller to hold off on last feed as i was gonna view the day after originally. I know the sensible thing to do would probably be wait another couple of days, but my stress levels will drop significantly the first time each 1 feeds!! What would you do??

that leaves 2 females and 1 male. 1 male is also in shed and was fed the day before i bought so not time for him yet. During all this the shedding female shed(saturday i think id have 2 check my records on top of all this ive been back and fore the vets with my cat :( ) all good complete shed :) although has been in her hide since everytime i check and seems nervous when handled. The other two seem a lot more happy to be handled etc. (1 has fed already).
Shes a strike feeder. Would you try her now also? do i remove the hide, or just dangle the rat in front of it and see if she comes out? Im just paranoid about scaring them with the rats and putting them off their food, as the only two other snakes i have need zero encouragement to eat( My GTP rips his vandalises his lovely fake plants etc to let me know if hes overdue, and the boa will just start striking the glass if the kitten wanders past. I think hes tryna say give me rats or ur cats gettin it!!! LOL) Nervous snakes are a whole new kettle of fish to me. Ive read various caresheets and 'the complete ball python' (it arrived yesterday and ive read the breeding an husbandry related parts twice!!) which i must say is a bit of a let down compared to the 'the complete chonro' (the GTP equivalent) just want a few more opinions off you guys, as youve been super so far with your help.

Congratulations to anyone who actually makes it this far and thanks in advance for any advice!!

Dai

Ive had ball pythons eat the same day that i got them and ive had boas refuse meals for weeks. They is no formula for it. Snakes are finicky. I dont think u are going to harm the snake any by feeding it. Dangle food in and if it doesnt have a response then leave it be for a couple days and try again.

thanks man. Yeah, im undecided. I was gonna leave him till friday and try again but hes been out of his hide for over an hour now so am severely tempted with him. Also promised myself i would wait till thurs for the other two aswell, as i dont want to stress them, but i know if i defrost 1 for him and he takes it another 2 will be outta the freezer lol

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also i think the following question would have summed up the original 4 paragraph(or however many it was, even i lost count LOL):

Surely the snake out exploring at night, presumably hunting, must be a sign he's settling, and maybe ready for eating??

Just have patience. They will eat when they are ready. It can be very frustrating.

yeah i think i will leave it till tomorrow and defrost 2 earlier in the day(its 12:30 now so time i deforst a rat its gna be late, although not really past my bed time) and leave it in from earlier in the evening, give him more of a chance with it. He was still outta his hide when i just when to check on him, which has been hours now, definitely a PB for him lol. As soon as he knows the rub is gonna open( IE i clip down the handles) he scurries off to his hide sharpish, as he just did. Is this what most drop feeders are like, or is he just a nervous snake??