Feeding question

One of my BPs has eaten for me only 4 times in 3 months. She isnt losing weight but has only gained about 5 grams in that time. She seems scared of the food. I just want to do what's best for my snakes but i cant seem to get her to eat consistantly for me.And ive already checked temps and humidity as all my snakes have the same setup. What are my options?

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

One of my BPs has eaten for me only 4 times in 3 months. She isnt losing weight but has only gained about 5 grams in that time. She seems scared of the food. I just want to do what's best for my snakes but i cant seem to get her to eat consistantly for me.And ive already checked temps and humidity as all my snakes have the same setup. What are my options?

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Try f/t (frozen/thawed) rats if you haven't already. We weren't sure if our 14 year old ball python would accept f/t rats after only eating live rats, but he easily transitioned and he almost always eats when we offer it 2-3 times a month.

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

One of my BPs has eaten for me only 4 times in 3 months. She isnt losing weight but has only gained about 5 grams in that time. She seems scared of the food. I just want to do what's best for my snakes but i cant seem to get her to eat consistantly for me.And ive already checked temps and humidity as all my snakes have the same setup. What are my options?

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Are you feeding live or frozen-thawed? Rats or mice? What size rats/mice? What time of day/night have you tried? What size enclosure is she in? How old is she?

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Originally Posted by sho220

Are you feeding live or frozen-thawed? Rats or mice? What size rats/miceww? What time of day/night have you tried? What size enclosure is she in? How old is she?

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She is a 2012 and is currently 470 grams. I feed live. Ive tried rats that were the right size but she just balls up and doesnt strike
The rat literally walks on her. Ive tried smaller rats and she doesnt go near them either. The few times she has eaten i have to leave the room. Ive tried feeding at different times of day.


?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

She is a 2012 and is currently 470 grams. I feed live. Ive tried rats that were the right size but she just balls up and doesnt strike
The rat literally walks on her. Ive tried smaller rats and she doesnt go near them either. The few times she has eaten i have to leave the room. Ive tried feeding at different times of day.


?

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What kind of substrate is she on? Sometimes a switch from something like newspaper to a more natural substrate can apparently kick in a non-feeder.

She is on newspaper. Never even thought about that.

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Originally Posted by Gerardo

She is on newspaper. Never even thought about that.

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I would try that first. If that doesn't work, you can try the balled up newspaper trick. Just put a bunch of balled up newspaper in her enclosure and it's supposed to make them a little more secure, so more likely to feed...

Ok thanks. What about her just balling up when food is around? Should i try food thats smaller