Husbandry and feeding of new ball python

Hi everyone! I'll try to make this long story short.
I have an aquatic turtle and a rosy boa. I've wanted a ball python for the longest time, but the thing that worried me most is the fact that they could be 'picky eaters.' (One of the reasons I ended up with a rosy boa, known for always eating)
I did a lot of research on bps for months but never got one. So a friend of mine decided he wanted one and couldn't be talked into going to a reputable breeder and went for the quick fix at petsmart. Knowing this guy I had a feeling that he would be trying to get rid of the bp within a month, and bam, he was looking to get rid of him.
I decided I would take him. My friend couldn't get him to eat for the 4 weeks he had him. So I brought him home, got his tub set up with hides on the hot and cool side (hot side 89-92, cool side 80-83). Humidity has stayed around 45-60 %. I left him along for a week, then attempted to feed. Without any issue he fed on a f/t fuzzy mouse. 10 days later I tried to feed again and nothing. It was like he was repulsed at the fact I even thought about offering him another (I feed in a seperate container). I'm worried as small as he is about going off feed (plus the fact that he came from a place like petsmart). I know people have rehashed on a million different threads, all of which I have read and combed through thoroughly, but how can I make sure he becomes a good eater. I've been told he's skinny but I have no idea of the different between a skinny and healthy looking ball. Please help with any and all suggestions. He does have a water bowl in with him too.
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/webki...5449/imagejpeg

How are you heating and offering the mouse?

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Originally Posted by cltp10

It was like he was repulsed at the fact I even thought about offering him another (I feed in a seperate container).

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Don't do that and see how it works for you. :gj:

Feed in its cage and offer the prey near live body temp(100F).

I'm heating the mouse in warm water, dry it off the use tongs and kind of walk it 2-6 inches around my bp. The temp gun had the mouse at around 80 degrees or so.

Should I still offer the fuzzy? Or maybe a different size. He's on bark bedding right now, so is it ok to feed with loose substrate in the enclosure?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cltp10

I'm heating the mouse in warm water, dry it off the use tongs and kind of walk it 2-6 inches around my bp. The temp gun had the mouse at around 80 degrees or so.

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Not nearly warm enough. That's basically room temperature. If you've offered food recently, don't offer again for 3-4 days. Then, offer it in the enclosure at the right temp.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cltp10

He's on bark bedding right now, so is it ok to feed with loose substrate in the enclosure?

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He'll be fine. Substrate ingestion issues are way overblown compared to the extremely slim chance of them actually doing any harm what-so-ever. :)

Don't worry about drying off either. I also heat mine in hot water, and sometimes the bag has a hole and he gets soaked. My BP has never rejected a wet mouse as long as he was still hot.

Like I said a mouse has a living body temp of around 100F so the mouse needs to be the same for best results.

I used to thaw and warm in bags but the bags would usually always leak and they would get soaked. Now I just thaw and warm my rats in straight hot water and served them soaking wet. None of my snakes seem to care.