Hungry and afraid!

Hi guys...i recently posted a thread about my youngster not eating. Today was his 3 missed feeding in a row! He is 8 months old and 230gr and he seems hungry but is acting afraid of the frozen rat. This time i tried 3 different sizes and nothing!

It's the only one of my snakes and the first time that happened to me...i don't know what to do...he seems so thin (he is 2 feet long)

what should i try? i mean...won't he be afraid of the live one if i finally give in and give him a live rat?

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Originally Posted by rubberduck

won't he be afraid of the live one if i finally give in and give him a live rat?

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No. He's programmed through tens of millions of years of evolution to eat small rodents and birds. If you do decide to try live, he'll know exactly what to do with it provided it's an appropriate size.

As far as why he's not eating. Have you doublechecked your environment? Temps, humidity...make sure there are enough hides. It's possible something changed and is stressing him or irritating him.

How big is the food you are offering? It's possible he wants something smaller. I have a few who definitely prefer smaller meals and will not eat larger offerings.

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Originally Posted by 200xth

No. He's programmed through tens of millions of years of evolution to eat small rodents and birds. If you do decide to try live, he'll know exactly what to do with it.

As far as why he's not eating. Have you doublechecked your environment? Temps, humidity...make sure there are enough hides. It's possible something changed and is stressing him or irritating him.

How big is the food you are offering? It's possible he wants something smaller. I have a few who definitely prefer smaller meals and will not eat larger offerings.

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i really don't know why he's so afraid...he started off clockwise with me...the only thing that changed is that the rats are light grey...but i also tried 2 smaller sizes than what he normally eats...he gets spooked when i get the rat near him (without touching him)

i even changed his substrate back to mulch last week in case the corrugated paper was stressing him. He is the only one that is so spooked...i'm really disappointed

Temps are fine...90 to 82 with 78-80 ambient. humidity is great too (have a pvc cage).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rubberduck

i really don't know why he's so afraid...he started off clockwise with me...the only thing that changed is that the rats are light grey...but i also tried 2 smaller sizes than what he normally eats...he gets spooked when i get the rat near him (without touching him)

i even changed his substrate back to mulch last week in case the corrugated paper was stressing him. He is the only one that is so spooked...i'm really disappointed

Temps are fine...90 to 82 with 78-80 ambient. humidity is great too (have a pvc cage).

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Have you tried just leaving the rat in the enclosure overnight?

I have a couple who only like to eat in the middle of the night. They won't come out of their hides when it's feeding time, so I just leave it on their hide, and next morning it's gone.

well after the first month he would only eat it overnight. So that's what i always did with him. I try in case he strikes and then just leave it there.

the last 3 feedings just left me with a smelly rat in the morning :(

It's just three feedings. Ball pythons are like that. Skip a week and see what happens. Go back to old colored rat and give him a secure hide.

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Originally Posted by hungba

It's just three feedings. Ball pythons are like that. Skip a week and see what happens. Go back to old colored rat and give him a secure hide.

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It's not about the missed feedings...i had the feeling that every week i had a weaker feeding response and now i ended up not getting him to eat anything. And as i said he looks very thin...and i just don't get it why he wouldn't eat since he is searching every day for food. ofcourse i only try to feed him in feeding days but still.

He started with pups and then weaned and they were all white...now i got these which are a bit darker but not black. And I don't know where i can find live rats in the right size for him. :((

and i'm freaking afraid that a live rat would hurt him :(

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Originally Posted by rubberduck

and i'm freaking afraid that a live rat would hurt him :(

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Just make sure it's appropriately sized. Get one on the smaller side if you want. At 230g a rat pup will be fine.

Don't starve the rat, don't dehydrate it, don't do things like smack it to make it dizzy. Just take it, put it in the enclosure. Your snake will do the rest.

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Originally Posted by 200xth

Just make sure it's appropriately sized. Get one on the smaller side if you want. At 230g a rat pup will be fine.

Don't starve the rat, don't dehydrate it, don't do things like smack it to make it dizzy. Just take it, put it in the enclosure. Your snake will do the rest.

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in germany i thing it's illegal to sell baby animals so it's not that easy. but even if he does eat a live i have a feeling it will make it harder to eat f/t right? or will it make him a more aggressive feeder?