turned into picky eater?

Is it possible to turn a BP into a picky eater? Apart from when he first arrived, and I fed a bit early, he's always eaten like a champ- super alert/ interested- went from mice to rats with no issue. However, after he failed to swallow a rat, and I reheated it up and waved it in front of him, no interest, so I did what I did to first get him to eat, which is to rub it against him and kind of annoy him into striking. thing is, he didnt get annoyed, just really scared, and since then has shown no interest at all. otherwise not acting stressed

It happens. I have one that is turning into picky. I have to downsize the prey item for him and then he is more receptive. I find myself double checking my husbandry with him as well. I don't think it's an issue as long as they aren't losing too much weight. I make sure to offer every week to 10 days and if he eats he eats and if not I don't worry. As much as I try not to, I'm probably overfeeding anyways.

For what it's worth two out of my five Royals will only eat every time if I feed them every 10 to 14 days ..... they just won't eat every 7 days !


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I find that especially with ball pythons if you chase them with the rodent, bump it into their head, or rub it too much on their body they will immediately turn into a picky eater, usually for months at a time. If I touch the rodent to the snake I do it very lightly and try not to push it too much. And I don't wiggle it or move it too fast or too much, once they start getting scared or back away I stop. Sometimes I'll try again in half an hour, that almost never works. Better to wait until the following evening to try again. Then if they don't hit it the next day I'd wait until the next scheduled feeding. If they are really young and you really need them to eat it's better to use a live rat pup, one that still has its eyes closed. At that age they are totally harmless and you can keep them in the tub overnight. They are almost always gone in the morning. I only feed live for picky eaters that are real young.

I'm also finding that many of my snakes creep up on the 1000 gram wall and go off of food. Once they get in the upper 900 gram range they will almost always start skipping several meals. Not sure why they do that. I actually read about it early on, then when some of my snakes stopped eating I went through and weighed them all and posted their weighs next to their tubs. And sure enough, all the snakes that are fasting are very close to 1000 grams.

For anyone struggling to get any snake but particularly a Royal / Ball to eat ...,
This method WORKS if done properly ...
I wait until evening as they're nocturnal of course . I let the rodent thaw out in the reptile room so they get the smell ..
Then I warm up the mouse / rat with a hairdryer and offer with tongs IMMEDIATELY whilst still warm . If refused simply repeat the heating and offering as many times as needed. .
A couple of mine will only strike feed from within their hides so I dangle the warm rodent in front of the hide's entrance - usually works but if it fails simply reheat the rodent with a hairdryer and immediately offer again whilst it's still warm , continue until it's grabbed ...
I always wait until evenings to feed as they're nocturnal of course .

Incidentally , if it shows no interest at all not even a tongue flicker maybe it's best to leave for a week or so.