Help! New member with an new (but old) ball python who won't eat!

Hello,

I am Dana and I have 2 ball pythons. One of them is about 5 years old and a fabulous eater. She's no problem at all.

The other one was adopted about 3 mos ago. She's about 16 years old and 4 ft long. She has apparently been a picky eater her entire life. She was raised eating live food, but was switched to f/t by her previous owner (my other snake also eats f/t, so that's what I'm used to feeding). I've had her for nearly 4 months and she hasn't eaten since I got her. She has shed twice (both times good sheds) but won't eat.

She's in a 40 gallon tank with an undertank heater that is properly maintained. She has fresh water and good humidity. I've tried piercing the heads of the rats to releae more odor. She seems to like smelling them, but will then move away. Sometimes she seems scared of them.

I'm tempted to buy a small live rat and toss it in---I'm starting to worry that she's going to starve herself. She was vetted before I got her and was deemed perfectly healthy.

Please help, I'll try anything!

I wouldn't worry too much if she's got good weight. I bought a young adult female and it took a few good months before she would eat anything as well. For some reason, younger BPs adjust a lot faster than adults. I would just go with the idea you had of tossing in a small rat, live, and do it at night to see what happens. I'm sure she'll come around. Just don't give up.

Some are just picky eaters. I would go ahead and try a live meal, but I would start very small (like a weaned rat - just a bit smaller than a small rat).

I would also make sure you have two small hides available, one on each side. You might also want to try the newspaper 'trick'. Toss in some loosely crumpled newspaper, just in case it's a security issue.

Good luck and let us know how it goes with her.