Strike... coil... drop.

I think you should try feeding her mice. It has happend to me before, well not the same thing, but I have some balls who prefer mice over rats, or rats over mice and I would thaw them all in the same container, and none of them would touch their food, so I had to thaw the rats in one bin and the mice in the other. Maybe she got the taste of the mouse and preferd it?? not sure, if you havnt already tried a mouse try that. and if it works, just scent the rat from now on and she will get use to rats.
I had bought an adult ball off some guy a year ago and i could not get her to eat, i tried everything, she was seirouly on the verge of dying and this guy would not get back to me. So i tried hamster, and she pounded that thing, so i just scented all her rats with hamster bedding a couple times now she take rats no problem.
Hope this helps.. Good Luck! :)

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Originally Posted by Mettle

And it's not that she shows no interest. She STRIKES and then COILS... but then drops the rat. Just leaves it there. If I pick up the rat and dangle it again then she strikes and coils again. Last week I did this FOUR TIMES and each time she struck, coiled and then dropped the rat.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for an and all help.

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iCandi Ball Pythons..Backs that thang up n PoP...Lock..and DROPS it!:rofl:

I tried the heating. Not with a temp gun, but over a hot light. The rat was pretty warm. She struck, coiled and constricted. Again. And then let go. Again.

What gets me is that she ate twice for someone else in the time that I've had her since she came from the breeder. I heard back from the breeder tonight and she had 10 meals before coming to me and always ate without issue. Again, her size shows it.

I'm going to double and triple check the temps and everything. But three other ball pythons are being housed the exact same way as her and they're all eating fine.

I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Somehow, I'll figure it out. And get her eating.

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Originally Posted by iCandiBallPythons

iCandi Ball Pythons..Backs that thang up n PoP...Lock..and DROPS it!:rofl:

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Droppin' it like it's hot? :taz:

I do not know... Olive does that, she gets crazy excited, and then gets distracted.

Try this... it works with HRH.

I feed her LAST, as she hits I close the tub, hit the lights, and leave the room. No chance to get distracted.

I know with the Big O, it is like she is looking for a better option rather than focusing on the delicious rat at hand. :)

Bruce

With eaters that 'drop' I've had the most success in letting them coil then leaving for at least an hour or so and coming back. Turning off all lights and making sure there is no noise in the room could help too.

Try using a blow dryer to heat up the head of the rat, sometimes the head creates a helpful response that gets them to start eating it properly instead of getting frustrated and dropping it.

Good luck!!
:gj:

Also, just because your other snakes are eating in that environment, doesn't mean she feels the same way in hers, so tweak things around a little bit and see if she prefers things a little differently. More hides, humidity, ext.

A lot of snakes will do this because they want one thing....LIVE. If you try live BG bets the snake will eat it. For some reason they do exactly what your snake is doing, but when given a live rodent.....GULP. You might wanna try live for a while to get it eating and then switch back.

Why would it eat fine for the breeder, stop eating for me, and then eat for my friend, and stop eating for me again. Dang it. It hates me.

I'm really, really confused...

Oh. And I did actually try a live mouse about 4 weeks ago with her. My emerald tree boa only eats live (has only ever eaten live) but she was in shed so I needed another candidate. SO. Tried the live mouse with this female het clown. The female barely acknowledge it. Then the mouse tried to sleep snuggled in her coils. :rolleyes:

Stupid snake. :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mettle

Why would it eat fine for the breeder, stop eating for me, and then eat for my friend, and stop eating for me again. Dang it. It hates me.

I'm really, really confused...

Oh. And I did actually try a live mouse about 4 weeks ago with her. My emerald tree boa only eats live (has only ever eaten live) but she was in shed so I needed another candidate. SO. Tried the live mouse with this female het clown. The female barely acknowledge it. Then the mouse tried to sleep snuggled in her coils. :rolleyes:

Stupid snake. :(

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Try again.:gj:

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Originally Posted by Big Gunns

Try again.:gj:

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try again after that. if not ill give u 150 bucks for it