Babies - How Long To Wait To Assist Feed?

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Originally Posted by Snakebite

hi
baby balls dont like jumpie stuff, try a rat pinkie or mouse pinkie good luck. I hate when my snakes dont eat...

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That is not what most people feed hatchlings.
Hatchling LIKE hoppers and fuzzy's, pinkies can work if the snake is aggressive enough to strike it off of tongs.
I've had terrible luck starting ball pythons on pinky anything, but that's just my experience...

I'd try some different food types before assist feeding. In my first clutch this season I had 6/7 take hopper mice the first try. Round 2, I offered pinky rats(something different for the one who didn't go for the hopper) and they all ate.

I have 3 non eater right now I wait until they lost a max of 20 grams of waight then I start force feeding. but most thetime I lucked out with leavign a small mouse hopper or fuzzy in the tank a couple hours. (example) the baby hatched weighting in at 54 grams does not eat after 2 weeks I wait until the little guy/gal loses about 10-15 grams ( looks really loose kin) then I force feed them a small critter each week/othe rweek until they start or eat on own. (more often if they still lose a grams during so) a trick that seems to help when assit/force feeding a wet rodent and tweezers the mositen prey tiems slides down easier and the tweezer work to puch the prey to the back without getting pricked by the teeth. )
But be prepared to fight up to 20 minutes per force feeding with the snakes cause they got a lot of spunck,( most mine stop struggling once i get the prey item down far enough that iw won't comeout just by swinging their head, ( one butter seems to start doing the job once you put it in his mouth and set in his tub ( hopping he realizes he entire proccess today when I offer food again.