live feeding.

might just have a picky eater. i would try a prekilled mouse and see if he takes it.

Welcome to the world of keeping a ball python. Yes, they are going to be picky eaters. Yes, they are going to go off feed at some point. No, you should not freak out every time they do something that in their nature to do. Just keep up on all your other husbbandry and they will work out the rest.

Like your BP, Zeus would never even touch a f/t rat no matter what I did. So, I continued to feed him live. I then tried a f/k rat, and all I had to do was dance it front of him a little and he took it without hesitating. I would try feeding him a f/k mouse and dance it in front of him and see what happens. As it has been said many times on here a dead feeder is better than a live one. Good luck to ya in getting him switched over, and let us know how it turns out.

I would definently switch to prekilled at least. Instead of a paper bag try a small shoebox with weight on the lid. I had the same problem with a bag, but the shoebox worked well

Make sure you're heating up the F/T after you defrost them.

Put a heat lamp over the head for 5-10 minutes.

If this still doesn't work, try pre-killed.

Also, I know that new borns eat live for the first few feedings before getting switched over to either pre-killed or frozen/thawed. :bounce:

Personally (as I am sure some people will disagree with me), I would feed him live the first few times, to make sure that it is an issue of live vs frozen/thawed rather than an all-around picky feeder. This also serves to make sure he has a store of fat, as well as allowing you observe the way he likes to hunt his food. Some BP's are ambush hunters, some like to sneak up on their prey from behind, some will strike at anything they see, etc... It's different from ball python to ball python. Once you see how yours likes to take its prey, you can try to simulate those conditions with a prekilled or frozen/thawed. It may also help to try feeding live from tongs, so it's used to having tongs and your scent around during feedings.

In the long term though, it's definitely worthwhile to make the switch to frozent/thawed if possible. Cost, safety of your animal, less suffering for the rodents (which would presumably be euthanized by carbon dioxide; switch rodent suppliers if they don't), etc...

If it so happens that no matter what you try, your bp still won't take f/t, then feeding live isn't the end of the world. But you owe it to yourself and your ball python to give f/t a shot.