Baby ball not eating but looks hungry?

Don't stress it! If the husbandry is spot on the snake will eat when it wants to eat. I know it's easier said than done :rofl:Mine hardly ever refuses meals and she did today and it got me stressed a little bit but temps and everything check out... I'll try again next week and I'm highly doubting there will be any issues. I'd leave her alone (no handling, going in and out of the enclosure, etc. unless necessary such as for water) for 5 days or so and try offering an appropriately sized food item then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sp0rk

now my dad feels bad because he thinks he screwed the feeding up...

---

Your dad was doing what works for colubrids (and a few other snakes), it just doesn't work for shy ball pythons. He shouldn't feel bad, he didn't know any better. You too! Don't feel bad. Just read and learn and ask questions (like you are). We were all new once and we've all (okay, most of us) have made mistakes at one point or another. You're on the right track and this is a great site for help. :)
Good luck with your new little one

Yes, don't feel bad! You'll be fine, and so will your new baby.

Anyway, lots of BP babies don't eat the first time they're offered when they've just moved into a new home. Unless s/he's really, really underfed, your snake will be find if s/he misses a meal. Ball pythons like to hide in their cozy little hides, and ambush whatever rodent comes nearby. So if your snake is in the hide at mealtime, don't move the hide and don't move the snake. Just let the prey "accidentally wander too close" to the entrance.

If it's a pinky, it can't do any real harm to anything. So you can just leave it in there with the snake overnight, keep the lights off and keep the commotion to a minimum, and it might just be gone in the morning. If not, don't sweat it and try again next week.

Even if you can't easily weigh the snake, you could post a photo of the snake sitting in your hand for scale, and maybe the forum folks can better advise as to what size food it needs. Baby BP's are bigger than baby colubrids (obviously), and they can eat adult mice sooner than you might think if a baby corn snake is your point of reference.

Just a note - looking at that skinny little Ball Python throat, you wouldn't think that they could eat a prey item as big around as their belly - but believe me, give them a chance and that little throat gets as big around as the rest of their body, when they have something they want to get down it! I had my California Kingsnake before I ever got a BP, so that's what I was used to feeding. There's not a huge difference in circumference from neck to belly - some, but not like there is for ball pythons. Not only can they eat a larger prey item than a kingsnake, while they're actually smaller than the king, but they'll also grow a LOT faster. My year-old+ king just hit 150g, while my six-or-so-month old BP girl, who I got when she weighed less than him, is already over 500g and ready for small rats. The king is still eating large hoppers and small weaned mice.