First post. First Christmas snake. Pic and question!

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! It's been fun starting with this new animal. After a million hours of reading and looking at every animal on the interwebs, finally having a snake is awesome.

He's refused food twice now (over a 24 day period). I'm feeding the same size as the seller. Thaw and place in hot water to heat up. Open the tub, and his only interest is to slowly try to get over the side and out. No interest in the feed at all. He's in a very quiet dark area of the hoise, but I may move him to another quiet dark area to see if he'll calm down.

Besides that, not much to add. We've let him be. I've check the stat and tub temp while I'm attempting to feed. Everything looks really good.

Wait till the evening AND he's in his hide , offer the warm mouse ( hairdryer) on tongs - wiggle on front of he hide entrance . Works 100% for mine who will run away from the mouse if they're not safe in a hide .


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i haven't seen this mentioned yet, but a 91° F hot spot is a bit warm for a young beep; they do better with a lower temp. try to get the hot spot to 88-89° F. i wait until the 300-350g mark before raising temps to ~90° F, but that is of my own opinion.

i've had a new addition take almost a month to finally accept food. your husbandry sounds on point; be patient. [emoji4]

Is the mouse being heated enough before offering? I don’t know what your routine is but when my bp was smaller and taking smaller meals, the feeders would cool down fairly quick in my dash from the kitchen to my room where the snakes are kept. The mouse should be warm to the touch— you want that mouse to be about ~100 degrees when you offer it. I usually thaw mine in hot water and wrap them in a paper towel to dry and hold heat while I move them.

With the weather a little warmer, I was able to finally get our second Christmas snake in. Pastel Desert Ghost female from Kicks Balls. She was a little chilly, so strait into the tub and on the heat she went. I snapped a quick pic so I can have something to look at as she warms up and acclimates to her new home for the next few days. I set her on the warm side, through the hide over her, and she's tucked away now. We'll try to feed our Fire DG boy again tonight. He's been acting a little more normal, so I think we'll make it happen.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...com/mhal1l.jpg

Well, we failed to get the Fire DG male to eat. He's gone four weeks without feed. He struck and constricted one mouse a few nights ago. But had the mouse bit wrong and lost interest before he got it swallowed. I'll mention, he was in the hide with his head out when he took a mouse. The other times he's refused, he was out in the hide.

I went to try again tonight. He was moving around in the hide and refused again. I won't try again unless I catch him in the hide. But since we had a f/t mouse warm, I pulled the hide off the Pastel DG female that just showed up on Thursday. Pulled the hide off and she covered her head. But after a second, she was tasting and within a min, she took it and ate. I was surprised that she was hungry after not acclimating for very long in her new home. So we have one that ate. The Fire DG male is starting to look thin.

That does make it sound like a possible prey heating issue. With the smaller prey items, they cool down quicker then the snake can lose the food item in the heat gradient of its enclosure. Try heating his food up until its warm to your touch (100F or so) then offer to the snake.

I'm not sure I understand. Are you removing the hides to feed him? That could potentially stress him out, which in turn could be what's preventing him from eating. If he wants the food, he'll come and get it -- and I know several of the snakes on this forum are better strikes when they're inside a hide.

Also, if you're offering too often, that too could be a source of stress. Offer once per week, and check your temps and humidity on both sides of the tub to make sure they're in range. Other than that, you might want to see if you can find tighter hides, as if they're too big, he might not feel secure enough.

Finally got him to eat. Poor guys was hungry, but was being picky enough to not eat. I had to figure out how he wanted to be fed. I waited until he was in his hide with head pointing out. That seemed to be the trick. He came right out for it and telescoped way up to take it. I know he's maybe lost a little weight in the last month.

To answer a few questions, the heat in the tubs are good. I'm checking temp with a electric temp/ humidity gauge and heat gun. Heat on the mice is good. I was thawing in hot water, and finish heating with the hairdryer. Checking temp with touch and a heat gun. I was only attempting to feed once a week. He refused two, struck one but didn't eat. And then took this last one. The hide is about a small of one that they'll fit in.

Thanks for all of the tips, pointers, and advise. It's been very helpful.

My daughter's 2017 hatchling BP sounds much like yours. When he gets hungry, he curls up in his hide with his head poking out the opening. If he detects any movement he sticks his head a little farther out. When it's time to feed, my daughter taps on the glass and introduces the f/t rat. Although we enjoyed doing the zombie dance when we first got him, it is no longer necessary. As soon as he senses the rat he strikes and he strikes hard.

Glad to hear yours has eaten.