All of a Sudden my Ball will not eat out of cage

when i got my bp in november... on the advice of this forum i fed dexter inside his viv... they told me that i go in, changing water and fussing about etc that dexter would not associate my hand with food... they also suggested i set up a routine with him for picking him up. which i've done (remove his hide, stroke his side a few times, talking to him and then i pick him up, securely placing him in my hand so he feels safe).

dexter hasn't struck or bit anyone. :D:D:D

the breeder i bought dexter from gave me the same advice as i got here, by the way. :)

Thanks everyone for your advice, its really been a huge help. I think im going to try one more week using the feeding box and if she doesn't take to it ill be swiching to in her cage feedings for good.

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Originally Posted by ddbjdealer

The best advice I got for this issue is just to follow the same pattern with feeding every week.
Even if you don't follow the "scenting", find a routine, and stick to it... (for handling/cleaning as well), and your snake will figure out what time it is.

Good luck!

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See thats the weird thing though. i have given her a routine since i have owned her for more then a year at this point. She has been taken otu of her cage, i put her in the feeding box( sometimes with hide and sometimes without) give ehr a min to settle in and then i put a mouse in. Its just weird that all of a sudden she will not feed in the box, yet i know she is hungry. oh well hehe

Occas. they'll go on a fast too. I've been told that as long as the snake's not experiencing a dramatic weight loss, it's not likely hazardous.


Either way...Good luck!:thumbsup:


R.

Feeding in or out of the cage is just personal prefference...if you have alot of snakes and use papertowels or newspaper for bedding then feeding inside the enclosure is much easier and faster then taking each snake out indivisualy..I use aspen and only have 3 snakes so I just go ahead and take them out of the tank to feed

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Originally Posted by Diceman

Feeding in or out of the cage is just personal prefference...if you have alot of snakes and use papertowels or newspaper for bedding then feeding inside the enclosure is much easier and faster then taking each snake out indivisualy..I use aspen and only have 3 snakes so I just go ahead and take them out of the tank to feed

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It may be personal preference with other snakes, but with a shy skittish species like p. regius, the stress of moving into a seperate enclosure for feeding might be enough to actually cause them to refuse food. I have seen it time and time again over the years and I personally feel that there is no reason to not feed a ball python inside it's enclosure.

As far as aspen bedding ... a ball pythons gastric acids are designed to break down the bone and hair of their prey ... a little aspen isn't going to be a problem if ingested.

-adam

A little wont? lol your the first person to tell me its ok

I fed him inside the tank once and he did take in a few small pieces which boy did I get barked at on another forum when I posted it asking if he would be ok lol

Do you think that could be the cause of him going off feed? the method ive fed him with for 3 years is stressing him out now?

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Originally Posted by Diceman

A little wont? lol your the first person to tell me its ok

I fed him inside the tank once and he did take in a few small pieces which boy did I get barked at on another forum when I posted it asking if he would be ok lol

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LOL ... it's a myth that has been around forever and most people buy into it because they don't know any better. Think about it, rodent BONE and HAIR get broken down and digested by the snake .. a little bit of aspen doesn't stand a chance. If you're really concerned, put a sheet of newspaper on top of the aspen about an hour before you feed. ;)

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Originally Posted by Diceman

Do you think that could be the cause of him going off feed? the method ive fed him with for 3 years is stressing him out now?

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Could be ... but as I said in the other thread ... it's most likely temps or humidity or both ... I've been doing this a LONG time, trust me. ;)

-adam

I agree with you its deffinatly the temps its just the fact that they drop maybe 5 degrees at most for about 6 hours one sometimes twice a week lol while im asleep if thats all it takes for a ball to flip out and think it cant digest its food then hes just gonna wait till it gets hotter lol good thing hes a snake not a dog or something

Yeah your right I never thought about the fact they digest bone and hair a little wood wont hurt..course it would help to remove the water dish too I guess lol

My ball bit the mouse started constricting it and in the process of moving it around to swallow it he decides to flip it into the water bowl then back out onto the bedding lol so I then had to take him out put him in the foot locker and pick pieces of aspen off the rat as he ate it

Perhaps next time ill try feeding him inside his tank and see how he does

Ya i am thinking of going back to putting cypress mulch down again. I had swiched to paper towels when she was sick last year and have been so lazy with how easy it is to clean the tank that i havnt swiched back yet hehe.

She seemed to really like the mulch because i often found her when not in her hide making littl borrows under her climbing branches and hiding under them. She was her happiest when she had that as her substrate.

Is there any greater chance of getting bacteria and other bad stuff with using mulch. Since i hear it holds moisture better so does that make ir more prone to diseases?

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

In my mind, based on real world, practical experience, there is absolutely NO link between feeding in the cage and aggressive behavior in ball pythons as long as you are also regularly entering the cage for other reasons (handling, cage cleaning, etc).

-adam

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True for me !!!