At what point do I force Feed?????

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Originally Posted by Monty

yea hasnt helped me any i got the bp like the second day out of the egg the guy told me to wait till it shed and then wait another week to feed well the first time i fed him he ate and that was 4 weeks and i tried pinkies again and nothin so now i have a hopper a lil smaller then his girth but he seems to be scared of anything that moves and isnt interested in anything thats not moving i think he might wind up being a shy feeder i tried putting him and the food in a bag, in a box, in the bathtub, on my bed, in his cage, and in the box i bought the mouse home in my temps are 92 on hot side 80 on cool 60% humidity

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Who sold you a bp only two days out of the egg and no first meal?? that was just a poor set-up to start out owning a Bp.

ok i've had him a lil more then 6 weeks and he ate the first time after shed then 5 weeks now and no feeding and within those 5 weeks i tried live pinkies first he ate one of them. my second week i a pinkie again no go. 3rd week i bought a 3 pack of frozen hopper mice. and a 3 pack of pink rats. i tried the hoppers the 3rd week the forth week i tried the pink rats. and today woulda been 5 days from the last time so i went out and bought a live hopper to see if that would get him but he no go he just tucks his head in and covers up and doesnt look interested then when i go to take the hopper out he becomes interested. then when igot to put it back in nothing i tried prescenting i tried all the methods suggested though out this forum. im seriously worried about it. if you have any other suggestions or comments please help me.

Hi,

Well the standard advice is to stop handling and double check nothing has changed in his environment like temps etc then leave him for a week and try and do everything exactly the way you did it the first time.

Have you asked the people you got him from what their feeding regime was to see if they have any good advice as well?



dr del

i tried to call but very poor customer service they said for there larger babies they feed live rat pinks and to the smaller live hoppers. and my temps havent changed at all and only thing i ever move around in his tank is the water bowl when i go to change it out. other then that i only handle him about 5 mins a day. but ill stop that till he gets at least 4 good meals in him


also the first time i fed him went exactly like this.

4 pinkie mice in his tank right next to him he moved away ate one and went into his hide. i took the other 3 out and from then on he hasnt eaten a bite. i really would like him to survive and be as healthy as i can get him. i feel bad cuz of how sickly he has been looking though he still tonge flicks and is very active

This is my first year with babies that wouldnt eat. Ive never had any babies that didnt start eating within 2 weeks. I just checked my babies. The last one that has not eaten. Ate for me tonight. He is almost 3 months old the 7th of this month will be 3 months old. I went by the how to in that link I posted and worked great. Took a bit but did work. This male was hatched at 70g and is down to 45g so he lost a bit of weight. Stick with it if you get worried take it to the vet see what they say.

Personally I've never been successful in feeding pinkies to ball pythons. To small and too little movement. My best luck has always been with a hopper mouse that's active and jumping around a lot. If the snake seems scared or timid, give him an open hidebox that he can feel secure sitting inside while watching the mouse. Leave the mouse in the cage overnight. Ball pythons are attracted by three things. Smell, heat, and movement. In my opinion a live active hopper mouse is the best for fulfilling those three criteria. I really wouldn't go with a smaller mouse because they just don't move enough.

yea i caught up with dr del in the forum chat room last nite and was talking to him i tried a hopper last nite not going for it hes scared of the movement but uses dead food as a pillow. also last nite i did kill the hopper and tried to brain it since it was feeding day for him anway i figured thats what i would do to leave it in the cage over nite maybe attract him to it but alas he used it as a pillow.

so i got a vet appointment for him at 4 this after noon and going to the only vet i trust with my snakes because i worked there for a short time and hes had 45 years reptile experiacne 25 birds and 50 small animals

but i am against injections on such a small bp

If he's not attracted to live prey, he's not going to be attracted to dead prey. Give him a hide box where he can watch the mouse while feeling secure. Then leave them alone overnight.

What is the vet planning on doing? Force feeding?

I have a small handful of hatchlings every year that are slow starters.

For those, I have a trick that has yet to fail. Leave a mouse crawler in their tub overnight. A crawler is not a threat to the snake and sometimes all the hatchling needs is a little time to think about it and be secluded without someone constantly checking on them...

I hope this helps.

Justin

tried that thanks justin i got him 2 days out of the egg and he ate the first week but hasnt eaten in 5 now