Need some guidance on a stubborn snake

Okay so I am a new owner to the BP world however I have been around them for a while and have been reading through the site often. Okay on to my issue I recently acquired a baby bp not even a month old from a show. I asked the breeder about his last feed and he stated that it had been just a few days prior. So i brought the snake home gave it a week of getting used to its new home and tried to feed it a week and 3 days after being home. He refused it and i assumed due to stress so i left the mouse pinky in overnight and still nothing. So 5 days later as per schedule I tried feeding again and still nothing. Is it still stress? and should I start with assist feeding the snake? Thanks for any help and sorry for the long post.

Try offering a live hopper mouse. A pinky is way to small for a hatchling.

I had the same issue, although I fed the next day with a small adult mouse about 10 -15 grams, and he took it. He was so uninterested in the fuzzy crawler that he actually rested his head on it.
With the small mouse, He did not even leave his hide. The mouse ventured in, but did not come out. The last one I fed him was even fatter. I would say closer to 20 grams. My snake is about 6 or seven weeks old. Its shocking that a smallish snake can eat a mouse this size. Lol...
I would say don't wait too long to refeed as I bet he is getting hungry. No need to assist feed as snakes can go a very long time without eating. Put in a small active hopper, turn the lights down low, and I'm sure he will eat it.
Good luck.
Todd

Have you tried a rat pinkie? The BP might not like mice.

Did the breeder say he was feeding live or frozen? Rats or mice? If you don't know then you're just going to have to use the process of elimination to figure out what he's used to. In any case, as was already stated, a pinky is way too small for him. It should be a mouse hopper or a rat fuzzy at the least, and if you can get him started with rats it will make your life much easier. Also, if you offer frozen/thawed, always make sure it's warm enough. Hair dryers work wonders!

Good luck! :)

thanks for the help guys. So im done with pinkys today and picked up some frozen rat fuzzys instead to offer to him. Sadly no I do not know if he was on f/t or live so i will have to just eliminate my options as I go. Thankfully I have found a local rodent breeder that offers live as my previous supplier only offered frozen as anything live is over sized. Next feed is this Saturday so we shall try then. Question with the hair dryer how long do i warm it up for as i dont want to overheat it?

I heat my frozen to about 100f with the hairdryer check it with a temp gun and well our little gal had no problem our larger normal ony wanted mice for a while but I think he has finally come around:P

You want it to be around 100-105 degrees with special attention paid to its head. It should feel warm to the touch, but not hot. Hatchlings cannot go as long as adults without food, so if he refuses the f/t I would try a live fuzzy rat. Leave it overnight if he doesn't take it immediately, it won't hurt him. Then from there I would get some size to him before forcing the switch to f/t on him.

Assist feeding is a last resort, when it means life or death and all other avenues have been exhausted. If it were to come to that, I strongly advise you to have someone experienced do it or help you. Its very stressful to them and you could easily injure the snake if you don't know what you're doing.

What are your temps and humidity? What size tank/tub? Hides? Is he in a heavily traveled area of the house?

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Originally Posted by AK907

You want it to be around 100-105 degrees with special attention paid to its head. It should feel warm to the touch, but not hot. Hatchlings cannot go as long as adults without food, so if he refuses the f/t I would try a live fuzzy rat. Leave it overnight if he doesn't take it immediately, it won't hurt him. Then from there I would get some size to him before forcing the switch to f/t on him.

Assist feeding is a last resort, when it means life or death and all other avenues have been exhausted. If it were to come to that, I strongly advise you to have someone experienced do it or help you. Its very stressful to them and you could easily injure the snake if you don't know what you're doing.

What are your temps and humidity? What size tank/tub? Hides? Is he in a heavily traveled area of the house?

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His humidity is at 64, cold side temp 80 and 86 on hot side by my thermometer. No hides and he is in a 6qt tub. He is not in a heavy traveled area as he is in a rack in a climate controlled closet with our other bp's.

Add a small hide to the hot side. Make sure he has a 90-92 F hot spot. 86 is a bit cool for a hot spot.

Okay guys time for a update....Today was feed number four denied. I have tried f/t rats and mice, live mouse and cant get any live rats small enough. I am worried now as i would like him to eat soon. Anything i put in fron of him he will get near it and then either gets scared or just loses interest and leaves. Then whatever I leave in there it just becomes his own little sidewalk and he slides all over it like its not even there. Any other suggestions anyone? I greatly appreciate the help thus far and will gladly take anymore you can give me. thanks again

Have you tried a live mouse hopper???

Have you tried scenting the room with the f/t before you actually give it to entice a feeding response? I was reading the other day on someone else's post about how they use a hairdryer to warm up the f/t and that they point the hairdryer air toward the cage. The drying and warming of the f/t should be wafting very well into your snake's nose :p.

Also, how long do your attempts to feed usually last and how often do you attempt?

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Originally Posted by Ladybugzcrunch

Add a small hide to the hot side. Make sure he has a 90-92 F hot spot. 86 is a bit cool for a hot spot.

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Have you tried messing the with temps? It could be possible that your snake isn't at the right temps, try raising your temps like Lady stated above.

Hope this helps.

no as i dont have any available to me live. Today i got the smallest live mouse i could which was not much larger then the f/t rat fuzzy I tried last feed and all he is doing is sliding over it and trying to get out is tub.

I had a baby refuse 6 times for me, every f/t prey offer, also a live rat fuzzie (now my pet rat). I put her in a small 6 qt tub, covered it with a towel, kept a tight hide in with her. I bought a live hopper mouse and put it in with her after 6 days and she took it immediately. You're going to have to find a live hopper mouse if you want her to eat. It really doesn't sound like she's going to take f/t any time soon. It's not necessarily the size of the hopper mice that entice them, it's the way they move.

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Originally Posted by notmyfault

Have you tried scenting the room with the f/t before you actually give it to entice a feeding response? I was reading the other day on someone else's post about how they use a hairdryer to warm up the f/t and that they point the hairdryer air toward the cage. The drying and warming of the f/t should be wafting very well into your snake's nose :p.

Also, how long do your attempts to feed usually last and how often do you attempt?



Have you tried messing the with temps? It could be possible that your snake isn't at the right temps, try raising your temps like Lady stated above.

Hope this helps.

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I have tried scenting the room and still no response. Temps have been raised since last post and are witin normal range. I will try getting the scent directly towards him next feed. As to my feeding attempts I make multiple attempts with baiting him with the food with tongs or by hand and will attempt for 20-30 mins. After he has denied that I will leave the food in over night, if it is f/t I am sure to leave it on the hotside of his tub above the heat tape.

In my experience, baby ball pythons used to eating live will only occasionally accept FT without scenting over. (That means rubbing the FT rodent in the pee from a live rodent, essentially).

Considering the length of time, I would check to see if the expo has a vendor list, and see if you can get in touch with the seller and ask him what the baby was eating. Chances are, the snake will take that (and possibly nothing else).

Also make sure that the enclosure is small (a 5 quart bin, for example, for a hatchling). The hide should be single-entrance, and just big enough for the snake to squeeze into. NO HANDLING (other than for cage cleaning), until he is eating regularly.

If the snake roams constantly, then it is unhappy. If it hides constantly, and never comes out, even at night, then it's unhappy. If it does either of those things, you have to fiddle with its enclosure and furnishings until you make it happy, then it will eat.

If the snake is very young, and weighed less than 200 grams when you got it, I would recommend waiting only 2 more weeks, max, before getting a vet to tube feed it (unless you are familiar with assist-feeding).

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

In my experience, baby ball pythons used to eating live will only occasionally accept FT without scenting over. (That means rubbing the FT rodent in the pee from a live rodent, essentially).

Considering the length of time, I would check to see if the expo has a vendor list, and see if you can get in touch with the seller and ask him what the baby was eating. Chances are, the snake will take that (and possibly nothing else).

Also make sure that the enclosure is small (a 5 quart bin, for example, for a hatchling). The hide should be single-entrance, and just big enough for the snake to squeeze into. NO HANDLING (other than for cage cleaning), until he is eating regularly.

If the snake roams constantly, then it is unhappy. If it hides constantly, and never comes out, even at night, then it's unhappy. If it does either of those things, you have to fiddle with its enclosure and furnishings until you make it happy, then it will eat.

If the snake is very young, and weighed less than 200 grams when you got it, I would recommend waiting only 2 more weeks, max, before getting a vet to tube feed it (unless you are familiar with assist-feeding).

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He does seem to roam a lot or he just stays balled up in his tub and explores every once in a while. I have since stopped handling him. He now has a small hide in his tub. When it comes towards his hide I have actually never seen him venture in on his own normally I or my roommate put him in after cleaning or changing water. He will stay in for a hour or two then he starts roaming around again. His weight right now is at 54 grams and has lost approximately 4 grams since he arrived. Not certain as he does not like to stay still at all. His temps are right in range with the hot side showing 89-92, and the cold side 80-83 and around 85 in the center of the tub. He is in a small hatching tub that holds humidity right around 65. He has since seemed to get more skittish though since I came to you guys for help. Could this be something to worry about usually if i go to handle him during a clean he will kinda flinch away, but as soon as he is in my hand he is tame and wants to explore. Now he just instantly balls up as soon as i pull his tub out of the rack. Im sorry for the long post just trying to keep things updated. Next feed is thursday so wish me luck. Thanks for everything thus far.