A little deflated tonight.

Well long story short. I got my 7 month old BP 6 weeks ago. She was feeding live by the breeder. She rejected two F/T rats of appropriate size. Switched to live (smalls) and she ate the first on second attempt (that same night), the next week she easily took the second live rat. Last week she refused the live and I think it was too big. This week she refused again and it was the smallest rat they had in stock. Temps are great and humidity is 56-65%. She has two hides.

Now the first two small rats were probably a little to large for her as they were a little bigger than her widest part. She seemed interested and was tracking the rat tonight and then when the rat got too close it spooked. This happened a few times. She just kept tracking and then she seemed to get scared of it.

I have to try and find weanlings I think but any info is helpful. I am getting a scale this week to make sure she isn't loosing weight. She seems content in her cage as she is back and forth between both hides.

I know they can go a long time without eating and this is the one downside to ball pythons imo. Knowing this doesn't seem to help my worrying though. I didn't think I would stress this much because it is such a common tale on forums and I knew this before getting her but it doesn't seem to help right now. :slamhead:

Don't stress too much over it...she'll eat when she wants to.

It really is amazing how much they can get under your skin. I am in the middle of a 3 month long feeding strike with one of my males. he hasn't lost any significant amount of weight, but I will soon be forced to take stronger measures then I already am.

For you only being 2 feedings I wouldn't even start worrying. it is possible that she simply isn't hungry at this point. Just keep trying on your normal feeding schedule.

There are a few easy steps to take to help boost your chances:

Feed in the dark/night when she is already active

make sure that the rodent is warm enough (this main;y applies to frozen/thawed... but I have had a few pre-killed rodents sit too long and cool off in the past)

Well the more I think about it if I was giving her meals a little large then she simply might not be hungry enough. I was hoping I would get lucky with a consistent feeder.

I hate it when they don't eat. When I have a picky eater I put her in the darkest spot in the rack and leave her completely alone for a couple of weeks (I sneakily check on water and when I have to clean the cage I have a new tub ready to go to make the cage change as seamless as possible). Then I introduce a live meal that isn't going to harass her late at night (I just open the tub a little, drop it in close the tub and wait patiently for the squeel). Once she takes it I start feeding the same meal every 3 days till she's pounding. This has worked for me several times. Either way make sure her conditions are perfect. She'll eat when she wants to. Best of luck.

Wow again no food. I have the right size rat between 10-15%. I don't quite understand why. The first two I understand because she didn't want to switch to F/T but then she ate twice live with no problem and now we have just missed our 3rd feeding tonight.

Her belly just started to turn a little pink yesterday but it is barely visible. My wife happened to noticed.

Should I remove the hides an hour before feeding? I had the rat out for a 4 hours before feeding so she should have been ready to go. I have looked over the temps. I have 90-93 on the hottest side and 78-80 on the cool. Humidity is at 56%. We aren't handling too much. I hold her every other day or so for 5-10 minutes....

I know I shouldn't panic but this is a little unnerving. I keep pouring over threads on the issue but there is just so many reasons to keep track of. I have 3 different thermometers (including a temp gun) I have a T-stat. Lights on 12 hour cycle. I am worried I am missing something crucial.

Anybody see what I am doing wrong? Should I leave hides in when feeding?

i got my male last year in Jan, he didn't eat for 6 months. He pounds food in the summer till about Dec, then barely eats. Hasn't ate for about 3 months now. I'm not worrying about it atm. My female, doesn't skip a beat.

Doubt it would matter much if the hides were in or out of the enclosure.

Ok hon, take a deep breath and repeat after me:

This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. PLEASE EAT SOMETHING!!!! This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve.

This is my feeding strike mantra, and it's kept me from loosing my sanity a few times. :D

Gale

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Originally Posted by angllady2

Ok hon, take a deep breath and repeat after me:

This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. PLEASE EAT SOMETHING!!!! This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve.

This is my feeding strike mantra, and it's kept me from loosing my sanity a few times. :D

Gale

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Hahahahhahahaa we all say this when the go off feed!lol
Totally the heaviest used slogan amongst breeders and hobbyist

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angllady2

Ok hon, take a deep breath and repeat after me:

This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. PLEASE EAT SOMETHING!!!! This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve.

This is my feeding strike mantra, and it's kept me from loosing my sanity a few times. :D

Gale

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X2

I love this, it is so true. At this point I only have 3 snakes eating a week out of 9. Week before last I had 5 eat and I was ecstatic! She will eat when she is ready. Good luck!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angllady2

Ok hon, take a deep breath and repeat after me:

This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve. PLEASE EAT SOMETHING!!!! This is perfectly normal, she's not going to starve.

This is my feeding strike mantra, and it's kept me from loosing my sanity a few times. :D

Gale

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LMAO Yeah I guess I was hopin for a little better start than 2 feedings before having to resort to this. :O

I think I had the wrong sizes the last couple weeks because she looked very interested. She was tracking them but I could tell when the moment came she shyed away. This week I have the right size but her pink belly and dull color means she is beginning a shed and she didn't track or show any interest this week at all. She was more interested in climbing or hiding. Totally different reaction. I think the last couple weeks were my fault and this week is bad luck with a shed coming. I will attempt the day after shed and see.

I can't thank everyone enough for your support on this thread and the forum itself. It makes it much easier for us NEWBs.

Thanks.

Also, head over to our ball python care sheet. There's a section in it with a checklist on "why won't my snake eat? "

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Yeah I have read that over a few times even before I got her. Thanks though. The only thing I can see being a problem is the feeder size the last couple weeks and now this week she is starting the shed process and showed no interest. At least she showed interest the other weeks just I gave her rats that were a little too big. I could almost see the doubt in her posture when she got close to them.

After her shed I will offer her the proper size (I have a scale now), and see how that goes.