Ball Python first feed

So it's been a week since i get my bp, and today I bought him 2 frozen pinkys, and left them thaw and they seem fine to eat now.. He's in his hide at the moment, tried dangling them infront of the hide entrance but he's not budging from his little corner. Should I lift the hide and dangle it infront of him or should I just leave the pinky in the enclosure infront of his hide for a few hours?

How much does your snake weigh? Pinkies are entirely to small for a baby ball python. I would at least be feeding hopper mice.

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Originally Posted by ballpythonluvr

I would at least be feeding hopper mice.

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X2 also yea take away the hide and get the snakes attention with the rodent if he doesn't take it. Leave it in there half way in his hide over night.

He weighs 70 grams .. Just lifted the hide and showed him the f/t pinky, he was having none of it and eventually went back into his hide. So should I leave a pinky half in his hide half out all day and leave it at night? I have 2 pinkies, theyr a bit more then a gram each.

It's doubtful he will eat a pinky...It's not the appropriate size meal for him...

You need to try hopper mice...Live will most likely work best.

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I'm concerned about feeding him live though, because if the mouse goes in a frenzy how am I going to take it out then? He's still refusing pinkies, just heated them up with a hairdryer but he still wont eat, he just shoots right back into his hide and stays there. What should I do next?

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Originally Posted by adum

I'm concerned about feeding him live though, because if the mouse goes in a frenzy how am I going to take it out then? He's still refusing pinkies, just heated them up with a hairdryer but he still wont eat, he just shoots right back into his hide and stays there. What should I do next?

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Offer the appropriate size meal...

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You have a 70 gram baby and you need about 10g of food for him. You only have 2 g of food there. Way way way to little. On top of that you are trying to feed ft to what sounds like a new baby. Not going to happen and I wouldn't even bother with ft right now or pinkies. Don't bother with pinkies at all. They aren't enough food. Like I said you need about 10g of food for that little guy. Get a live mouse hopper. Feed at night. Once you get him on an established feeding pattern. He should be eating every week. Then try ft and stick with whatever he is eating. Don't bother trying to do all that now though. Also most snakes don't like things dangled in their faces. Or above their heads. The best way to offer ft is about 6 inches away from them. They can see it no problem. But getting up in their face is never going to work well, thats just stressful.
A baby will grow quickly and that's why it's important to offer 15% of body weight. He will graduate from mouse hoppers to small adults to adults very quickly. I'd say try switching him to ft once he's on adult mice. I personally find live easier but at this point in time it's 100% necessary to grab live appropriately sized food.


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Well he used to be fed pinkies at the pet store anyway, I'll leave em there overnight and if he doesn't eat I'll remove them and next week try my luck with a hopper mouse.

Is 70 grams underweight? He's about 40cm long, and he looks pretty healthy and in good shape.

Sorry didn't see your reply there, thanks for the advice! So should I go buy a live hopper asap or should I wait till next feeding date?

Give him a couple days off. I'd say Monday would be a good day. If he doesn't eat it try again the next week. Don't leave the hopper in there with him overnight. Just put the hopper in the tank and step away and be quiet.
If he doesn't eat it you can either try and take the hopper back or keep it alive with a wet down mazuri (lab blocks) or dog food.


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Ok, I'll try get my hands on a live hopper on monday. Thanks for the advice!

He ate both pinky mice! Left them in his tank, and came home after a night out to find them gone! So should I still go buy him a hopper mouse on monday or give him another week and feed him a hopper mouse or buy him like 5 pinkies and feed him those?

Don't even bother with mice. Get your snake started on rats now! At 70 grams your snake can easily take a fuzzy rat, which it is 100% safe to leave a live fuzzy rat in with your snake overnight. It cannot harm your snake. Mouse pinks are a waste of time and way too small for a ball python. Follow a 5-7 day feeding schedule, as has been suggested. Listen to the folks here. Most of us have been keeping and breeding balls for many years. Never trust the advice from a pet store. 99.9% of them have only read a care sheet (which is usually inaccurate!) and make minimum wage, which is hardly enough to motivate them to learn about a species. They are only trained upsell, end of story. Since you asked about picking up another feeder on Monday, that would work being that it had a very small meal today or you could wait til later in the week or so. A skipped/small meal here and there isn't going to harm him.