To assist feed or not?

Two babies I recently picked up are giving me a bit of a headache with feedings. The smaller of the two hasn't eaten for me yet at all but comes from a reputable breeder who assured me she had been eating mouse hoppers. Its been almost 3 weeks and I've been attempting every 5 days with no success as of yet. The other is slightly larger I would say 100+ grams and has only taken 2 meals for me and went off food the same week as the other girl. At what point should I step in and assist feed or should I just ride this out and chalk it up to them adjusting to their surroundings? Thanks for the help.

Mouse hoppers? I don't know any reputable breeders that feed mouse hoppers :confusd: My hatchings eat 15g rats out of the egg, and after 2 meals they are already eating larger prey.

I give my snakes 4 weeks. If they don't eat after 4 weeks I 'assist feed', then give them 4 more weeks.

Plenty of breeders start their BP hatchlings on hoppers.

To the OP - How do you have them set up (tub size, bedding, temps, hides, etc.)? Have either of them lost any weight? How much? Are these the same snakes you just posted a video of? I wouldn't even consider assisting the one that has eaten for you, since she obviously understands what to do on her own.

Have you left anything in with them overnight? Live rat fuzzy overnight usually works for me, I've had to assist feed once though.

These aren't the babies I just put the video up with. I have them set up in 6qt tubs with small hides and the hot spot ranges between 88-90. I have the room sit at around 78. The one thing I did do was try and give them aspen bedding which I thought might make them feel more secure. I had them on paper towels for roughly 2 weeks and all the other babies in the room don't mind them but maybe these girls are a bit shy. I try and feed them with all the other babies which comes out to be roughly every 4-5 days. As of right now I've tried fuzzy rats but never left them over night I did leave a F/T hopper in there with them one night and it was still there in the morning.

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

Mouse hoppers? I don't know any reputable breeders that feed mouse hoppers :confusd:

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Really? Doubt I would use that as a criteria to judge ones reputation.

I can name tons of breeders starting their snakes on mice hoppers and continuing feeding mice....that includes big names in this industry. Keep in mind that you can breed a whole lot of more mice than rats with the same real estate therefore breeding for a large collection makes a lot of sense.

Now to the OP

There are a lot of things that could be going on and before jumping to conclusion and assist fed here are the things I would do if not attempted already.

1# Provide a 6 quarts tub (no larger) with aspen bedding and a small plastic flower pot saucer as an hide with a hot spot of 86/88.
2# No more handling
3# Feeding in the tub a week after the last changed were made and offer a LIVE prey no more than every 7 days.
4# If it fails I would try the brown paper bag trick.
5# If it fails again I would offer a rat crawler just in case.

Before assist feeding all options must be exhausted, there is no time frame to assist feed it's a matter of monitoring your animal not only it's weight but overall look as well.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Really? Doubt I would use that as a criteria to judge ones reputation.

I can name tons of breeders starting their snakes on mice hoppers and continuing feeding mice....that includes big names in this industry. Keep in mind that you can breed a whole lot of more mice than rats with the same real estate therefore breeding for a large collection makes a lot of sense.

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I just said I don't know any, didn't say I would use that as criteria for judging ones reputation. :D

Nonetheless, to the OP, good luck with the feeding!

Thank you guys. I've been monitoring them pretty closely because they haven't eaten for me yet so maybe I'll just take a quick peek on them every other day for a few seconds. Quick question on the rat crawler would it be OK at that age to leave them in with the snake overnight? I have never had experience with leaving a live rat even a crawler in overnight.

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Originally Posted by HerpIsAhobby

Thank you guys. I've been monitoring them pretty closely because they haven't eaten for me yet so maybe I'll just take a quick peek on them every other day for a few seconds. Quick question on the rat crawler would it be OK at that age to leave them in with the snake overnight? I have never had experience with leaving a live rat even a crawler in overnight.

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Yes, a live rat crawler overnight will be fine.

You can also leave a pinky in there over night. Sometimes going down in prey size for a shy eater helps. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Rickys_Reptiles

Mouse hoppers? I don't know any reputable breeders that feed mouse hoppers :confusd: My hatchings eat 15g rats out of the egg, and after 2 meals they are already eating larger prey.

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Really? Gosh, I guess I've been doing it all wrong for the last 10 years. Of the 5 or 6 hundred hatchlings that I've produced in that time, nearly all of them have been started on mouse hoppers.

To the OP, I've rarely ever had to resort to assist feeding, one trick that works pretty well for me is to stuff the hatchlings tub (no bigger then a 6 quart tub like Deb said) with balls of crumpled up newspaper and leaving the hopper if with them overnight. I think it gives them a greater sense of security when they have to burrow through the substrate and can feel something touching them on all sides.

I agree with the advice you've been given, but I'd also like to add that maybe trying mice would help. Sometimes snakes have a preference. :)


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When I first fed my ball python he didn't want me to watch. I put in the fuzzy mouse and he just looked at me even though he knew it was there. I put the lid on his tub and left him covered and within a minute I heard the grab and a squeak. It was just a matter of me not looking at him. I have heard that some don't really like being watched all that much, especially when they are smaller.