Ball python feeding help

Help whenever i go to feed my ball python i sort of slither the frozen thawed on it then put it in front of his face, i think he wants to strike but instead does a weird twitch thing! I need help because he is not eating, its been 3 weeks since i got him, please help he has not eaten once in my care

It sounds like you're scaring him with it.. Don't touch him with it. Is it warmed up well? It must be completely thawed and then very warm to the touch. Then hold the tail with feeding tongs a couple inches in front of the snake and do the "zombie dance". Make the rat move slightly but not too much or it will scare the snake. If this doesn't work, try leaving it in there with the snake for a while. Only feed at night in a dimly lit room, and in its own enclosure.

It may still be unsettled about its new surroundings. What is your set up like? Enclosure, heat source, hides, temp and humidity, how are you measuring these things? There are many factors. Also, was it eating thawed rats when you got it and what size?

Its warmed up warmer than my boder temp, so yes, i have him in a glas aquarium for now, i have a heat pad, and the ambient heat in my house is around 85-88 so im good on ambient temp, i got two hides, one on warm one on cool ends, basking temp 90-92 ambient 85-88, humidity is actually right now 48% im measuring these buy thermometers and humidty measurers and it was eating thawed pinkies (mice) because he had a problem with his ribs, and its healing up now, so yeah, that awnsers everyhting,

do you know if he was feed on live , pre-kill, or Frozen thawed brefore you got him? If he was used to one of the others he may take awhile to switch to a frozen thaw.

Your temps are quite high. Ambient temps should be 78-85 and the ends should not be 24/7. Typically accepted temps would be 80ºF cool side 90ºF warm side and ambients around 80ºF. 88/92 especially for a small snake is far too warm. Often I recommend for sub 600gm animals a warm side of 88ºF no warmer. It is easily possible the snake is too warm. Too warm or too cool the snakes cannot digest food so they will not eat.

some good care sheets...
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet
http://vpi.com/publications/the_ball_python_care_sheet

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Your temps are quite high. Ambient temps should be 78-85 and the ends should not be 24/7. Typically accepted temps would be 80ºF cool side 90ºF warm side and ambients around 80ºF. 88/92 especially for a small snake is far too warm. Often I recommend for sub 600gm animals a warm side of 88ºF no warmer. It is easily possible the snake is too warm. Too warm or too cool the snakes cannot digest food so they will not eat.

some good care sheets...
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet
http://vpi.com/publications/the_ball_python_care_sheet

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Hm im curious, why would that be? i just adjust temparature by feel then temp gun it. Mine between shelves on hot spot varies from like 89.5 to 92.5. Every snake eats well n i haven't had a problem with it.

I have snake that wont eat his food unless you lay it on the ground for him. If I move it front him he will move to the corner of his tank and sit there until I leave him and his food alone with a sheet over his tank so no light gets in. Only then will he eat... he is super finicky picky eater..

You may also want to try live if just laying the food in the enclosure and leaving him alone in the dark with the food doesn't work.
Good luck though and I hope he eats soon!

thanks for the good luck, i will try that actually though. thanks!

no one wants to help?

Snakes are ambush predators and they'll strike when comfortable. So I wouldn't put a prey item up into his face because that wouldn't happen in a natural setting unless he let the mouse/rat get that close. The breeder I got my snake from said to thaw the prey next to the tub/cage to make them I guess go into feeding mode and just drop the mouse in there at night and check up on it once before you go to bed.

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Originally Posted by MorphMaster

Hm im curious, why would that be? i just adjust temparature by feel then temp gun it. Mine between shelves on hot spot varies from like 89.5 to 92.5. Every snake eats well n i haven't had a problem with it.

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Snakes keep a core temp just like mammals they however get that temp from the environment, (thermal regulation) That is clear right? The ambient air temp hugely effects the core temps every organ is long and skinny the lung(s) *one is functional long (in BPs) and large the other is small and mostly an aid for compressing the large lung not as a functional lung alone...* The temp of the air in the lung changes the temp of the blood in heart and liver and adjusts the core temp.

When the core temp is too cool body functions start to shut down digestion being the first to stop the same is true for too high core temps. If the situation goes unchecked and the temp continues to change other systems will shut down one by one.

Small snakes when digesting expend more energy and with less mass. The act of digesting produces heat and that heat raises the core temps. I find my little ones will increase the temp in the hides by 2º-3º. This is why I run a cooler warm side surface. VPI wrote extensively on the subject.

OP I have tried to help...

"basking temp 90-92 ambient 85-88" your stated temps are too warm. 88-90 is not a thermal gradient. Your snake needs a thermal gradient to digest and to survive. Over heated snakes often have control issues.