First feed in a new home

Alright, guys, I have come to you for some advice! (don't wanna keep pestering my poor breeder's cell phone with texts lol)

My boyfriend and I brought our 2 balls home on December 9th. Their last meal had been on November 28th. They're 6 months old and between 160-170g.
We did pretty well at leaving them alone for the first week (caved a couple times and handled them for a few mins, longer on the day our power went out and their tub temp dropped quite a bit). Attempted to feed them some f/t rat fuzzies on the 18th with no success. They both showed signs of being interested in eating, they just never took that step. I know that's nothing to be too concerned about, but it bummed me out. So this last week, we've left them completely alone. No handling at all and tried feeding them again last night to no avail :(

I'd even tried snipping the backs of the necks of the rats so they'd get the scent a bit more. Again, they showed a lot of interest, but didn't go for it. The fuzzies don't seem too big at all, so what could be the issue? Anything else we should try/how long should we wait to try again?

I'm not sure of any other variables that can affect their eating, but our temps are always good. Usually between 87 and 90.

What are your BPs living in? Do They have nice, secure hides?
One trick you can try is cutting open the head of the prey item, is called Braining. I would personally just keep trying and one day they will accept it, like I did with my piebald BP named Handsome. Also, If they were previously fed live they may need some time to make the switch.

What were they eating for the breeder? Some BP's just won't eat frozen rodents. For these BP's you will need to feed fresh killed or live rodents.

What type of hides do you have in the cages?

Are they being caged together?

Where are you feeding them?

What is the temperature of the room that their tub(s) are in?

Do you have a thermostat for the heat pads on the tubs?

P.S only attempt to feed them once a week as more then that will be stressful on the animal.

87-90 on hot side, what are cold side/ambient temps?
What do you use to heat them?
what do you use to measure temps?
What size enclosure are they in?
What's in their enclosures (ie, hides, water bowels, sticks, vines, etc)? << may be easier to snap a pic of the set up.
How do you heat up the rats?
Do they appear to be starting a shed?

Answers to these questions will help us pinpoint the cause of food refusal :)

Haha, we were all typing at the same time ;)

LOL. Okay so I'll just use some bullet points to address the posts.

- they have previously eaten f/t with the breeder
- cold side/ambient temps are for the most part around 75-77
- they're in shallow (I believe 27L) tubs
- substrate right now is paper towel
- each of them have a hide on both sides (paper towel roll and a halved empty oatmeal box...this hide isn't tight around them or anything)
- water dish
- we have their heating pads hooked up to light dimmers and use a bios probe thermometer to measure the temps
- their last shed was around their last meal, so a month ago. No signs of them beginning a shed.
- I just use super hot tap water to thaw the rats
- they aren't caged together

Think that answers most questions LOL

Where they on rats or mice before? Sometimes a live item with kick start their appetite and then you can put them right back on f/t.

However, Im thinking its a security issue. The tub also seem huge. If I converted right, those are 28qt tubs. I usually move up my guys to 28qt when they are 600-700g. Also, you DO want the hides to be tight. Preferably they are able to touch three sides of the hide when they are curled up.

Maybe I will take a picture tomorrow and try and post it for you guys. It doesn't SEEM like it's too big.
I can understand how they may feel a bit insecure. They do squeeze themselves into paper towel rolls, after all :O
They explore their tubs a LOT, though. I've been taking that as a good sign. The male has also already pooped/peed (within the first week of being here) so I was super optimistic that at least he was settling in well.

Exploration during the day is a sign of stress. If they are exploring at night that's fine as they are nocturnal. I say make the whole tub more secure - make sure 3 walls of the tub are covered and also make the hides tight and small. Get some man-made foliage in there, also, to give them more dark spaces.
Do this and try feeding again in a week. :)

________________________________
London, UK
1.0 bumblebee (Hachi-C)
0.1 normal (Kali)

Are you keeping the mouse dry when you thaw it, or is it going in wet?


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I put them in while they are still wet. My bf suggested blow drying them but I was like ".......... :omg:.........:rofl:" haha.

When you thaw it, put it in a plastic baggie first. Mine take it instantly from there.

When I feed f/t I just use a paper towel to dry them off a bit. Just gently rub the fur with a paper towel the same way you do with a towel when your hair is wet. This helps them not pick up as much substrate as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Noz

Exploration during the day is a sign of stress. If they are exploring at night that's fine as they are nocturnal. I say make the whole tub more secure - make sure 3 walls of the tub are covered and also make the hides tight and small. Get some man-made foliage in there, also, to give them more dark spaces.
Do this and try feeding again in a week. :)

________________________________
London, UK
1.0 bumblebee (Hachi-C)
0.1 normal (Kali)

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This x2. Ball pythons will spend almost of of their time in their hides; if you notice them exploring their tubs frequently this is actually a sign of stress. A hiding ball python is a happy ball python: this is a good rule to live by with these snakes. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timely.grace

I put them in while they are still wet. My bf suggested blow drying them but I was like ".......... :omg:.........:rofl:" haha.

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Blow drying them right before trying to feed will actually help with the feeding response. It's very common practice to use a blow dryer on the head of the thawed rat/mouse for 30 seconds to heat it up. Even when the rat/mouse is dry before hand :).

Like someone else said, thaw in a ziplock bag and wet is no longer an issue :)

How do you feed the prey item? Do you just dangle it , put it in there and leave it , or do you do the zombie mouse dance? Sometimes stimulting the prey item to mimic a live one will kick start the feeding response . Also try not to brush their heads with the mouse , You probably already knew alot of this already so im not trying to educate you as im sure you have done a ton of reading ,

Noah thinks its great that what he suggested is actually something we should try lol. Guess I'll whip out the blow dryer and give that a whirl.

I have caught them out during the day but generally it is in the evening or while we're heading to bed. They haven't been out much at all the last week so maybe that's a good indication that they're more settled.

I don't know how exactly they were being fed prior to us bringing them home. I've just been dropping them in and checking back in about an hour or so. I'll probably send a quick text to the breeder and ask. Would be a good place to start lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timely.grace

Noah thinks its great that what he suggested is actually something we should try lol. Guess I'll whip out the blow dryer and give that a whirl.

I have caught them out during the day but generally it is in the evening or while we're heading to bed. They haven't been out much at all the last week so maybe that's a good indication that they're more settled.

I don't know how exactly they were being fed prior to us bringing them home. I've just been dropping them in and checking back in about an hour or so. I'll probably send a quick text to the breeder and ask. Would be a good place to start lol.

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Even the snakes that have come to me only feeding live will take FT or pre killed, just takes a little finesse. Using tongs, try moving the rat around in a natural way and even wiggling it a little. This usually stimulates the feeding response. That coupled with the blow dryer trick and you should be good. Just remember to be careful to not accidentally hit the snakes nose while doing the "zombie dance" with the rat, this can detour them from wanting to feed.