Husbandry and feeding of new ball python

Hi everyone! I'll try to make this long story short.
I have an aquatic turtle and a rosy boa. I've wanted a ball python for the longest time, but the thing that worried me most is the fact that they could be 'picky eaters.' (One of the reasons I ended up with a rosy boa, known for always eating)
I did a lot of research on bps for months but never got one. So a friend of mine decided he wanted one and couldn't be talked into going to a reputable breeder and went for the quick fix at petsmart. Knowing this guy I had a feeling that he would be trying to get rid of the bp within a month, and bam, he was looking to get rid of him.
I decided I would take him. My friend couldn't get him to eat for the 4 weeks he had him. So I brought him home, got his tub set up with hides on the hot and cool side (hot side 89-92, cool side 80-83). Humidity has stayed around 45-60 %. I left him along for a week, then attempted to feed. Without any issue he fed on a f/t fuzzy mouse. 10 days later I tried to feed again and nothing. It was like he was repulsed at the fact I even thought about offering him another (I feed in a seperate container). I'm worried as small as he is about going off feed (plus the fact that he came from a place like petsmart). I know people have rehashed on a million different threads, all of which I have read and combed through thoroughly, but how can I make sure he becomes a good eater. I've been told he's skinny but I have no idea of the different between a skinny and healthy looking ball. Please help with any and all suggestions. He does have a water bowl in with him too.
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/webki...5449/imagejpeg

How are you heating and offering the mouse?

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Originally Posted by cltp10

It was like he was repulsed at the fact I even thought about offering him another (I feed in a seperate container).

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Don't do that and see how it works for you. :gj:

Feed in its cage and offer the prey near live body temp(100F).

I'm heating the mouse in warm water, dry it off the use tongs and kind of walk it 2-6 inches around my bp. The temp gun had the mouse at around 80 degrees or so.

Should I still offer the fuzzy? Or maybe a different size. He's on bark bedding right now, so is it ok to feed with loose substrate in the enclosure?

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Originally Posted by cltp10

I'm heating the mouse in warm water, dry it off the use tongs and kind of walk it 2-6 inches around my bp. The temp gun had the mouse at around 80 degrees or so.

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Not nearly warm enough. That's basically room temperature. If you've offered food recently, don't offer again for 3-4 days. Then, offer it in the enclosure at the right temp.

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Originally Posted by cltp10

He's on bark bedding right now, so is it ok to feed with loose substrate in the enclosure?

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He'll be fine. Substrate ingestion issues are way overblown compared to the extremely slim chance of them actually doing any harm what-so-ever. :)

Don't worry about drying off either. I also heat mine in hot water, and sometimes the bag has a hole and he gets soaked. My BP has never rejected a wet mouse as long as he was still hot.

Like I said a mouse has a living body temp of around 100F so the mouse needs to be the same for best results.

I used to thaw and warm in bags but the bags would usually always leak and they would get soaked. Now I just thaw and warm my rats in straight hot water and served them soaking wet. None of my snakes seem to care.

Though for note, a wet mouse will pick up much more substrate and while I know some is ok ish, I personally still try to avoid too much ingestion

All of this info is great. I really appreciate it. I have another question I was hoping someone could help with or explain to me. He is very much like a bp (spend most of the day in his hide) but at dawn, dusk or in the middle of the night he seems to search around his enclosure, but eventually always starts to climb up and act as if he is trying to escape (the enclosure is extremely escape proof so I don't worry about an actual break out.) is this cause for concern. Should I take it as a sign of being stressed? Is this fairly normal? The i closure is 12in high and I'm wanting to switch to something that is around 7-8 in. Does any of this make a real difference or am I just stressing myself out?

I would consider this normal as mine does this daily, but never seems to be anxious about it, just being a Ball and trying to test my security methods :P

My GTP, BRB, Ball, and Hoggy all explore their home at some point every so often. Its very normal and just a snake being a snake.

You can try a live fuzzy, it's what got mine eating. I also agree with not feeding in a separate container. My guy refuses if I try.


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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

He'll be fine. Substrate ingestion issues are way overblown compared to the extremely slim chance of them actually doing any harm what-so-ever. :)

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Hey, try switching to 100% cypress mulch and give him more of a chance to acclimate to the new environment. Zoo med has a great product called "forest floor" cypress mulch. Younger balls do need to be fed more frequently so be alert to that! Also, you might have to offer the youngster a live mouse! Make sure he or she has plenty of fresh water. Good luck and enjoy entering the ball python world. Peace. A.C.

Not that any one of you are likely still interested, but thought I'd post an update. I tried feeding in the enclosure as well as ensuring that the mouse was at 100 degrees. And now, he's eating like a champ. I'm always curious as to what size is appropriate for feeding and I know there are countless threads and info out there, but I always went with width of the body and width of the food. I'm starting to feel like despite being very young at the thickest part of his body he could take care of a small mouse without any issue. Thoughts?

A young ball I always feed 10% (as close as you can get to) of the snakes weight a meal and every 5 days I do this until they hit 600-700gm then reduce the time to 7 days. Once they push over the 1200 gm (male) and 1400 gm (female) I reduce 10% to closer to 3-7% or so and stay at the 7 day cycle (easier for me) although I have 17 of them so I thaw a guess of who will eat the smaller snakes are all offered first so the older (10-20+ year olds) don't always get offered one.

Once you little one (assumption it is a young one?) is eating well I would switch to rats. When you have an adult full grown snake that is around the 2000gm plus range mice even 5% are simply not large enough and trying to feed multiple prey items can be a huge issue.

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Originally Posted by cltp10

.....I'm always curious as to what size is appropriate for feeding and I know there are countless threads and info out there, but I always went with width of the body and width of the food. I'm starting to feel like despite being very young at the thickest part of his body he could take care of a small mouse without any issue. Thoughts?

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up the size, a fuzzy mouse is too small for even the smallest of BPs. I think body width to food width is a good approach.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cltp10

I'm always curious as to what size is appropriate for feeding and I know there are countless threads and info out there, but I always went with width of the body and width of the food. I'm starting to feel like despite being very young at the thickest part of his body he could take care of a small mouse without any issue.

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Hatchlings out of the eggs can take hopper mice. If your guy has grown at all since hatching he can almost assuredly take an adult mouse.

:gj: Glad he is feeding for you!