My snake still hasn't ate!

I got a snake from the pet store 4 weeks ago and he has not eaten yet. I posted on here about two weeks ago for help and got good advice but he still won't eat. I finally got a scale this morning he weighs 77 grams and is 18 inches long. Is this underweight?

If he's still that tiny he shouldn't be on that long of a fast unless it's unhappy about something. Are you handling him? I would make sure your husbandry is on point and don't touch him at all until he eats. Offer the appropriate food in the evening or at night while the lights are low and try to stay out of site.

I haven't handled him for two weeks and offered him food twice. The humidity stays around 50 to 60% and the temperature is right above 80°F. He has a hide box and I've only fed him in the dark and left him alone for several hours and he never eats it.

^this
I got 3 that won't eat if they see you and 3 that will eat out of your hand. They're fickle usually until they're well established.


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So I just came back from the pet store and I purchased a frozen mouse. I have been feeding him f/t because that's what the pet store said they were feeding him. I put the snake in his plastic container I bought for feeding him in. I let him sit there for five minutes then put the rat in. Within a matter of seconds he took him. I left him in a dark room by himself to eat. Hopefully he actually eats it :)

The first mistake is putting him in a seperate feeding box. Just leave him alone in his enclosure to eat. There is no advantage to a seperate feed box and all it will do is stress him out. They're ambush predators, placing them in a new area just sets back the clock for them feeling safe enough in their environment to eat plus the added handling.

I meant I gave him a live mouse. And everything I've read said to put them in a separate container so that's why I was doing it. Also he ate it so it's all good.

If you have not yet do this to a T http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-Hatchling-101

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Originally Posted by Ashleibby613

I meant I gave him a live mouse. And everything I've read said to put them in a separate container so that's why I was doing it. Also he ate it so it's all good.

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Can you please post those links so I can go correct the people giving that bad advice?

Why in the world would anyone move a shy ambush predator to feed, makes absolutely no sense.

For those of us just learning, you will easily find information telling you to feed in a separate container rather than in their own enclosure. Main reasons are the myth that the snake will associate your hand with food as well as accidental ingestion of substrate (most people just starting prefer aesthetics and don't want newspaper substrate). Simple searches on youtube of people feeding ball pythons also show snakes feeding in separate containers. Until I got information on this forum, I thought that's what most people did. But even on this forum, a recent poll showed that about 25% of those surveyed feed their snakes in a separate container.

Just as a side note, I have a 1200g female I bought 5 weeks ago and she still hasn't eaten, pooped or shed. She looks healthy though and I'm going to try feeding her again this weekend :)