killed food but then stared at it all night

so i just got this little guy, don't know how old he is but he's about 18 inches long, and he was due to be feed on tuesday. i let him get pretty comfy in his new home then tried feeding frozen and thawed an adult mouse, which he didn't care to even try to get. tired a smaller mouse the next day and nothing, so the lady at the pet store tells me to try live. so i snap up a live one and come night time when he emerged from his hide i dropped him in there and watched closley (i read all the warnings). took him a bit but he attacked it and killed it, then let it go and laid on top of his hide staring at it for the next 3 hours. is this normal? was the mouse too big for him? he killed it in the cool end about 75 degreese and the humidy is between 50-60%

Welcome to BPNet! Often feeding issues are related to husbandry so the first thing to address is your snake's housing. Here's our caresheet to help you get the temps and humidity stable and correct so your snake will be comfortable and more likely to eat successfully for you.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59

Things like appropriate hides are also an issue for these shy, nocturnal snakes. Do you have one hide on each end of his enclosure?

When a snake settles in to eat it's prey it is at a very vulnerable place. It can't really fight or flee when it's mouth is full of prey so if it feels unsafe, it will often kill it's prey but not settle down and eat it. Things like someone hovering too close, a loud or busy area of the house or a big open glass tank can contribute to that problem.

Hope this has been of some help.

You just got him right? Might want to wait a few weeks for him to settle in before trying to feed.

if not that make sure the mouse is warm enough are you just thawing them or heating them i tried it once and it was a pain til i got the idea to throw it under the heal lamp on top of tank for a few minute this served two purposes gets the scent into the tank and also warms the mouse (these snakes do use heat to look for prey and can sense if something is warm or not. onces warmed up my snake munched it right down but i would go with live fed no f/t just personal preference. if you use live you need to watch the mouse and make sure it doesnt bite your snake i just hold them by the tail and let the snake take them that way(feeding tongs recomended i made that mistake once and once is enough i have been bit twice kinda a pain.

could it be a matter of size? cause i heated the mouse up with a blow dryer and dangled it, he took it and constricted but then let go of it and just layed next to it for a while. i am feeding him adult mice, should i got smaller?

The mouse/rat should be about the same size of your snake's midsection... for an 18 in. BP I'm guessing that would be a fuzzy mouse/rat.

Make sure all of his cage requirements/temps are met and wait a week... maybe he will eat next time. :)

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Originally Posted by Sausage

The mouse/rat should be about the same size of your snake's midsection... for an 18 in. BP I'm guessing that would be a fuzzy mouse/rat.

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A fuzzy rat and a fuzzy mouse are totally different in size and smell ;) .

An 18'' ball can handle jumbo mice, but when I choose to do that, I wait two weeks until the next feeding. Your ball would have started to swallow the mouse way before he realized that it may be to big to handle ;) .

I guess I meant fuzzy rats... I feed rats, so I don't know as much about mouse size. ;)

My little guy was doing the same thing. He didn't eat for 2 weeks and finally :D ate on Friday night. I had to throw 2 mice away that I had frozen and rethawed out. :( I decided to give him 4 days straight of no interaction and it worked, or else he was finally so hungry he didn't care.

I had tried many of the techniques that I read about on here. Plop in hot water, use a blow dryer, thaw out then blow dry.

What finally worked for my guy was thawing (in the bag) beside his tank for about 5 hours, then dropping in hot but not boiling water for about 1-2 minutes. I didn't let the mouse (small) get wet this time and so he was fuzzy and squishy in the middle.

I used the tongs and he tried to ignore it again. I did the tong dance and I think it just scared him. He was looking for an exit but I had taken his hides out this time. I dropped it beside him and he finally just grabbed it and ate it. I was so excited!

Good luck. I know it seems frustrating at times, but I think he just needed to get used to his house. So I would try the don't try to feed him again or touch him for a week then try again.

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Originally Posted by VesuviusVicki

I decided to give him 4 days straight of no interaction and it worked, or else he was finally so hungry he didn't care.

He was looking for an exit but I had taken his hides out this time. I dropped it beside him and he finally just grabbed it and ate it. I was so excited!

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Hi! Just wanted to address these two.

First - good instincts of no interaction with your snake (although I would have waited 7 days). If any of mine refuse food one week, they get no interaction until they successfully feed again.

Second - removing hides aren't necessary and in fact remove the security that our shy ball pythons need and want. I don't remove any hides for mine (or water bowl for that matter). My snakes get very insecure if the hides are removed and would be more likely to refuse without the safety and security of their hides.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Hi! Just wanted to address these two.

First - good instincts of no interaction with your snake (although I would have waited 7 days). If any of mine refuse food one week, they get no interaction until they successfully feed again.

Second - removing hides aren't necessary and in fact remove the security that our shy ball pythons need and want. I don't remove any hides for mine (or water bowl for that matter). My snakes get very insecure if the hides are removed and would be more likely to refuse without the safety and security of their hides.

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Well, I decided after recommendation here at this site. ;) lol Ah didn't realize that about the hides. I thought that is why some people move to a different tub to eat so they can focus strictly on their food. I might leave them next time and just see what happens. I had left them in before when he wouldn't eat, but I am almost positive it was just him getting used to his new house.

no i take mine out so it doesnt begin to associate my hand going in the tank with yay its food time. this could possibly make your snake aggressive always trying to strike at you when you want to handle them. they will get accustomed to knowing when its feeding time and putting them in a separate enclosure lets them know when its feeding time.

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Originally Posted by sg1trogdor

no i take mine out so it doesnt begin to associate my hand going in the tank with yay its food time. this could possibly make your snake aggressive always trying to strike at you when you want to handle them. they will get accustomed to knowing when its feeding time and putting them in a separate enclosure lets them know when its feeding time.

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This is not true - I feed all of mine in their enclosures, none of them mistake me for food, because a) I don't smell like a mouse or rat and b) I'm going into my enclosure to clean, change water every day, and go to get them out for brief handling, not just feeding, so there's no way for them to associate that opening their enclosure always means food is coming.

They are very good with routines, as you mentioned - knowing when it's feeding time. I don't know about you, but I don't want to handle MY kiddos on feeding day to move them to another enclosure, they are locked and loaded on feeding day, as they should be. I'd be more likely to be bitten if I DID move them to another enclosure than allowing them to eat in their familiar surroundings.

Any other day, they know is not feeding day.

well third times a charm... he took a F/T mouse that i let thaw on top of his tank, then hit it with the blow dryer for a few mins. took him some time but he took it. i left the room and gave him complete privacy (the room was pitch black). came back 20 mins later and no mouse. VICTORY! this was the first time he ate since i have had him.

As some people may know i recently have gotten a ball python, and i have been having trouble with his husbandry so far i have finally perfected my Temps and i am happy know, all i am worrying about is helping him settle in. Today was feeding day and my instinct told me that he wasn't gonna eat because he havent even been in his hides yet so i am gonna wait until next thursday to try again. The hide i had were the open log hides, i figured that he didn't like them. So i bought to knew hides Reptile CAves and after taking him out of his feeding container after not eating i placed him inside of his hides. So far his is still in there he poked his head out and went back in and actually moved back, i hope this works because i am very anxious but patient to start handling him, but since he is not settled in yet i am just gonna give him his room.

I agree dont remove the hides but you can remove the water dish... I have problems with my guy getting to physical with his pray that he sometimes drags it through his water dish and gets stuff stuck to it.

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Originally Posted by Blaq215

As some people may know i recently have gotten a ball python, and i have been having trouble with his husbandry so far i have finally perfected my Temps and i am happy know, all i am worrying about is helping him settle in. Today was feeding day and my instinct told me that he wasn't gonna eat because he havent even been in his hides yet so i am gonna wait until next thursday to try again. The hide i had were the open log hides, i figured that he didn't like them. So i bought to knew hides Reptile CAves and after taking him out of his feeding container after not eating i placed him inside of his hides. So far his is still in there he poked his head out and went back in and actually moved back, i hope this works because i am very anxious but patient to start handling him, but since he is not settled in yet i am just gonna give him his room.

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Sounds like you are being very attentive to your animal and learning how to read him! I think you made a good decision to wait. I know when my guys are out and about like that, they will likely refuse. If they are in their hides lurking waiting for food, they're more likely to eat for me!