Feeding problems with ball python

Hi all, I'm new here and I have a problem with my ball, his name is Royale. I got him from Pro Exotics with a sheet that said he was fed about a week before and that he eats live rats. He wouldn't eat until about 5 weeks after we got him and now he won't eat again. So he's only been fed twice in a span of about 3 months! He comes out and smells the rat and is curious about it, but shows no interest in devouring it. The one time he did feed for me it was very fast. He is not loosing weight, he sheds normally, and he is deficating still.
Am I just worrying too much and need to give him more time?

hmm well maybe hes just not hungry try about everyday leave the rat inside for hour then take it out and is he eating rats or mice? pinkies fuzzies hoppers or small rats? if the rat is small leave it inside if its big watch him while thr rat is inside i feed my snake live food never had a problem also try takeing him ot of the cage and feed him outside thats what i do

How old is Royale? What size container is he in, what's the temperature and humidity?

Hows your tank setup? Size, temps on hot and cool sides, what kind of heat (heat lamp, UTH) humidity, hides substrate etc... If your snake doesn't feel comfortable in his/her surroundings it might go on a hunger strike.

I've been avoiding keeping rats as I cant care for something that im condemning to death, but maybe i'll have to. He was a year old when I got him and he eats full size rats. he is fed in his cage, the feeding cage i have for my corn snake is too small for the snake and the rat, I'm worried that the rat would feel cornered and bite.

An adult rat? Ball pythons don't need a meal that big, and in fact feeding too large of a meal can cause them to go off feed for awhile. Even big adults will be fine on a small rat.

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Originally Posted by Enve

Hows your tank setup? Size, temps on hot and cool sides, what kind of heat (heat lamp, UTH) humidity, hides substrate etc... If your snake doesn't feel comfortable in his/her surroundings it might go on a hunger strike.

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The take is a 20 long, 70-80 deg ambient temp cool side with an upside down plant pot tray for a hide, 85-90 deg hot side temp via a uth under the area where he sleeps, a large dog bowl with a hole in the side and space underneath. 40% rh.

Totally agree with Shelby!
My female year-olds get medium sized rats, the males are on small rats. Rule of thumb: Feed prey items equivalent or up to a MAXIMUM of 1.5 of the girth size of your ball python (depending on how often you feed.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

An adult rat? Ball pythons don't need a meal that big, and in fact feeding too large of a meal can cause them to go off feed for awhile. Even big adults will be fine on a small rat.

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how about adult mice? what would be the quantity and feeding frequency? 1 a week, 2 every 2 weeks?

2 jumbo sized (about 35 - 45g each) every 10 days.

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Originally Posted by SoundUnsleep

Totally agree with Shelby!
My female year-olds get medium sized rats, the males are on small rats. Rule of thumb: Feed prey items equivalent or up to a MAXIMUM of 1.5 of the girth size of your ball python (depending on how often you feed.

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The rats I'm feeding aren't the huge sewer rats that they have, I think they would be considered a medium rat. I'll try smaller food tho, I just hope it will be enough for him.

Is there any way you can get him switched to frozen/thawed? Have you tried yet? Would be a much safer way to feed him and a lot more convenient for you.

2 jumbo rats how fat is your bp? feed him like 1 jumbo every week

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Originally Posted by SoundUnsleep

Is there any way you can get him switched to frozen/thawed? Have you tried yet? Would be a much safer way to feed him and a lot more convenient for you.

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I have indeed tried, a few times. tryed warming in a ziplock bag under wrm water, tried heating the head under the lamp, tried spliting the nose, braining it, tried chicken broth. he just does like he does with the live ones, sniffs it a while and then goes back to whatever he was doing :)

jumbo mice, not rats.

My adult male BP eats one small rat every two weeks or so.. he's a very healthy weight. It's really easy to overfeed snakes.. especially boids.

You'll want to get your cool side temps up too.. it shouldn't get below 80 degrees in the cage.

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Originally Posted by bonheki

2 jumbo rats how fat is your bp? feed him like 1 jumbo every week

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if the problem is that the prey is too large I doubt he will eat a jumbo :)

I took some measurements, he is 12 oz, 28" long, about 4 3/4" girth

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Originally Posted by Shelby

jumbo mice, not rats.

My adult male BP eats one small rat every two weeks or so.. he's a very healthy weight. It's really easy to overfeed snakes.. especially boids.

You'll want to get your cool side temps up too.. it shouldn't get below 80 degrees in the cage.

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any idea how to best do that without overheating the cage?

Either get a second UTH and set it cooler, or use a ceramic heat emitter or red bulb to get the temps up.

This is a year old snake, that I assume you bought from a breeder that gave you it's feeding history. It should by a year old have a solid feeding pattern set down. Have you spoken to the supplier you bought from and asked them exactly what size rat they fed this snake and exactly how they presented the live rat? Ball pythons are creatures of habit. Changing their home is enough stress, add in a sudden change in how or what they are fed and you're likely to get refusals.

Refusals are not the problem, they are a symptom of other problems.

Talk to the supplier.

Then examine your setup:

You want steady temps - 80-82 cool side, 90-92 warm side, 24/7, no night drop. About 50% or so humidity (you can bump that during shed a bit to help the snake slip it's skin).

Small, easy to clean, non-tipping water bowl (no need for it to be big enough to soak in, healthy bp's rarely soak).

Two hides - just barely bigger than the snake is coiled up, dark, easy to clean, don't need to be pricey or fancy, the snake could care less.

Substrate - aspen, cypress double milled mulch, newspaper, kraft paper, plain white paper towels (no cedar or pine).

Heating source - under tank is best. Something to control that heat - tstat is best, rheostat will work in a pinch.

Something to read your temps and humidity - digital not analog (Acu-Rites work well and are cost effective).

If you have a glass tank with a mesh lid, cover part of that lid. It will be a constant fight to hold in heat and humidity if you don't. If the tank is fairly "open" add in crumpled newspaper or snake safe tank decor to use up that space. BP's do not like a lot of open space, it tends to freak them out.

Move the enclosure to a quiet, low light area of your house (a large walk-in closet is good). Don't handle the snake, don't bother it, don't allow a lot of foot traffic around it, don't play loud bass driven music, keep vibrations and fuss to the minimum.

Find a supplier for large pups/small wean rats - you might even want to go as small as a large, fat fuzzy rat (none of my picky eaters can ever seem to refuse a fat fuzzy :)). Wait a week or so after any major enclosure changes, then pick a quiet night after dark, offer this smaller prey and monitor quietly. Do not hover over and move around a lot. If the snake eats, wait another week, do EXACTLY the same thing and slowly work it up to appropriate prey without going overboard in size of prey.

Hope this helped.

Call Robyn (sp?) at ProExoctics and ask her what they were feeding him and the size of the prey, how he was housed, etc.

Joanna gave you a very good summary of what to check . . .

Good luck

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Originally Posted by Alice

Call Robyn (sp?) at ProExoctics and ask her what they were feeding him and the size of the prey, how he was housed, etc.

Joanna gave you a very good summary of what to check . . .

Good luck

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Robyn is a guy! ;)

I also agree, go over Joanna's post and check everything. I also feed no larger than a small rat (40-50 grams or 3-5 weeks old) to any of my ball pythons, and my largest is over 3000 grams. A year old snake does not need a medium, large or jumbo rat.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Robyn is a guy! ;)

I also agree, go over Joanna's post and check everything. I also feed no larger than a small rat (40-50 grams or 3-5 weeks old) to any of my ball pythons, and my largest is over 3000 grams. A year old snake does not need a medium, large or jumbo rat.

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Boy I missed that one didn't I . . . . :D

Problem is, I do know that.:weirdface

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Originally Posted by Alice

Boy I missed that one didn't I . . . . :D

Problem is, I do know that.:weirdface

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Admit it, you were simply thinking of me when you wrote that! :wuv:

do not leave the rat inside the cage! try pre scenting your room before hand