Ball python not eating

Hi guys, I've had my BP for about 5 weeks now and I've tried multiple times to try and convert him from live to frozen thawed. But no luck so far, I tried exposing the brain or blood and also tried leaving it in the cage for 1 day but still no luck. Seems like I've got a picky eater on my hands. Maybe he's still a bit stressed or uneasy.

Any suggestions or tips?

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Is it because he's flighting during his "fight or flight"? Does he show no interest at all, or run away? Do you hold the prey?

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You can:

Mess around with temps. We have some snakes who will take a F/T without warming it and others who need it to a specific degree

Feeding under a red light. Then you can see the snake and prey but the snake (a nocturnal hunter) is closer to its instinctual hunting pattern

Don't offer for 2 feeds. Refusal can become a pattern.

Those are our 3 most successful methods!

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I hold the rat with tongs and try to mimic a live one. He just looks at it and then ignores it

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Do you guys suggest trying a live one or not

I don't like the idea because of the disastrous effects that could happen like the death of a snake but I am willing to try

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Originally Posted by William Snakespeare

Do you guys suggest trying a live one or not

I don't like the idea because of the disastrous effects that could happen like the death of a snake but I am willing to try

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did you correct the husbandry issues we covered in your last post?

did you get a thermostat and are your temps regulated? this is most likely a husbandry issue and you need to correct your husbandry before trying anything else.

Not yet, the guy that sells thermostats is out of stock but that is right at the top of my list right now. I am now checking the temps regularly

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I am now checking the temps regularly

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That is usually what people with animals suffering from a burn will say, if you do not have a way to control your temps you MUST unplug your UTH. A temporary solution is a lamp dimer from lowes or home depot and that can be bought TODAY.

If you do not provide proper husbandry and the animal has never ate for you, you will not make progress any time soon.

Husbandry is VERY important and with an animal that ate live for most of it's life switching will not happen overnight, it may not even happen.

Your best chance is before converting him is to have him eat for you, a well established animal will switch better than one that is not so I always recommend to feed the same prey as previously offered 5 consecutive times before switching. Switching can take MONTHS just like getting an adult to eat for you for the first time can take months as they can take longer to adjust.

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I don't like the idea because of the disastrous effects that could happen like the death of a snake but I am willing to try

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Based on whose experience, graphic pictures no depicting responsible live feeding that are floated around to scare people off without educating them?

I have been feeding well over 25000 live preys over the last 10+ years without issue, the key is to be educated on the subject and feed responsibly. Feeding should be done based on the size of that 3 YO, knowing that a male even the largest one in the 1500 grams range does not need anything larger than a 75 grams rat.

Keys for live feeding

Never feed an over sized prey

Pre-scent the room by leaving the feeder near the enclosure

Feed and hydrate the feeder prior to being fed off

Do not stress, or stun the feeder

Open the enclosure, drop the feeder, supervise feeding and remove after 20 min if uneaten.

If your husbandry is off then definitley wait before switching. Where I live F/T is the ONLY option. So when we get snakes flown in that require a switch we do it. There cannot be a never for us. If the snake won't switch it will die. So far we haven't had a snake that won't switch. We have even gotten our babies to start live on F/T....not an easy feat!! But no switch should happen if your temps are off. If the guy who sells thermostats is unavailable Amazon will have something and be here in 2 days with Prime.

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Great info, thanks guys. Good news I got the temperatures regulated with thermostat, now the feeding part.

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