feeding my baby ball

[alexis]

hi new ball python owner here ....ive had my baby ball about 1 month now....ive tried feeding it twice.....i work at a veterinary hospital and got this baby as a pet store surrender ...it had a therometer stuck to its vent and when they went to remove it they tore above the vent. we surgically fixed it and has been doing well...we placed it on Ceftazadine.(fortaz) injections given every 3 days. both times i tried feeding it fefused so tonight i assist fed for the first time and it took it with no regurge yet.... in the future how do i get my baby ball to hopefully eat on its own.?? im trying to feed F/T i assist fed a baby small pinky F/T
enclosure is a 10 gallon tank with paper towels as substrate since it still has sutures, temp during the day on warm side is 85-90 cool side bout 75-80 usually bout 78 .....at night warm side is about 82 and kwl about 75 humidity is usually rite at 50 occassionally at 60 or as low as 40 .... any help or suggestions on what i should do to help is greatly appreciated....i always wanted a ball and did my best researching on balls when i had it surrendered to me since it was kinda random that i got it.... thanx again.... ALEXIS

[SRMD]

Check this out:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Also if you are feeding f/t why not try this:
get the rodent and place it in the same room as your reptile, maybe on top of the tank let it thaw out for about half hour - 1 hour depending on the rodent size.
Then get a blow dryer and start blow drying the scent of the rodent towards the ball hopefully he should come out of hiding looking for the prey
(when i do this the second i place the frozen rodent wrapper on top of my cage my ball flies out looking but has to wait 1 hour hehe)

once you have blowdryed the scent of the rodent, and at the same time warmed it up just dangle the rodent above the ball and hopefully he sould strike it, if not leave it in his cage over night but if it is still their in the morning remove it, and feed on the next scheduled day.

[Annarose15]

Give him a live hopper mouse. Once he is eating regularly, you can worry about switching him to F/T. Most big-box pet stores get their BPs in with zero meals in them, so he very likely had never eaten before he came into your care.

[DooLittle]

Your temps are a bit cool. Check out the caresheet link provided above. Your snake is probably super stressed out, and will probably eat on its own after it settles down. Sounds like it has been through a lot. Try to keep handling to the bare minimum until he has eaten a few times in a row for you. Do you have any hides in his enclosure? Also, you could try a live appropriate sized rat pink/pup and see if leaving one that's alive will get him going. Just make sure the rats eyes are still closed, and he won't be able to hurt your snake. Congrats on saving him though!

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

[Annarose15]

Your temps are a bit cool. Check out the caresheet link provided above. Your snake is probably super stressed out, and will probably eat on its own after it settles down. Sounds like it has been through a lot. Try to keep handling to the bare minimum until he has eaten a few times in a row for you. Do you have any hides in his enclosure? Also, you could try a live appropriate sized rat pink/pup and see if leaving one that's alive will get him going. Just make sure the rats eyes are still closed, and he won't be able to hurt your snake. Congrats on saving him though!

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

Temps are fine. Hatchlings don't need it to be quite as warm, and a temp gradient is difficult in a small enclosure. Also, he's very likely too small for a rat pup, so I would stick to rat fuzzies or mouse hoppers (preferably, because they are more active) for now.