Ball python not eating( strange story)

[Jmp2722]

So I got another ball python about 4 months ago. I got his to be able to breed with my 2 females. I got him from petsmart and all was normal. They didn't know much about him because they got him 5 hours before I showed up and got him, and they didn't tell me that until after I bought him and I looked at the sheet they gave me. She they never fed him or anything. He looks healthy, and all that. 1 week after having him, I tried to feed him, and he didn't bite. He did this for about 2 more weeks( I know it's kinda normal)and finally bit one. As he was balled up, he randomly spit it out( he didn't throw it up). It's been 4 months of trying to feed him and he still won't eat, and I'm getting concerned. I've tried different sizes or pinkies and even small rats( all frozen). It's very difficult for me to get live food for him, and I feel really bad about it. All my other snakes I've owned in the past eat frozen food very well. I've thought about breeding mice at this point, but I don't think that is the problem. If he's hungry enough, he would eat even frozen foods( in my opinion). The little guy is about 18-20 inches long and he looks to be slightly thinner, and I know that's not a good sign. My cage is a good setup with the warm side averaging 91-92 and the cool side at 80ish. He seems to always be on the cool side, so at one point I tried lowering the temperature thinking maybe it was too hot, even when I brought the warm side down to 80 and the cool side to 70 ish, he always was on the cool side. So I raised the temps back up to what they should be at. I don't know if it's just this snake, but something seems wrong. I haven't been able to get him to eat at all since I've gotten him. All my other snakes eat on a good timeline, but this little guy is different. I kinda want to sell him because of his difficulties, but I want to sell him after he has eaten so the next person to get him does get mad at me because he died 3 weeks after getting him.

[6037201]

This is why u don't get reptiles in petsmart cuz they have no prior info about him..

Try a frozen mouse first, maybe hes a mouser, or just wait another week, or idk search up a pet store that have live maybe he only eats live.. Its hard to find out cuz again no prior info u just gonna keep trying

[Ogre]

I know it's not your first choice but try live. Even if you have to lie to PetSmart or Petco, it's expensive through them as well. Also I would recommend not buying reptiles from either one. They don't know what they're doing.

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[Jmp2722]

Well, I've gotten almost all of my reptiles there. They give you a sheet with a health certificate so I imagined they were fine. Also they show last time it was fed.ive never had problems with them before, so idk. I won't buy from them anymore. Anyone know of a good place to buy them on the internet?

[Ogre]

Try morphs.com it is a Reptile classifieds that is pretty simple to navigate. I know you can find BPs there but I'm not sure about other reptiles.

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[AZ556]

Sounds like a breeding disaster waiting to happen.


Why didn't you buy him from a reputable breeder ?

[Brooke Douglass]

I had a similar experiance with a new BP. Try live, mine refuses to eat frozen. Im not sure why because my other snake will eat them. Ive had the stubborn eater for a while and he just prefers live, once he gabs it and coils i watch the teeth and if its close to biting him i stick my finger in the mouth of the mouse. He got big enough that i can go to petco and get a $4 mouse. I had to drive an hour for live fuzzys, but it was worth it when he refused to eat for weeks.