Young ball python not eating

[Mpomeroy]

So I just got my first ball python about a month ago and she has yet to eat with me. Not sure how old she is but she’s just over 1 foot long. The store from which I bought her told me they feed their snakes live pinkies once a week on Wednesdays, I bought her on a Friday so waited until the following Wednesday to feed her myself. I heard from multiple sources not to feed her in her tank so I moved her to a large storage bin and dropped the mouse in. No luck. Probably had her in there for an hour and a half, sniffed the rat pinkie, even opened her mouth on it lightly, but then spent the rest of the time trying to get out.

Shes in a 20 gallon tank. I keep it between 80 and 95 degrees and between 50 and 60 % humidity. She has two hides, one on the warm side one on the cooler side. Plenty of fake plants and leaves to hide in and some branches to climb around on. I’ve recently gotten a humidifier (about a week ago) I’ve had better luck regulating the humidity. Before it was dropping pretty low and I would spray the tank down with a spray bottle to bring it up. Since then she has been more active and seems more comfortable in her tank.

Since the initial feeding I’ve tried 2 or 3 more times. I’ve tried frozen thawed pinkies and live pinkies, I’ve tried rats and mice. I haven’t noticed her losing weight, although I don’t have a scale to weigh her, but I feel like she’s maybe even grown some. Today I noticed her belly is slightly pink in hue..

Am I pestering her too much with food? Should I be concerned? Thanks for the help

[Stewart_Reptiles]

First if those are pinky mice the food is too small (this is colubrid food) and is probably not recognize as a prey.

As for the rest do this to a T and I mean to a T https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-hatchling-101

[Mpomeroy]

Thank you
do you think it will really freak her out to move her to a new spot now that she’s been in her tank for a month?

[Zincubus]

Thank you
do you think it will really freak her out to move her to a new spot now that she’s been in her tank for a month?

Take the advice mentioned above first ...

Anytime you move a snake wether you mean set up or just location if can effect certain snakes for a week or so ... good eaters probably won't be too bothered tbh

As regards you 'pestering' her that's entirely possible . If you have a failure it's possibly best to wait a week or so before trying again .

In my experience, Royals are funny critters , some are ravenous eaters and others are the complete opposite only feeding every 10 to 14 days ..

I'd suggest trying a small thawed mouse next time and try the hairdryer method . Basically feed in the evenings, low or dim lighting , wait until snakey is in a hide , get the mouse in some tongs , heat for 10+ seconds then INSTANTLY dangle it in front of the hide entrance.. repeat this process as many times as it takes .... mine grab the mouse and eat in under their hides ..

I'll send a more detailed explanation to you by pm ..

Good luck


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Bogertophis]

....I heard from multiple sources not to feed her in her tank so I moved her to a large storage bin and dropped the mouse in. No luck.

That's one of the best ways to make your snake refuse to eat: handling & moving to another cage to feed. Don't do it. I wish people would stop repeating that nonsense. It stresses the snake (they rely on instincts and the only thing that normally picks up a snake in the wild is a predator about to eat them) plus it's distracting. They feel secure in the cage where they live, & that's where they need to be fed. Some will refuse to eat after you handle them.

Another reason to feed all snakes where they live is their feeding response: we are "warm & wiggling" and with the scent of prey in the room, some are apt to bite us instead of their dinner. It's inconvenient to get bit from smaller snakes, but with larger ones it's even dangerous. So let's say you move your snake into a side cage to feed, then offer their prey & they eat: many snakes stay "food focused" for hours or even a day or longer after feeding, so your choices then become either (1) risking a bite to put them back in their cage, or (2) leaving them in a less secure & unheated cage for as long as it takes to be able to pick them up. That's not a good plan at all. And trust me, you do NOT want a "feeding bite" from a serious constrictor.

Your snake will learn to identify when it's food time & when it's handling time, without ever feeding them in a separate cage, & there are easy ways to signal your intentions. Whether your snake is shy or ferocious at feeding time, it's better for them and for us if they stay "home" for dinner.

[Craiga 01453]

I heard from multiple sources not to feed her in her tank so I moved her to a large storage bin...

Shes in a 20 gallon tank. I keep it between 80 and 95 degrees and between 50 and 60 % humidity...

Since the initial feeding I’ve tried 2 or 3 more times. I’ve tried frozen thawed pinkies and live pinkies, I’ve tried rats and mice. I haven’t noticed her losing weight, although I don’t have a scale to weigh her, but I feel like she’s maybe even grown some. Today I noticed her belly is slightly pink in hue..

Am I pestering her too much with food? Should I be concerned? Thanks for the help

A) welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of snake keeping!!

B) follow Deborah's advice. It's time tested and proven the most reliable way to get a young BP eating

C) usung a seperate feeding tub is old school and proven counter productive over time. Moving the snake stresses the snake, increasing the chance of refusal. Moving the snake back to the enclosure increases the chance of a regurge as well, if the snake actually does eat. Lastly, it greatly increases your chancing of being bitten, as the snake can remain in feed mode after being in the feeding tub.

D) Your hot side temps are a bit high. I never go above 90, but the max recommended is 92.
VERY IMPORTANT: ARE YOUR HEAT SOURCES REGULATED BY A THERMOSTAT??

E) That pink belly could mean one of two things:
- Most likely, the snake is going into shed. If this is the case, bump your humidity to about 70% until she sheds. She most likely won't eat during shed either. She'll likely stay in her hide until she sheds.
- OR, an unregulated heat mat (UTH) could be too hot and be burning the snake. Thus is why the thermostat question is so important.

F) As for feeding frequency, don't offer food too often. Offer once a week, regardless of whether she eats or not. If she eats, awesome! Feed again.in a week. If not, wait a week and try again. Trying too often can stress the snake and end up leading to more refusals.

G) Lastly, also VERY important: are you handling the snake?? Handling too soon or too often can stress the snake. And stress = food refusals.


Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any questions you may have!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Thank you
do you think it will really freak her out to move her to a new spot now that she’s been in her tank for a month?

It does not matter, right now your snake is telling you that what you are doing is not working, so you have no choice if you want this animal to eat and at a young age it's imperative to get the animal to eat. Because the relocation will provide OPTIMAL husbandry with optimal security your snake with will adjust.

[Indy]

You have a young, small snake. It's well within the size when it's prey to pretty much everything so it's going to be insecure all the time. It will feel more secure when it's in its hide which it's in all the time. As soon as you take it out of the hide it's back to feeling insecure, and insecure snakes don't eat. They hide because they're feeling like they're about to be eaten themselves. Imagine growing up in rural wisconsin and having a giant alien take the roof off your house and drop you 2 seconds later in downtown LA. Odds are "let's get lunch" isn't the first thing you think of. It's either hide and hope you don't get noticed or become defensive. Balls ball up to hide, have ready to strike body poses when they're defensive.

So, feed it where it is comfy. It will stay in its hide and only stick it's neck out far enough to eat.

Ball pythons don't bite. Well they do, but for all practical intents, they don't. I've been bitten exactly 1 time. It was a wild caught (sold to me as a pied het but pretty obvious what was in the box wasn't what I paid for) that also refused to eat. It went from living rural wisconsin to downtown Somalia. It was also pretty obvious that I was going to get bit by that snake, wasn't a shock when it happened. Ball bites, especially by the small ones are irritating at worst. It's done and over with before you know it and you get worse damage by skinning your knee. Just (imo) take the hit and don't freak out because nothing bad is actually happening to you. You probably won't even need a bandaid afterwards.

Anyway, the WC turned into an ok eater, turned into an ok snake but she was ALWAYS a bit skittish and that was understandable. She refused pre-killed for a looooong time. She refused live for a looooong time. Eventually I changed out her box from bare bones to a moss/dirt substrate, buried the entry to her hide so there was just enough room for her to get through. Then I left her alone entirely for a couple weeks. That was pretty much all I could do to really make her feel secure. Then back to a live mouse, with water and mouse food available. At this point it was you will either eat, or you will starve, but you're going to have a mouse room-mate until one or the other happens. I'm not saying do that, but that's what I did. Don't do that with a rat. Mice are fairly safe though. After 2 days, mouse was gone and snake was fed. I kept that up for a while until small rats would be gone a few minutes after being introduced and then I started reverting her tub back to a clean enclosure. And then we were done. Never did get her to PK but I was breeding rodents at the same time so I always had access to live for her. Or him. I never bothered with sexing as I had no plans to breed a normal. She/he was just a pet snake once I saw that it wasn't what I had ordered. Which was kind of funny. I have albino I have lav albino het from nerd, and in the middle of all of them was the 1 snake people always asked about. Pure normal just hanging out for no real reason. It definitely was out of place but she had a home as long as I was in the hobby. And when I sold everything to a larger breeder they had to promise to do the same. Probably didn't keep the promise but I tried

And fwiw she hit me well after she was back in the plain tub and I was 90% sure it was going to happen that day. Done and over and back to cleaning out her tub. Then just a little soap and water to clean up the tiny puncture on my arm, didn't even draw blood.

[bcr229]

I heard from multiple sources not to feed her in her tank...

Please cite these multiple sources so I can go correct them.

[Cheesenugget]

That's one of the best ways to make your snake refuse to eat: handling & moving to another cage to feed. Don't do it. I wish people would stop repeating that nonsense. It stresses the snake (they rely on instincts and the only thing that normally picks up a snake in the wild is a predator about to eat them) plus it's distracting. They feel secure in the cage where they live, & that's where they need to be fed. Some will refuse to eat after you handle them.

Another reason to feed all snakes where they live is their feeding response: we are "warm & wiggling" and with the scent of prey in the room, some are apt to bite us instead of their dinner. It's inconvenient to get bit from smaller snakes, but with larger ones it's even dangerous. So let's say you move your snake into a side cage to feed, then offer their prey & they eat: many snakes stay "food focused" for hours or even a day or longer after feeding, so your choices then become either (1) risking a bite to put them back in their cage, or (2) leaving them in a less secure & unheated cage for as long as it takes to be able to pick them up. That's not a good plan at all. And trust me, you do NOT want a "feeding bite" from a serious constrictor.

Your snake will learn to identify when it's food time & when it's handling time, without ever feeding them in a separate cage, & there are easy ways to signal your intentions. Whether your snake is shy or ferocious at feeding time, it's better for them and for us if they stay "home" for dinner.

Agreed with Deborah's post as well. I had the same problem, moved him to a 6qt tub and all that, and he ate! He had been eating since and had grown so much. You have nothing to lose but your snake slowly starving itself.

I also agree with this post about the feeding response. Even with not so shy snakes like kings, I don't move my king or handle her the day before, the day of, and the day after feeding. She is tame as a puppy and goes to you if she recognizes you by sight and smell. However, she is a ferocious hunter and my hand starts to look just as tasty as a mouse when feeding day is near. She does not really constrict her food much either... She opens her mouth, grab and starts eating it, whether it is dead or not. If it is substrate you are worried about, then how do you think snakes ate in the wild under much dirtier environment?