Trying to figure out why she randomly won't eat

[Rusky]

I'm trying to figure out why my ball will sometimes strike at the food and sometimes not

My method is to thaw the rat in the fridge overnight and into the evening of the next day
Then I'll take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temp
Then blast it with a hair dryer until the skin registers 100+ with a temp gun
Towards the end of warming it up I'll open my bedroom door so she can smell it and get in feeding mode
I'll know she does because she'll perk her head up and start sniffing the air much more aggressively
The I'll bring the rat into my room and lower it into her tank using long metal forceps

Sometimes she will strike at it as I'm lowering it into the cage
Sometimes I will lower it in, wiggle it a bit and she strikes it
But sometimes I lower it in, she expressed much interest in the rat coiling up into an S-shape but never striking at it. Sometimes I'll re-heat it and try again with success but most of the time at this point she doesn't go for it

Maybe there are some other factors I'm not noticing but I think I keep all other factors the same. I wonder if it's related to how I warm it up or how I hold it or something totally different...any thoughts?

[bcr229]

How old is she, what size feeders are you offering, and how often do you attempt to feed her?

[Rusky]

How old is she, what size feeders are you offering, and how often do you attempt to feed her?

She's 7 years old
Feeding her large rats, she's eaten them before many times
Offer her once a week. If she doesn't go for it I'll wait till next week to try again

She's definitely interested in the rat when I lower it in but it's like she doesn't recognize what it is or something and doesn't strike

[bcr229]

I'd back her down to a large every 2-3 weeks. She doesn't need to eat weekly to maintain her weight and she's pretty much done growing at her age.

My older females get offered a medium f/t or a small live every two weeks and they'll still refuse periodically.

[redshepherd]

She's 7 years old
Feeding her large rats, she's eaten them before many times
Offer her once a week. If she doesn't go for it I'll wait till next week to try again

She's definitely interested in the rat when I lower it in but it's like she doesn't recognize what it is or something and doesn't strike

She's basically eating more than she needs to already and she's just controlling her own food intake. That's a lot of food for weekly! Adult females really only need a medium rat every couple weeks, unless they're breeding I suppose. And it wouldn't hurt them to skip meals at this age either.

I feed my adult male and a growing adult female who are both around 1100g~1200g a small rat every 2 weeks.

[Craiga 01453]

I agree with the others. I'd drop down to mediums and/or stretch out feedings to every 2+ weeks.

[Dylan_]

Ive had it to where ive had to sit here and make the rat dance for like 10 minutes before mine will take also mine will no take it ubless its in her hide for some reason ive never had her miss though when she does strike i always give the rat a little wiggle after she takes it though to indicate its alive still ive had her constrict it and then leave it if i dont do it this way but i did help my cousins feed and it was like this would strike like a mad man but missed alot even ended up biting me my own fault i stuck my hand down to pick up the mouse because they dont have feeding tongs and they left itnin there for afew hours so i figured make it dance like i do with mine only way mine will take is if she thinks its alive i tried to tell them to switch over to rats but hey not my snake anyways i would just try to feed when its in its hide mine has the best response and never misses when inside hide not sure what else to say im still new and alotnof other people here have alot more experience with balls then me im just giving you my story also i defrost mine with warm watrr then use a hair dryer to warm and dry works best for me but thats only way ive gotten mine to eat

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[Rusky]

Last I weighed her she was ~1800 grams

But it might be as simple as over feeding her. I'll give it another 2 weeks and try again.

[redshepherd]

Last I weighed her she was ~1800 grams

But it might be as simple as over feeding her. I'll give it another 2 weeks and try again.

Definitely just stick to a medium rat every 2 weeks, and that's a good feeding schedule for her size.

[Bogertophis]

I agree with the other posts, you've been offering too much food & too often. At least your snake knew when to say "no thanks".