My BP is afraid of her F/T food?

[Shadowy]

So I’m dealing with an extremely bad juvenile eater (lucky me, this is my first ball python). She is actually afraid of her F/T rat fuzzies. She acts interested in the food I have on the tongs, but then out of nowhere she gets terrified and darts her head back into her hide. I’m not touching her with the food, or even making it look like it’s coming at her. It’s warmed up. I feed at night, and the room she’s in is dim. Her husbandry is good 75-80 on cold side, 88-92 on warm. She’s always in her cool hide though. The one time I was able to get her to take a rat fuzzy she was hanging out on the warm side and I had just set it next to her after she acted afraid. I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but her not eating consistently is stressing me out. The guy from the reptile shop I got my feeder said if she’s still stubborn after offering her what I bought to come back and buy some African Soft-Furred rats. Although he and I both know they can get addicted to those and make it even harder to offer normal rats. I’m just not sure what to try next.

[Bogertophis]

How long have you had her? How old is she? Did she come with a feeding record? *Are you SURE she was fed rats previously?* If she was fed mice, under-
stand that they smell & (presumably) taste far different from rats, & many snakes take some time to "convince". Have you ever offered her a f/t hopper mouse?

She sounds hungry, but yes, turned off & afraid of the rat smell. Try mice...or other...

[royalreilly]

Has she eaten well before (with whoever you got her from)? Is she losing any weight?

When my snake is fasting (as he currently is) he sometimes has the behavior of seeming "scared" of the f/t rats. He kind of looks interested for a few seconds before darting his head back and hiding. He'll do this for a few weeks straight before finally accepting food again. But normally he's a very good, bold eater. Of course, he is an adult so it's safer for him to fast for longer than a baby could. That might just be your snake's way of showing that it isn't hungry or interested. I think your snake is probably okay unless there's more going on like weight loss or signs of sickness. They're known for being picky, fasting, etc.

Someone who's more experienced with picky eaters might have more to say... My bp isn't picky at all and only goes off of feed a few times a year for very short periods of time. Good luck!

[Shadowy]

How long have you had her? How old is she? Did she come with a feeding record? *Are you SURE she was fed rats previously?* If she was fed mice, under-
stand that they smell & (presumably) taste far different from rats, & many snakes take some time to "convince". Have you ever offered her a f/t hopper mouse?

She sounds hungry, but yes, turned off & afraid of the rat smell. Try mice...or other...

Ive had her for about a month. She’s about 7 months old. The breeder didn’t tell me much about her feeding record, other than she was taking f/t mice. I had offered her mice initially but ended up refusing the ones I offered. That’s when out of desperation I tried that rat fuzzy and she ended up eating it after leaving it with her for a little while. But now she’s even refusing those. I will admit she looks way more interested in the rats than the mice.

[SquirmyPug]

How are you heating them? You're sure they are thawed and warm before you offer them to her? Have you tried leaving the rat/ mouse just outside of the hide she's in over night?

[Shadowy]

How are you heating them? You're sure they are thawed and warm before you offer them to her? Have you tried leaving the rat/ mouse just outside of the hide she's in over night?

I put it in the fridge the night before feeding, then when I warm it I put it in a plastic bag and put that in warm water for about 20 minutes. Then right before offering I run the prey under hot water still in the plastic bag. I’ve also heard of the hairdryer method and I think I may try that next to make sure it’s good and warm. I did leave the prey in there overnight last night, no success.

[Bogertophis]

Ive had her for about a month. She’s about 7 months old. The breeder didn’t tell me much about her feeding record, other than she was taking f/t mice. I had offered her mice initially but ended up refusing the ones I offered. That’s when out of desperation I tried that rat fuzzy and she ended up eating it after leaving it with her for a little while. But now she’s even refusing those. I will admit she looks way more interested in the rats than the mice.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but how many times have you offered her food in the month you've had her? Have you handled her at all?
Snakes get too stressed to eat when we keep offering them food (with or without handling): if they refuse a meal, do NOT offer again for at least a week.

For best results, it's recommended to do no handling until a snake has fed 3 times at normal intervals. And it's also best NOT to offer any food for the first week or 2
while they are settling in. It seems possible to me that your initial failure (to get her to take f/t mouse) was because she still had NOT "settled in" yet.

She was then hungry enough to chance the rat you offered, but she still has a preference* for mice. (*feels more comfortable pouncing on) So now she's confused,
and if you've offered repeatedly (& too soon), it's only adding to her stress.

For best results, you always want to be offering what a new snake has successfully fed on before, and only after giving them time to settle in. Sure, some snakes will
eat right away...and some of us with years of experience may short-cut these "rules" because we can deal with whatever happens, but when you're new & your snake
is new, it's best to follow guidelines.

I know how badly you want her to eat & thrive & be a great pet for you, but you'll need to be patient...snakes are living creatures that can easily stress & frustrate you.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is ignore them for a week...remember they live solo in the wild, & they're usually quite shy.

[Shadowy]

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but how many times have you offered her food in the month you've had her? Have you handled her at all?
Snakes get too stressed to eat when we keep offering them food (with or without handling): if they refuse a meal, do NOT offer again for at least a week.

For best results, it's recommended to do no handling until a snake has fed 3 times at normal intervals. And it's also best NOT to offer any food for the first week or 2
while they are settling in. It seems possible to me that your initial failure (to get her to take f/t mouse) was because she still had NOT "settled in" yet.

She was then hungry enough to chance the rat you offered, but she still has a preference* for mice. (*feels more comfortable pouncing on) So now she's confused,
and if you've offered repeatedly (& too soon), it's only adding to her stress.

For best results, you always want to be offering what a new snake has successfully fed on before, and only after giving them time to settle in. Sure, some snakes will
eat right away...and some of us with years of experience may short-cut these "rules" because we can deal with whatever happens, but when you're new & your snake
is new, it's best to follow guidelines.

I know how badly you want her to eat & thrive & be a great pet for you, but you'll need to be patient...snakes are living creatures that can easily stress & frustrate you.

I waited a full week before initially offering her food. And when she refuses a wait a few days before trying again. She ate about a week and a half ago but that was the only time for me. I’ve only handled her a handful of times, and that was only to take her out for cage maintainence. She’s very settled and not stressed, I know stress isn’t why she’s refusing food. I may try a mouse again next time.

[Godzilla78]

This is really common. The snake isn’t afraid of the prey, but is afraid of the human that just entered their domicile and holding the prey with tongs.
I swear I believe this after so many feedings, the reason feeding live is easier is that you can drop the prey in there and let predation happen.
While you are standing their looming over the prey, the snake is more concerned with preventing itself from being killed, than it is with eating.
Justin Kobylka made a video about feeding, and he said to “take the human element out of the situation.” Of course, that is very difficult to do when feeding thawed prey.
I now keep it dark, I move my body as little as possible and try my best to help the snake feel secured from becoming prey itself!!! So it can focus on its own prey.
After all, I am 40 times more massive than even my largest ball python, and they know I could kill them with ease.


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[Luvyna]

Agreed with what others have said -- if she refuses, leave her completely alone for a week (if you need to clean, move her from the spot your cleaning and put her under another hide, don't take her out, make as little disturbance in her enclosure as possible), offer again after 1 week, and repeat the process until she has taken food 3 times consecutively.

Also maybe try downsizing her prey--if the fuzzy worked for her before try another fuzzy.

The first time I fed my BP he acted in a similar way, he even puffed at the mouse coming toward him and started turning his head aside and trying to move away. I used a hair dryer on hot to heat the mouse for 20 seconds and tried offering to him again--then something seemed to click and he struck right away.

Do you offer the prey to her outside her hide while she is inside it? I'm not sure if this is a good recommendation, especially for a skittish BP, but you could try lifting her hide and try holding the prey right in front of her. Only suggesting because mine won't strike from within his hide (weirdly, but I haven't tried it since the first feeding) and I've seen people on YouTube do this successfully with problem feeders.