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Thread: Help?

  1. #1
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    Help?

    Hi everyone!

    I got my first ball python at the Toronto Reptile Expo in March and he's been great other than a few things... He won't eat. I've tried feeding him F/T rats once a week since I've gotten him, and he shows some interested (A lot of tongue flicking and even stretching his jaw) but he won't eat. I feed him late, waving the rat around a little bit before leaving it overnight. He is just over 200 grams and I've tried both fuzzies and pups. I even brained one a tiny bit last week but no interest. I'll leave the rat in the fridge overnight to thaw before letting it sit in warm water. I've used a blow dryer as well a few times.

    He is in a glass tank with screen lid, but I've kept most of it covered with a towel. He has a hot side (85-90F) and a cool side (70-75F) and I mist his tank twice a day. He has an UTH and a bulb just to boost the temp a bit. He has hides on each end, a water bowl and a branch to climb. I've kept handling at a minimum, especially as of lately.

    Before I purchased him, the breeder told me he fed really well on live and even took frozen before just fine. I know BP's can go a while without eating, but its been about 7 weeks and I think he might be getting a bit skinny.

    I'd prefer not to feed live, but I understand I might have to go that route.

    Should I be worried? Should I continue trying to feed him F/T until he's hungry enough to eat it, or try something new?
    He also used to be very active at night, trying to crawl up the tank and explore, but now he just curls up in his hide or in the corner of the tank. I haven't seen him come out at night (or during the day) for the past week or two.

    Thanks <3

  2. #2
    BPnet Veteran Luvyna's Avatar
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    Re: Help?

    Welcome to the forum!

    If the breeder said he "took frozen just fine" in those exact words it sounds like this snake might not have been fed F/T regularly. I think snakes aren't generally considered established feeders on a certain kind of prey or in a new environment until they've taken the prey at least 3-4 times consecutively. Also do you know if he was fed mice or rats by his breeder?

    Has your BP lost any weight, and how old is he? 7 weeks is getting pretty long for a young and growing snake IMO. If he continues to refuse F/T or has lost significant weight I think you may want to consider trying to feed him live prey.

    Also, the temps on your cool side sound a bit low. Temperatures anywhere in the enclosure should not fall below 75F, and it's preferable to have cool side temps in the range of 77-82F.

  3. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Luvyna For This Useful Post:

    Bogertophis (05-14-2019),Tara18 (05-14-2019)

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    Re: Help?

    Thank you!

    The person I talked to said he was fed rat pups, but honestly she seemed kind of unsure. Since it was at an expo, there were multiple people working the booth and I'm not sure if the actual owners of the company were there.

    I was told he was born in the summer and was around 6 or 7 months, and that was at the end of March. I weighed him a few days ago and he's still close to the same weight he was at when I first got him. I'm not sure if he has noticeably gotten skinnier or just think so because I'm worrying about it.

    I've also been working on getting him a PVC enclosure to get keep heat in better.

  5. #4
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    I agree with Luvyna's post above, &

    Also, you said "you've kept handling at a minimum, especially as of lately": that might be the problem...handling a new snake before it has settled in enough to
    eat reliably (at least 3 times easily & on schedule) is asking for trouble, especially with the typically-shy ball pythons.

    Offering weekly might still be too scary, too much "chaos" for him yet...maybe don't offer for 2 weeks. Wait until evening...not when he's cruising his cage, but
    hopefully when he's peeking out of his hide (BPs are ambush-hunters...they like to feel safe, laying in wait for a clueless rodent to go by). Are you using tongs to
    offer food? (please do) You might be doing too much motion & scaring him off: you want the motion to be subtle, not "waving it around". Never approach the
    snake with the prey either, but make it look like it's just strolling cluelessly past where the snake is. Also, rodents cool off fast...once thawed, dip the head in very
    warm water briefly &/or blow dry it right before offering, before it can cool off too much. BPs can be very picky, needing it to be lifelike to fool them. You may
    sadly need to feed him some live before being able to switch him, as it doesn't sound like he was completely won over to f/t when you got him.

    We know the frustration...hang in there! Some snakes (many BPs) really tax our patience.

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    Re: Help?

    Thank you as well!

    Yeah, I definitely read some of the wrong info about first time snake care. I waited about a week to handle him, but then realized, after researching how to get him to eat, that I should have waited until he was feeding regularly.
    I do use tongs and tried just about everything in how I handle the prey. I'll try skipping a week to see if he'll perhaps be less stressed.

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    Snakes understandably get freaked out when re-homed...it's very stressful, they have no idea how & why their whole world just changed, & then if you throw
    in handling... Keep in mind that in the wild, the only thing that picks up a snake is a predator planning to have dinner...and make no mistake, our snakes are
    wild animals, even when captive-bred, they depend on their instincts for survival, and humans aren't part of their "program". They do learn though to feel
    safe with us, it just takes some snakes longer than others (& rarely, some are never convinced).

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    Lord Sorril (05-14-2019)

  10. #7
    BPnet Veteran Moose84's Avatar
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    Re: Help?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tara18 View Post
    Hi everyone!

    I got my first ball python at the Toronto Reptile Expo in March and he's been great other than a few things... He won't eat. I've tried feeding him F/T rats once a week since I've gotten him, and he shows some interested (A lot of tongue flicking and even stretching his jaw) but he won't eat. I feed him late, waving the rat around a little bit before leaving it overnight. He is just over 200 grams and I've tried both fuzzies and pups. I even brained one a tiny bit last week but no interest. I'll leave the rat in the fridge overnight to thaw before letting it sit in warm water. I've used a blow dryer as well a few times.

    He is in a glass tank with screen lid, but I've kept most of it covered with a towel. He has a hot side (85-90F) and a cool side (70-75F) and I mist his tank twice a day. He has an UTH and a bulb just to boost the temp a bit. He has hides on each end, a water bowl and a branch to climb. I've kept handling at a minimum, especially as of lately.

    Before I purchased him, the breeder told me he fed really well on live and even took frozen before just fine. I know BP's can go a while without eating, but its been about 7 weeks and I think he might be getting a bit skinny.

    I'd prefer not to feed live, but I understand I might have to go that route.

    Should I be worried? Should I continue trying to feed him F/T until he's hungry enough to eat it, or try something new?
    He also used to be very active at night, trying to crawl up the tank and explore, but now he just curls up in his hide or in the corner of the tank. I haven't seen him come out at night (or during the day) for the past week or two.

    Thanks <3

    Couple Questions...

    I know you said you have him in a tank.. What size tank is he in? Based off of what you have in there I would say it has to be at least 20 gallons..

    You said you are feeding him "rats.." What size?

    And to answer your question about "live feeding" I would say the answer is yes.. In my opinion everyone who takes on one of these animals should absolutely understand that live feeding is a possibility.

  11. #8
    Registered User Red357's Avatar
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    Re: Help?

    I feed live all the time. My ball has never missed a meal since I got him. I let mine settle in for about a week or so. I handled him on a Friday and did fantastic. Next day on Saturday I got him a live rat pup and didn't hesitate. He struck within seconds of that rat being in there. Try feeding him live. Maybe that'll entice him.

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Red357; 05-16-2019 at 01:15 PM.

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    Re: Help?

    Quote Originally Posted by Moose84 View Post
    Couple Questions...

    I know you said you have him in a tank.. What size tank is he in? Based off of what you have in there I would say it has to be at least 20 gallons..

    You said you are feeding him "rats.." What size?

    And to answer your question about "live feeding" I would say the answer is yes.. In my opinion everyone who takes on one of these animals should absolutely understand that live feeding is a possibility.

    He is in a 20 gallon atm.

    I've tried feeding him both fuzzies and pups.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Red357 View Post
    I feed live all the time. My ball has never missed a meal since I got him. I let mine settle in for about a week or so. I handled him on a Friday and did fantastic. Next day on Saturday I got him a live rat pup and didn't hesitate. He struck within seconds of that rat being in there. Try feeding him live. Maybe that'll entice him.

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
    Thank you! I'll try F/T one more time, but if he still isn't interested I'll look into live.
    Last edited by Tara18; 05-19-2019 at 08:44 PM.

  13. #10
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    Re: Help?

    Hey everyone! Just an update to say that my guy has finally eaten! I almost screamed out of pure joy when he striked!

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    Luvyna (07-01-2019)

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