Worried for my baby ball?

[Bogertophis]

Baby girl ate! It took 20 mins and I had to remove her hide to get her to notice the mouse, but she ate! Not sure if I should wait a full week for next feed or just a 4-5 days because I want her to gain that weight back? Any suggestions?

Yay! You cannot rush weight gain...they can only digest so fast, & will regurgitate & be UNABLE to eat for several weeks IF that happens (in other words, a set back!).

What size mouse did you feed? Best to wait NOT less than 5 days (if fuzzy) and 7 days is best (if a hopper). The bigger the prey, the longer digestion takes. Easy does it.

[Zincubus]

Baby girl ate! It took 20 mins and I had to remove her hide to get her to notice the mouse, but she ate! Not sure if I should wait a full week for next feed or just a 4-5 days because I want her to gain that weight back? Any suggestions?

Wow .. you got lucky ... removing the hide usually results in a no feed situation . Many Royals ( the majority I’d say ) will ONLY strike feed from under their hides .

I feed evenings, dim lighting, dangle a warm ( hairdryer) mouse /rat in front of the hide entrance - don’t blink


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Meredithm115]

I fed a smaller fuzzy since she is so small, although she probably could have take a small hopper, I'll try that next week! I did try with the hide at first but she stayed tucked in it and simply did not want to come out to see the mouse and I was desperate enough that I quickly removed it and then the mouse disappeared 15 mins later! Thank you all for your help, hopefully this will start a trend and she will get back on track, quickly

[Moose84]

I fed a smaller fuzzy since she is so small, although she probably could have take a small hopper, I'll try that next week! I did try with the hide at first but she stayed tucked in it and simply did not want to come out to see the mouse and I was desperate enough that I quickly removed it and then the mouse disappeared 15 mins later! Thank you all for your help, hopefully this will start a trend and she will get back on track, quickly

Was this a live feeding on a fuzzy rat? If the snake ate a live fuzzy rat I definitely would stick with rats.. Going to a hopper mouse would be going backwards.. Glad she ate. Did you get her in a smaller container?

[Bogertophis]

Was this a live feeding on a fuzzy rat? If the snake ate a live fuzzy rat I definitely would stick with rats.. Going to a hopper mouse would be going backwards.. Glad she ate. Did you get her in a smaller container?

OP is talking about mice.

[Meredithm115]

I've only ever fed F/T mice, but tried live this time bc I was desperate for her honest and she was only 41g. I've always been afraid to try rats bc someone told me a story of upping sizes too quickly, splitting their snakes side, and killing it so I'm a bit paranoid

[Meredithm115]

And yes, put her in a 6qt with small hide and water!

[Danger noodles]

I know people are going to tell you on here to do all kind of stuff to make sure prey is warm and what not but in my opinion you should try a live mouse immediately.. If the snake isn't showing signs of being sick otherwise... That snake has lost almost 50% of its bodyweight and thats never good. What size tank are you keeping it in? As far as a live feeding goes, you buy the mouse and drop it in.. They will do the rest... You can just watch the mouse to make sure it doesn't bite into the snake and give it something to bite on but I have never run into this issue after MULTIPLE, MULTIPLE live feedings...

Well moose looks like this worked like a charm!!

[ballpythonsrock2]

I fed a smaller fuzzy since she is so small, although she probably could have take a small hopper, I'll try that next week! I did try with the hide at first but she stayed tucked in it and simply did not want to come out to see the mouse and I was desperate enough that I quickly removed it and then the mouse disappeared 15 mins later! Thank you all for your help, hopefully this will start a trend and she will get back on track, quickly

Being a live mouse the it might have eventually entered the hide sniffing around. Next time, and I would stick to live for now, I would just wait it out and see if the mouse goes into the hide or maybe your snake will eventually come out. But moving the hide is usually a bad idea. It scares the snake and puts it into flight mode instead of eating mode. You lucked out. Most the time that will scare them enough to make them not eat. Patience is a virtue remember, so I would try to be patient and let nature work it's work. Next week I would feed in the evening in low light, which is perhaps what you did do.

[Bogertophis]

I've only ever fed F/T mice, but tried live this time bc I was desperate for her honest and she was only 41g. I've always been afraid to try rats bc someone told me a story of upping sizes too quickly, splitting their snakes side, and killing it so I'm a bit paranoid

It's critical right now to keep this snake EATING, so you need to keep doing what has worked for now...no changes.

It would take a massively-oversized meal to "split a snake's side" & kill it... Not saying it's impossible, but either this was a tall tale designed to scare you, or else they
really shouldn't own pets (I'm assuming either massive ignorance about keeping snakes or a deliberate & cruel "experiment" to see what would happen if...)

If you stick to either the feeding charts onsite, or, don't feed any prey that's larger than the snake's widest part mid-body (a little less than is best) you'll have no problem.

But don't try changing to rats now...they smell and taste different so your snake may refuse them. Stick to mice for now, & live if needed. This snake needs to eat.