Switching from hoppers to mice...

[Damien79]

Tonight was the first time my juvenile ball python turned down a meal. This was the second mouse I was feeding him. He ate his first one no problem but this time it was different. He was tongue flicking all over it but wouldn't strike. I dipped the mouse head on warm water and my snake looked like he was drinking the water. He followed it around the tank but wouldn't take it. Humidity is at 50 and ambient temp is almost 80. I'm still working on the temperature though. Is this normal when switching food? Thanks in advance.

[Absololol]

Hoppers to small adults you mean? I have not noticed any trouble when simply updating the size of the food item but I hear that there can be some issues when switching from mice to rats for example.

A couple of things:

*Are you feeding at a different time? Some snakes prefer a certain schedule and the particularly picky will only eat at certain times of day. If your snake species is diurnal or nocturnal, feed accordingly to go with their natural instincts.

*Is the prey item a different colour? Sometimes the snakes will get used to a certain colour of rodent and will not take other colours easily.

*Is the snake due a shed? It could be that.

*Is the prey item from a different supplier? Maybe it has some kind of different smell. You can try putting the new rodents in the same back as the old ones to transfer some kind of smell across.



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[Absololol]

Also, I've always fed adult mice to my juvenile from the time I got her. I'm not sure (the experts will be along soon) but something tells me that hoppers are on the small side, so it's good that you're increasing.

Just re-read and it's a ball, so try feeding at night with the lights as dim as possible. It allows your snake to hunt via the heat signature which may produce a better feeding response.

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[Damien79]

When I got him the person was feeding hoppers so I continued this. When I joined this forum someone posted the feeding chart in one of my posts so I moved to larger food, then adult mice. The hoppers were white and the adult mice are white. Its the same supplier too. Feeding day is today but he seemed to be "hunting" alot last night so I figured I would go ahead and feed him. I tend to feed after sunset and last night I tried around 10pm. He acted like he really wanted it but would take it. I will try the normal time tonight. One more thing, he would raise up past the mouse like he was going to the heat lamp. Can the heat lamp interfere with the way he sees the mouse? Thanks for the reply.

[Absololol]

Hmm, I have a ceramic heat emitter that's on 24/7 and it's never created an issue for me, I mainly feed right under it. Ball pythons are really sensitive, they can tell the difference between temps to thousandth's of a degree if I remember correctly. So I doubt it'd be that, your heat lamp will be so much hotter than the body temperature of a rodent. If it's only your second feed, just could be being a little picky. If your snake doesn't take again today I'd leave it for about 4 days minimum and then try again. He will get hungrier, don't worry. They can go for a long time without food.

[Midwest]

When I got him the person was feeding hoppers so I continued this. When I joined this forum someone posted the feeding chart in one of my posts so I moved to larger food, then adult mice. The hoppers were white and the adult mice are white. Its the same supplier too. Feeding day is today but he seemed to be "hunting" alot last night so I figured I would go ahead and feed him. I tend to feed after sunset and last night I tried around 10pm. He acted like he really wanted it but would take it. I will try the normal time tonight. One more thing, he would raise up past the mouse like he was going to the heat lamp. Can the heat lamp interfere with the way he sees the mouse? Thanks for the reply.

I have been having some feeding issues going from live to FT. Many people have told me that once you try a feeding and it fails you should wait at least a week, maybe 2 before trying again. If you had a failed attempt last night, trying again tonight might not be the best idea.