Not Eating, HELP!!!

[nlankas]

So my roomates and I bought a medium-small sized rat on Sunday amd tried to feed her that night, but she wouldn't take it. we tried again tonight, but again same thing. the rat is pure white, but she's eaten white ones before. Temp: 85-89F Hum: has been dipping below 50, but we've made adjustments and it's back up between 50-60 also her setup hasn't been changed at all...she also seems to be interested in the rat, and even goes right up to it, but just as you think she's going to strike, she turns away. any advice? thanks.

[JLC]

Could be the rat is too big. Even a fully mature BP only needs a small-small rat. Or there could be other stressors besides temperatures involved, such as a lack of security. Offering food too frequently also often causes more harm than good. After a refusal, wait a full week before offering again.

[smasharama13]

How long have you had the snake? Maybe it's going into shed. They won't eat sometimes when they go into shed.

[nlankas]

well...it's been about 3 weeks since her last shed, and we've had her since mid-february about...she's been acting normal, so we can't figure it out...she did this when we first tried to feed her, but she took it the very next day...and it's not the size for sure because she's taken one bigger than the one we're trying to feed her now.

[xdeus]

Wow, you bought her on Sunday and tried to feed her that night?

It sounds like your setup is okay, but you will want to give your snake a period to adjust to her new environment.... usually 1-2 weeks. If you bought a medium sized rat it sounds like you bought a decent sized Ball. Sometimes the older ones need a little longer to adjust to their new environment, so don't be surprised if your snake doesn't eat for a few weeks, especially if she had been eating medium sized rats before.

Give her time to settle in and don't handle her until she starts to eat. If her environment is comfortable for her, she'll eat eventually.

Good luck!

[nlankas]

also the problem with waiting a week is that we don't have any housing for the rat besides our bathtub, which it's currently pooping and peeing all over right now, lol...we buy our rats from the local pet-store every week, and she's eaten quite well ever since the first time we tried...is there any particular foods i should feed the rat to keep it alive? it's been eating the bread i've been dropping in...and it has a little homemade water bowl too...

[nlankas]

Wow, you bought her on Sunday and tried to feed her that night?

It sounds like your setup is okay, but you will want to give your snake a period to adjust to her new environment.... usually 1-2 weeks. If you bought a medium sized rat it sounds like you bought a decent sized Ball. Sometimes the older ones need a little longer to adjust to their new environment, so don't be surprised if your snake doesn't eat for a few weeks, especially if she had been eating medium sized rats before.

Give her time to settle in and don't handle her until she starts to eat. If her environment is comfortable for her, she'll eat eventually.

Good luck!

haha...i meant the rat, and she's 6 years old...a little over 3 feet.

[smasharama13]

Wow, you bought her on Sunday and tried to feed her that night?

I think you got confused. They bought the Rat on Sunday, not the snake.





How big is your snake?

How ofter do you feed? (what day of the week, or how many days in between)

What size do you normally feed?

Do you have other snakes?

[JLC]

You could try taking the rat back to the pet store tomorrow and see if they'll take it back for store credit. Some will and some won't. OR...you could just go and buy a small rat cage to keep it in until you can feed it off. That's what I do.

Here's a link with great info about what to feed 'em:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=28391

If you feed a ball-python a larger prey item, it may very well stop eating for an indefinite amount of time....simply because it takes them awhile to "get hungry" again.

[xdeus]

haha...i meant the rat.

Sorry, I read that too fast. If you have been feeding medium rats every week, she's probably just "full" and may take a while to catch up before she's hungry again.

If you can't return the rat, you can keep it in a ventilated cage and just give it food and water while trying to feed it to the snake once a week. Rats will eat pretty much anything, but cereal, raw pasta, dogfood, fruit, scraps, etc. will work. A ceramic water bowl should work fine, too. Just keep in mind that rats LOVE to chew, so if you have anything chewable in the cage consider it gone.