New baby ball python wont eat!!!

[Jenny_Bp]

Someone Help, I have a new baby ball python only 3 weeks old. After one day attempt doesnt want to eat. I allowed her to acclimate for three days, should I have done more?

My setup is a 12qt tub heated with 4" flex watt on one side. The room temp is always 84, and she has two hides, one on the cool end and one on the hott, shes always on the cool end.

The food item was a pinky rat I offered her and she seemed scared of it. The previous breeder before me told me her first meal was a fuzzie. Do you think I should go and buy her a fuzzie and try it out? Maybe she doesnt recognize the prey item?

[muddoc]

Jenny,
My advice would be to let her acclimate a little longer, at least another three days. As for your setup, 4" flexwatt on a 12 qt. may not leave much room for a cool side. What are your temps on the hot side? My thoughts are they may be too hot, explaining why your baby is always on the cool side. As for the prey items, the breeder may have meant that her first meal was a hopper mouse. Many times, alot of my hatchlings won't take rats at the beginning, but have to be converted at a later date. I would get her a hopper mouse, and my gut feeling would be that she will take it. If she eats the hopper mouse, then offer her a rat next time, but be prepared to offer another hopper mouse if she doesn't take the rat. Then, every consecutive feeding, offer a rat pup first until she converts to rats, if that is your ultimate goal.

Hope that helps,

[Jenny_Bp]

The current temps on the hot side is 88 and the cool side is 83. I will go today and see if a local reptile shop will make a swap for fuzzies or I should just give up the pinkies for free. Dont want the pinkys to go to waste, poor little things . Thanks muddoc I will give her some more time in her tub and try on monday.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

three days, should I have done more?

Yes it is usually recommended to at least give them a week to acclimate to their new enclosure.

Make sure your temps are where they should 80-84 on the cool side and 90-94 on the warm side.

Try offering food again 1 week from refusal, because if you offer to soon after it could stress your BP and lead to more refusal.

[Jenny_Bp]

Thanks guys I seen another thread where the keeper had to force feed his skinny Bp. I wanna take the right precautions before ever getting to that. Baby ball pythons are so thin and skinny that I get worried about her taking her first meal. So lets see what happens next week

[lord jackel]

Thanks guys I seen another thread where the keeper had to force feed his skinny Bp. I wanna take the right precautions before ever getting to that. Baby ball pythons are so thin and skinny that I get worried about her taking her first meal. So lets see what happens next week

You have time to get it right and allow her to acclumate(before you every get to even considering assist/force feeding) . My girl went 7 weeks out of egg before she took her first mouse pinky. Something I did was to leave the pinky in with her overnight so she could eat on her own time, in the dark, and without anyone around. Now she eats like a pig all the time everytime.

[Jenny_Bp]

You have time to get it right and allow her to acclumate(before you every get to even considering assist/force feeding) . My girl went 7 weeks out of egg before she took her first mouse pinky. Something I did was to leave the pinky in with her overnight so she could eat on her own time, in the dark, and without anyone around. Now she eats like a pig all the time everytime.

A mouse pinky?? Do you think My 3 week old bp is too small for a rat pinky?

[lord jackel]

A mouse pinky?? Do you think My 3 week old bp is too small for a rat pinky?

No..but sometimes they just prefer mice. I had 3 eggs all hatch at the same time. After their first shed I offered all of them a rat pinky. One ate. A week later I offered again a rat pinky - only the same one ate. 3rd week I offered a rat pinky - one ate, so I left the other 2 overnight and another one ate. At week 4 I had 2 that would eat a rat pinky whenever it was put in their tub...but I also had 1 holdout (no matter what I tried she just would not eat the rat pinky)...so on week 7 I gave her a mouse pinky and she nailed it as soon as it hit the floor of her tub. It has now been about 12 weeks and she still insists on mice over rats. Just her way I guess.

So I don't think a rat pinky is too big...but that you might have a snake that prefers mice.

[dek593]

Try to feed your baby snake f/t hopper in the nighttime.
Maybe your baby snake would scare and won`t show interest in the food.
Then, just leave the food near basking spot for overnight.
If your snake doesn`t take the f/t hopper then wait 4 to5 days and
just give live prey. I always did this way for newly purchased baby snakes
and worked 100%.

[KMG]

Try to feed your baby snake f/t hopper in the nighttime.
Maybe your baby snake would scare and won`t show interest in the food.
Then, just leave the food near basking spot for overnight.
If your snake doesn`t take the f/t hopper then wait 4 to5 days and
just give live prey. I always did this way for newly purchased baby snakes
and worked 100%.

This thread is from 2007. I hope they got it figured out by now. Not to mention the OP was banned.