I give up... my ball python is a vegetarian

[-Achilles-]

I just bought my first snake about a month ago. He's a ball python and I assume he's a few months old. He has yet to eat and hopefully someone here can give me a few pointers. First off, I'm gonna share what I have tried already:

Week 1: Used F/T hopper, let it sit overnight in front of his hide. No success.

Week 2: Used feeding tongs with F/T hopper, and after no success I left it in front of hide overnight. Still nothing.

Week 3: Used paper bag method with F/T hopper, and yet again, no dinner for my snake.

Week 4: Bought a live fuzzy. For the past half hour, the fuzzy has literally been crawling all over my ball python, and my snake has no interest whatsoever.

So I've come down to two conclusions: either my ball python is a vegetarian, or I'm doing something wrong and need a new approach. Any help from you guys is very appreciated. I really want him to eat, I mean, I haven't even handled him at all yet because I read that stresses him out.

(P.S. what should I do with the live fuzzy in his tank? In other words, what's the quickest and easiest way to kill mice?)

Thanks again!

[cinderbird]

tell us about his enclosure (better yet, take a pic and post it) it could be a number of things:

what size enclosure is he in
what are the hot side and cool side temps
what is the humidity
what are you using to measure them?
what was he eating before you got him
where did you get him from

etc.

[bad-one]

It may be helpful if you tell us your set up- cage size, size of hide, temps, humidity etc.



And cinderbird beat me to it....

[-Achilles-]

He's in a 10 gallon tank, I got him at Petco, I'm not sure what they fed him, and I haven't set up a thermometer/hygrometer yet....

I just bought a thermometer and hygrometer at the store today so I'll set it up soon.

[SlitherinSisters]

I would move him to a shoebox sized tub until he starts eating. It's honestly your best bet in my opinion. Otherwise crumple up a bunch of newspaper and fill the tank with it. He'll feel much more secure with less space. Also, make sure your hide is really small so that he has to ball up to fit inside of it.

I'm assuming you have a heat pad as your heat source you can just put that right under the tub. Also, put a towel over the tub so that it's dark inside and secure. You can leave a pinky in overnight if you have to, they can't chew on your snake. Otherwise you might have to start assist feeding.

[-Achilles-]

Ok yeah I'll try moving him to smaller shoebox sorta tub thing next time. Thanks .

Edit: I have a heat lamp at the moment, but I was thinking about getting a heat pad.

[cinderbird]

He's in a 10 gallon tank, I got him at Petco, I'm not sure what they fed him, and I haven't set up a thermometer/hygrometer yet....

I just bought a thermometer and hygrometer at the store today so I'll set it up soon.

This could be part of the problem. You have no idea what his temps are. Are the thermometer and hydrometer you bought digital, analog or stick on? If its an analog or stick on unit return it and get your money back. If its too cold or too hot they wont eat.


Go to lowes or home depot and grab an Accurite with a probe ( http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...LtStlAfOnrH2Dw )

[catawhat75]

Once you make sure your husbandry is correct, leave him alone for a week. Then try a mouse hopper, not frozen but live. Don't mess with frozen until he is eating consistantly. Hoppers usually get a feeding response just from all the movement.

[reptidude1]

ahh petco. Ill put money on that he is wild caught. se if you can get your hands on some asf rats, or try a rat pup

[Kaorte]

He's in a 10 gallon tank, I got him at Petco, I'm not sure what they fed him, and I haven't set up a thermometer/hygrometer yet....

I just bought a thermometer and hygrometer at the store today so I'll set it up soon.

What kind of hides are in there?

Chances are he is stressed because your husbandry is off.

If you can, take a picture of your set up. It will help a lot.