Not eating and very small for his age..help?

[MrsTaylor]

About a month ago we got two male BPs from a breeder. The yellowbelly, Ares, is 6 months old. The normal, Hermes, was a "holdback" because he wasn't eating but the breeder told us he was eating fine when we got him. We assumed he was also fairly young but we found out after getting him home he is going to be 3 this March or April. He is maybe only 3" longer than the little guy, so about 8" or so.
They had been kept in a rack but we don't have racks, we have various sizes tanks. Since we have had them neither of them have eaten.
We tried a small mouse, no interest. We tried frozen thawed rabbit pieces. No interest. They are active and appear healthy. Hermes shed a week ago and I figured he'd be ready to eat.
We are going to try other people's advice and put them in a smaller tank and drape a blanket over 3 sides to make it darker and soon we will get mice and rats to try.
They aren't in a really big tank, they have a hide log, and the heat is good. They had been kept together so they are still together. I didn't see any harm in it but I also don't really know if that might be stressing them out?? Is it ok to have 2 snakes together? I am worried that Hermes is so small and it doesn't appear that he's growing. I'm not sure if he'd be worth keeping for a future breeder or just sell him as a pet once he starts eating again.

[KatStoverReptiles]

It's never advisable to house bps together. It just stressed both animals out. Please separate them immediately.

Please review the care sheet here: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...s%29-Caresheet

How big are they? Do you have a scale you can use to weigh them?

They need appropriately sized INDIVIDUAL housing. 2 IDENTICAL hides each. Half logs aren't really the best hides as they do not provide the security that bps seek. Temps should be approximately 80 on the cool side and 90 on the warm side. If you're using a UTH, it needs to be regulated. Digital thermometers need to be used to monitor the temperature, as the analog, dial, ones are often quite innacurate. Humidity should be around 60%.

Once you address your husbandry issues, you can begin to address feeding issued.

[Daybreaker]

Also some other points to add to Kat's post:

I'd pick up a digital scale and start monitoring their weights so you know when they start loosing (or gaining) weight.

When you try feeding (after they are separated), I'd start with a live rat pup with each if they are the correct sized feeder for your snakes (which sounds like they probably are unless both are very small). I have read that feeding live can "jumpkick" feeding responses and gets little ones to eat if they're refusing F/T.

What did the breeder say he/she was feeding them? Have you tried what they said that they were feeding them?

And personally, I wouldn't bother with a male normal as a breeder but that's just me (unless you think there may be more going on with him that you'd like to dinker with).