Help me get my baby to eat!

[holycrapoctopus]

Hello all,

As you may have seen from my last thread [ http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...y-new-BP-setup ] I bought a baby albino BP about two weeks ago as a pet. In the last thread you all gave me some great direction as far as getting his temps correct, which I've finally accomplished thanks to a simple lamp dimmer from Lowe's. I had ordered a ReptiMed thermostat from Petmountain.com, but it was complete junk and shot my temp up to 110 degrees even on the lowest possible setting. With the lamp dimmer I have a hot spot temp of 93, cold side/ambient temp of 78-82, and humidity hovering around 40%.

My main problem with the baby is I can't seem to get him to eat. The breeder fed him live, but I'm not sure if it was mice or rats. My local pet store only carries f/t at the appropriate size (their live mice are all too large and they don't have baby rats) but my BP wants nothing to do with it. I tried offering a f/t hopper a few days after I got him, but he just went into defense mode and ignored the dangling mouse. Today I tried again, having finally gotten his temps correct... I thawed the mouse and warmed it up/dried it under the heat lamp, poked a few holes in its head, removed snakey's hide, and dangled the thing relentlessly in front of his face. Again he seemed entirely disinterested, the most response I could get out of him was for him to hide his head and look away from the food. After replacing his hide, changing the water, and replacing the lid to his house I have the mouse laying at the entrance to his hide, but I don't expect him to eat it.

I also rarely if ever see him come out of his hide (on the hot spot over the UTH) and I'm wondering if this could be because of the excessive temp fluctuations before I got a dimmer. He doesn't show the signs of stress that I'm aware of, i.e. he doesn't try to escape or press on the glass, in fact he doesn't really come out of his hide at all. Maybe this could be a different form of stress? Any insight on this is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance! This is really stressing me out and I really appreciate the help!

[NH93]

Hey!

So I've copied and pasted this before, and it worked for someone already who couldn't get theirs to eat. I just did some trial and error, and found that for my BP this is the way he'll eat f/t. It may not work for you, as every snake is different, but definitely give it a go!
Firstly, there are many threads about switching to f/t from live; I have heard it can be difficult, so don't get discouraged if it's what you want to do, and be patient.
Secondly, don't remove your snake's hide!! S/he will probably drag the rat there when they want to eat! Try to disturb and cause as little stress as possible

Here's what I wrote for 2 other posts:

Mine wouldn't eat the first week or two, but what I ended up doing (which worked) is I thawed a rat, put it in a baggie in HOT water, left the zip open and the cup right beside the tank for 15 mins. This usually gets my BP out and hunting, if he isn't already. I would then turn out all lights but one in a back corner so I could see, and get the tweezers and grab the rat in the middle, then slowly put it in the tank (not near my BP). I would jiggle it a bit, then slowly go a bit closer to the BP. When he noticed it (so he'd be about 6" away) I would start to entice him with it. Normally that got him to come closer. I would not move the rat closer to him, but wait for him to move towards it. I kept jiggling it, kind of acting like it was alive still. It could take a few minutes sometimes, but he always struck. When he coiled, I would give it another little jiggle for 5-10 seconds after, so he would coil tighter.

Now he knows the whole routine and it really doesn't take him long at all. Usually as soon as I lift the lid after scenting he's ready to go.

I also thawed the rat in with a mouse the first couple of times. I don't know if that made a difference or not though.




I really hope something works for you, and even if this tactic does not, maybe you can at least stem some more ideas from it.

Best of luck!


P.S.
Don't worry about yours hiding all the time. That is what ball pythons do best plus, s/he's still settling in.

[holycrapoctopus]

Thanks for the advice. I'll try again in 4-5 days. I just took him out of his cage, weighed him and examined him and I'm worried that he's getting malnourished. I can see his spine when he wraps around my hand and he weighs only 94 grams at about 12-15 inches length. He definitely isn't plump like many of the other youngsters I've seen on here, but then again he's only about 6 weeks old... Is 94 grams too skinny for a 6 week old BP or am I just overworrying?

He has no issues being handled whatsoever even after the stressful feeding episode; whenever I pick him up he unballs and wraps around my arm or looks around a bit with his tongue flickering. His mouth and belly looked fine as well, but I'm no expert.

[Crazymonkee]

If you could post a body shot of him stretched out it would help determine if he is skinny or not.

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[KMG]

Heating under a heat lamp can actually start to cook the prey which is not good. Most use hot water.

When offering food do not remove the hide. Just dangle it outside the hide a few inches and let your snake come get it. If it doesn't come out just lay the prey on the cage bottom a couple inches from the door and leave it be. Check on it in 20-30 minutes, give it peace and quite. No lights, sound, or movements. Being young it may be shy and when you remove the hide suddenly it will become scared.

I thaw my feeders in hot water and then drain the water and let them sit in hot water for 5 more minutes to make sure they are plenty warm to offer.

[NH93]

I don't know about the weights, but that doesn't sound malnourished to me (again, not super experienced here!)
When I got my BP at 2 months he was just over 100 grams, if that helps. Very healthy has gained over 50 grams in 6 weeks.

[holycrapoctopus]

Here's a picture of my guy stretched out. He weighed 92 grams today... is that skinny enough to warrant assist feeding? I'm gonna try a live mouse tonight or tomorrow I think, but I'm worried that it'll be too big. Any advice?

[Crazymonkee]

He could definitely use some weight. I have 2 right about 95g and they have no problem with a mouse. I would give it a try.
Do you feed in his enclosure?

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[NYHC4LIFE8899]

I use a heat lamp over my FT and he takes to it every time and every time I use a heat lamp..if u place the fully thawed mouse or rat appx 6" under it for llets say for about 5-10 mins depending on size ofcourse,there is nothing wrong with that and it won't cook the mouse,lol..that's a silly thing to think. Actually putting it in water depletes the nutrients I been told,so if that's the case put the FT in a zip lock then place in warm water. That's my opinion.
def feed in the enclosure,I been told that by many people and it's what I do. My one guy eats anything FT mouse or rat,live rat or mouse... My other is picky and will only eat live mice at the moment. Hoping he can switch over to FT and rats down the road.

[holycrapoctopus]

I got him to eat, finally!! I had to feed live and in a separate container, both things I didn't want to do, but at least he finally remembered that snakes have to eat!

He's a little stressed from switching containers and having his house rearranged a bit while he ate, but hopefully he settles back in soon. His temps and humidity are good and I might bump it up a bit to help him digest. I think I'll do one more live out-of-viv feeding and then see if I can get him to eat at home, eventually transitioning to f/t once he gets on a regular schedule.

Thanks for the advice everyone!!