New Spider afraid of her food?

[VanSickel_Balls]

My husband and I recently got a new sweet little Spider girl, along with a Pinstripe.
They were shipped to us all the way from Florida, and for traveling such a distance, theyre doing so well! They were friendly from thr get go, and even let us hold them for a couple of minutes before we placed them in their bins ro begin adjusting.
Fast forward to a couple of days ago, I offered them their first meals since being home. Bella, our pinstripe, took her live mouse hopper right away and did wonderfully. Charlotte on the other hand has yet to accept her first meal, and is been close to a week. I know she could still be adjusting and just may not be hungry. But she's refused a hopper twice and I was just wondering if any of you had advice for new BP's accepting their meals. We offered her a live fuzzie instead, thinking she may have been intimidated by her food, but to no avail.
Does anyone have any tips or advice? I know at this point she's probably fine, but being only 65 grams, I want her to start eating and putting on some weight.
Thanks!

[PitOnTheProwl]

Start here: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-hatchling-101

You are not the first but at 65 grams......SMH
I dont even consider one of mine available till its at 100g.
Hell most of mine are over 65g out of the egg so I would question if it ever ate.

[JodanOrNoDan]

Read this http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...-hatchling-101

[VanSickel_Balls]

I've read it, thanks for the link! 👍
I'm wondering if maybe one of the issues is that she's a spider? She definitely wobbles, but not to a point I'd think it would interfere....

[JodanOrNoDan]

Spiders don't have any more eating problems then other balls.

[VanSickel_Balls]

I didn't think so. I've just heard so many people, including a friend of mine who freaked when she learned we'd got a spider, partially because of it eating and it's "quality of life".

[Seven-Thirty]

Its quality of life is no differant than any other ball python. It will eat, poop, shed, and breed and no problems. I'm sorry but your friend has no idea what they are talking about. The spider is fine, wobble and all. Hatchlings can sometimes be a bit harder to get to eat and at 65grams i have to agree with Pit and I question if it ever ate too. Are you feeding in the same enclosure?

[JodanOrNoDan]

I didn't think so. I've just heard so many people, including a friend of mine who freaked when she learned we'd got a spider, partially because of it eating and it's "quality of life".

Just ignore the bull. It is easy for people to develop uninformed opinions. I know this because I was a spider hater up until I ended up with one. Now I have three and will be breeding for them this coming season. They do weird stuff now and then but other than that they have no more or less problems than any other ball python.

[enginee837]

Sometimes you get a shy eater as well. Both our males (BP and Woma) were at first. We just had to kill the food and place it in their hide with them. Come back an hour later and it was gone. Most of these babies spend the first couple weeks of their lives in a rack and bin system composed of opaque tubs. They are not used to any visual stimulation nor interaction. A lot of the breeders I know just place the mouse in the bin, close it and come back later to see if they have eaten. That is where i got the idea of placing it in their hide and so far it has worked for both snakes. The Bp is now a voracious eater and the Woma is well on his way to becoming one.
As for the spider gene and it's "quality of life", well it is a hotly debated topic based mostly on feelings and beliefs and not much fact. In the end if it eats well, sheds well, poops well and does not get sick any more than any others then it's "quality of life" is as good as any other morph as far as tangible proof can tell.