please help - problem regarding feeding

[paroxysm]

hello. i have a ball python who is a few months old. he is around 170 grams.

i am worried because i am pretty sure i have been underfeeding him.

i feed him a small mouse once every four to five days.
the mouse is too small - it doesn't leave a noticeable lump.
however this is the largest mouse that the seller has right now.

he will only eat live.
i have tried to switch him to f/t multiple times but he completely refuses to acknowledge it.
i have tried warming it up in water, using a hair dryer, using a heat lamp, etc. and he just doesn't want it.

lately he has been acting restless.
the temperatures are perfect in his enclosure (around 80 cool side, around 90 hot side).
the humidity is decent as well.
he will slither around his entire enclosure and try to poke his way out.
usually this means he is hungry. but now he has been doing this very often, and i don't think it's from stress.

i don't know what to do. should i feed him two mice? how do you do that?
should i feed him more often since the mice are so small?

in order to have the right size of food for him, he needs to be switched to frozen/thawed.
i need help doing this.

please help me, i'm getting worried.
thanks so much.

[John1982]

What's the rest of your setup look like? What temperature is the f/t mouse you're offering? How are you presenting it? What's his response? The biggest mistake I used to make when switching young balls over to f/t was being too forward with the prey. They can click out of "feed mode" and into "scared mode" pretty darn easily so tease/stress feeding will often set you way back in the switchover game. Take into consideration how he approaches a live mouse and try your best to replicate. Does he actually come after the mouse or wait until it's in strike range? The second is more common for royals and the prey chasers are usually easy switchers anyway. How does he react when a live mouse approaches at different speeds - fast vs slow? Does he have a stronger feeding response from any particular spot(the hide is a popular safety zone to nail prey)? Does he hit prey with more enthusiasm when he sees it coming and gets to track or maybe after it comes around a blind(water dish, hide, etc)? My best advice is to 1)make sure the prey is heated to the right temperature to mimic a live feeder, and 2)try to offer it in the way he most enthusiastically receives when you observe live feeding. You could also, for future live feedings, stand in the position you normally take when offering f/t so he starts getting accustomed to the "hovering giant" during feeding.

[paroxysm]

he is in a large plastic tub. a bit too big for his size, but he hasn't shown any signs of stress until now.

temperature of the mouse im offering is over 100 degrees F.

i have tried setting it in front of him. he will stare at it for a while, then ignore it and slither around.
i tried dangling it and moving it a bit more too, same response.

do you have any other tips? tomorrow i will try to feed him a f/t mouse, left at room temperature for a few hours and then heated up with a hair dryer.
if he does not eat it, should i give him some time or feed live? i dont want to stress him out too much but i do want him to eat.

[paroxysm]

i tried feeding him a f/t mouse slightly smaller than he usually eats.
i thawed it for a few hours at room temperature and then thawed in it warm water.
i then used a hair dryer to heat it up a bit more. the mouse was at around 100 degrees.

i used various approaches. moving it slowly, dangling it, etc. he wasn't too interested. i left it in his tub overnight - he moved it from one side of the tub to another but did not eat it.
any recommendations?

[EL-Ziggy]

If your husbandry is on point and he's healthy I say just wait him out. It's tough sometimes but most snakes will eventually take f/t if there are no other options. I still have never seen a healthy snake starve itself to death when food was offered consistently. I believe that hunger always wins in the end. Just keep offering food every 10-14 days until he gets with the program . Best wishes and keep us posted.

[BPGator]

I assume your rodent supplier does not have young rats since you're worried about size?

As for transitioning, I've found with some of my snakes I had to go prekilled for a while before they seemed comfortable enough taking the F/t. My BPs are definitely more finicky than the other species I have.


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[Albert Clark]

After triple checking your husbandry and making sure all the points are sharpened and your ready to feed him. Try scenting the thawed warmed rat fuzzy with a thawed or live mouse. Keeping the rat fuzzy very low or close to the floor of the enclosure slowly and steadily inch the fuzzy towards the the snake. No dangling, shaking or fast movements as you go forward. Oh, try to do this with the lights off or at nighttime.

[Zincubus]

As above really plus I'd leave a week BETWEEN each feeding attempt ... plus if there is not even a tongue flicker then there is probably not much point in persisting until the next feeding time- in my experience .


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