Feeding Frustration Question.

[Spaniard]

It seems like no matter what 1 of my two bps are always giving me problems about eating. The culprit this time is my female Autumn. She had been refusing F/T items so I had given her a live mouse to see if it would interest her and it did she ate it, this was about 4 weeks ago. The following week she took a F/T small rat. Now for the last two weeks she had refused the F/T items again so I picked up a small live rat to see how it went. She came out of her hide and tracked down the rat on the other end of the tank, but when she got close to it she just sniffed it a few times and really didn't pursue it. I noticed her belly was pink so I'm expecting a shed soon. I know they usually don't eat during shed but have any of you had snakes that would not eat during this pink belly stage? She's visibly skinny looking as compared to normal but her weight hasn't really changed much, maybe 7 to 10g of weight loss. Any ideas? I know I shouldn't be worried too much but I hate seeing her looking all flabby skinned. Just a visual reference, these we taken over the weekend. She doesn't look to bad in the pic but I know the diff and it kills me. Forgot to mention that before the initial live mouse eating she had been refusing for about 2 or 3 weeks. I wouldn't mind feeding her live mice if that was the case but they are so small at all the LPS around here.

[Freakie_frog]

Yes. My one of my guys just two weeks ago refused when pink. Wait till after they shed and then they'll eat.

[Spaniard]

Thanks for the quick reply. I hope you're right.

[elevatethis]

Something else to keep in mind, is that consistency goes a long way with ball pythons. If they've been eating strong for a while, its not unusual for them to take a break from time to time. Trying different things week after week can cause more harm than good and set your ball back farther than they would have chosen on their own, all other things being equal.

Its insanely frusterating for keepers, but you've just got to tell yourself they're just being a ball python and go with the flow.

[frankykeno]

I'm thinking consistency is perhaps the problem here. From what you wrote you've been offering f/t and live - both mice and rats. I think if she took a live mouse then I'd stick with that. Even if you have to offer her a couple of them a week or buy a few and fatten them up at home so you get decent sized ones, I'd maybe consider that. Switching around week after week can't be helping the situation I would think.

[Spaniard]

So when she comes out of her shed should I offer a F/T rat. This is what she was brought up on, but it hadn't been too successful in the last month and a half. Your consistency comment makes sense, I just don't know if i should remain consistent with F/T or live.

[Freakie_frog]

Something else to keep in mind, is that consistency goes a long way with ball pythons. If they've been eating strong for a while, its not unusual for them to take a break from time to time. Trying different things week after week can cause more harm than good and set your ball back farther than they would have chosen on their own, all other things being equal.

Its insanely frusterating for keepers, but you've just got to tell yourself they're just being a ball python and go with the flow.

This is so true. Feeding at the same time in the same place on the same day will gett you better results. . Switching things up like she said stresses them out. Wait till you snake sheds and feed in one way and try to stay with that.

Good luck.

[Spaniard]

Switching week after week wasn't a good idea now that you guys put it in a new perspective. The live mice round here are so tiny, I would probably have to fatten them up like you said. What do you keep the mice in? And what do you feed them?

[snakey68]

Yes I agree switching is not a good idea in general as they prefer IMO to get into a routine in terms of food type and whether live or frozen.


If its been brought up on F/T I would stick to that and dont panic and offer a "live" if it goes off for a couple of weeks ( thats balls for you ) as thats perfectly normal in some balls.

I know some people feed right through the shed period but I never do as I find them much more active and hungry after a shed which is close to normal behaviour in the wild.

The key IMO is consistency and try not change things around too much.

Feeding frustration comes hand in hand at times with Ball Pythons its all part of their makeup but there are various tricks of the trade to keep them eating regular the hope is you dont have to keep using them and it gets into a good feeding routine.

Changing or altering their pattern of feeding and type of food will affect this routine and imprint of consistency ....try to avoid it if you can.

at least thats my opinion anyway.

[Freakie_frog]

Changing or altering their pattern of feeding and type of food will affect this routine and imprint of consistency ....try to avoid it if you can. At least thats my opinion anyway.

This is true people have had trouble getting their young snakes off of mice and on to rats or off of Pk and on to FT. It takes some doing and some paitents but it can be done. But changing things just to be changing them can stress them out and cause problems