Hello, I am new to ball pythons and just picked up a pair of 2014 hatchlings last week. I was wondering if someone on the forum could please help answer a few of my questions. I am an experienced reptile keeper but new to BP's. I have read several caresheets and researched BP's prior to purchasing the two I now have.

I have a male mystic potion and a female blue-eyed super mystic. Both were flown by plane to an airport where I picked them up. I don't live in a big city so I had to stay overnight (keeping them in their shipping containers) before driving 8 hours back home the next day. I asked the breeder what he fed them and he said F/T rat pups once every 5-7 days. He kept them in a 4.24" high, 7 wide and 13 deep enclosure with a water bowl (no hide) on paper towel.

Since bringing them home, I put them in their respective bins and left them alone because I didn't want to stress them out.

Currently my set up is as follows:

- 4"x12" (shoebox size) bins with holes drilled around the top and locking lids
- Paper towel substrate
- 1 small black snake hide that is just big enough for each BP to hide in and secure on all sides
- plastic water dish
- 1 Heat cable (15 Watt) used to heat both bins only on one side so there is a temperature gradient
- I use a digital thermometer to monitor my temperatures as well as an infrared temperature gun. The hot side for each bin is currently sitting at 96 and the cool side is sitting at 80. I asked the breeder about the temperature he kept the hot side at for his snakes and he said 95 was where he liked it to be so I am within that range
- I plan on getting a thermostat soon (Spyder Robotics brand) since many BP keepers recommend having a thermostat

Yesterday evening I tried to feed my new ball pythons 1 thawed rat pup each but neither of them would accept food. Videos I watched suggested moving the bp's to a "feeding bin" separate from the bin they live in. I moved each to a feeding bin and tried to give each a F/T rat pup on tongs. Prior to giving them the rat pup, I boiled some water, put each rat pup in a plastic ziplock bag, and let the rat pups sit in the water to thaw out for 30 minutes. The pythons looked at the rat pups but made no attempt to strike at them. I tried gently shaking the rat pup using the tongs, putting the rat pup in the bin and closing the lid (in case my presence was stressing them out) but nothing seemed to work.

Am I doing something wrong? I know BP's are notorious for refusing food but the breeder had no trouble feeding them. Is it a good idea to move the snakes to a "feeding bin" or is that just causing unnecessary stress?

Do they need more time to adjust to their new environment? I don't want to sound impatient but if there is something different I could try next time I feed them that might help I would love to hear your thoughts. When should I try feeding them again?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.