Out of my five recent hatchlings (set up in 6 quart tubs, aspen, hides) three of them took f/t right away without any trouble. Two of them were striking out of fear but not eating and generally appeared stressed when I tried to feed (striking at the air, huffing and puffing, curling into defensive pose). I heard that cyprus mulch is good for getting ball python hatchlings eating (no explanation on the page, just the suggestion) so I tried it.

Well after 24 hour of sitting on cyprus mulch *wham* happy snakes feeding on f/t no problems!

Anyone else try this trick or just use cyprus to begin with? I'm thinking the darker color of the substrate helped them feel more secure.