Hi there!

I hope this isn't redundant, I'm still quite new at finding my way around the forum...
Our Ballpython won't eat with humans present anymore and I'm wondering why and how to make him eat more consistently.

We got him from a friend when he was already about 5. After we got him, we had some issues getting him to eat, most likely due to the stress of the move.
After that, he ate normaly a few times. Then, he stopped eating again, so we tried leaving the rat (frozen-thawed) in the encolsure to get him hungry. He ate that rat while we were not watching him. The following times, when he still wouldn't strike while we were "wiggeling" the rat, we tried the same thing and he pretty consistently ate once we left.

However, he hasn't been eating, even though he seems hungry to me. Last night, he was already roaming around his enclosoure while I was heating the rat but as soon as I held it into the enclousre, he retreated into one of his hides.... He came back out to "sniff" the rat once or twice but wouldn't strike, so I left it in there again, but he didn't eat it while we were gone either.

We haven't been handling him much to reduce stress, I've been checking the temperature religiously and he has several hides.

Did anyone have similar issues with BPs only eating alone? What are some things I can try to get him to eat more consistently?

I'm grateful for any responses