First off Hey, new to the forum but have been reading a lot on here since finally getting to have some ball pythons of my own. Husband was a weirdo and didn't want me to have any, he gets to race again...I get to have snakes. lol!

I got a male Pastave that was born on 7-2-2022, he got to me on 9-16-2022 on his card his last feeding before he got here was 9/9/2022 and he finally ate for me on 9/30/2022 when I just left it outside his hide for him. I first put him in an aquarium and he did okay, but yes it was too big even with clutter etc. I got him to eat a F/T hopper in that set up but then he refused or ignored them for two weeks. I read on here about putting him in a 6 qt tub with a hide and water bowl, with the proper temp and humidity to get him set up at. I did that, got the set up working well with humidity and temp as well. I waited a week then offered him another F/T and he refused, it seems like he's literally scared of the feeder but now just leaving them isn't working either. I went to the local pet store to get a live hopper, they told me they were out. I spent two weeks waiting for them to get some back in stock only to be told this week that they never carry live hoppers....

Now, I'm kind of in a pickle to find somewhere that has them in stock after them giving me the run around and he still refuses my F/T offerings. I have no clue how asking for a live hopper repeatedly caused them confusion but I digress. I have called a few places and no luck yet, but I will not give up on that I know of a few more that I will try to hit this weekend that are pretty close before attempting a long ride to a Petsmart or Petco....

I guess with all that...I'm curious why he would eat one F/T fine then refuse and even act scared of them. I am literally concerned he'd be more scared of live at this point because they might be more active than these are with my zombie wiggle. He will smell and flick his tongue then just ignore them. He definitely doesn't have the interest my other two have in feeding and hasn't since I've had him. I even leave the feeder with him and he will crawl right over and around them. All this while acting interested in the smell from me feeding the other two snakes. He is a very timid little guy (60 gms) but I worry about being too timid to eat? Is that a thing with snakes this young? I just feel like at his age he is going way too long without showing signs of wanting to eat at all. I know the possibility of a vet is likely but trying not to do that unless I absolutely have to because that will stress him too and I've been trying my best not to stress him.

Sorry if this is a jumbled mess, trying to get all my thoughts out in type while stressing out is not my strong point.

Thanks, Kim