"first" meal question

[WesleyTF]

I picked up a spider at the pamona show on sunday and today fed him a rat pup. He became interested immediately, but when he struck, it was rather half-hearted. When the pup squirmed, he clenched up a bit more, but overall, he was lethargic with his strike/constriction... In fact, when he finally got around to eating it, it was still just barely breathing.

Should I just chalk this up to him being in a new environment? Do younger BPs tend not to strike/feed as quickly as adults? Temps/humidity is near ideal (~95/85, 70%). I have only kept sub-adults and adult BPs, and they have always been amazing eaters for me--immediate and voracious. Excuse me if this is a rather newbie question; I did a short search but it did not return quite what I was looking for.

[singingtothewheat]

Hey he ate. That's good! Ball pythons are the very coolest of snakes. Their only down side is picky eating. The fact that he ate for you days after getting him home is fantastic. I don't think you need to worry yet.

[WesleyTF]

more curious than worried. Thanks for the reassurance. Do the young ones tend to be less aggressive feeders?

[Elise.m]

My young ones are aggressive feeders. My oldest, Snickets, is quite lazy. She only coils once. My het pied, Micron, will coil with his entire body if it's still moving. Same with my Pinstripe.

I think it's different with each snake though. Mine seem to be changing.

[singingtothewheat]

more curious than worried. Thanks for the reassurance. Do the young ones tend to be less aggressive feeders?

I'm not sure I'd say that young one's do. I have never gotten a fresh baby. All of my balls have been over 6 months when I got them. My Mojave was lackadaisical about eating at first. She now aggressively pounds rats with no mercy. My first ball, Boo, was never a picky eater and has pounded her food without any issue since the first feeding. Both of my 1.1 het's are slightly picky eaters, xabs (the female) doesn't want it if it's not an A.S.F.
My pastel, Sol, was a huge problem from day one. We tried everything under the sun. At first we thought it was the move, then we thought it was the breeding season. I tube hydrated him a couple times, tube fed him a couple times and when his weight began to do a big dip and it was either going to be tub feed this snake more seriously or go to a vet, we went to the vet. She felt he was perfectly healthy but we couldn't get a stool. She treated him with a broad spectrum anti and and anti fungal and we no longer have a problem. HE POUNDS FEEDERS LIKE no bodies bidness.

[Kaorte]

Honestly, the animal is still probably a bit stressed, which explains why it was a bit apprehensive to eat.

Most of my new hatchling pickups don't even eat for me the first week. Its a scary world out there for them!