Quote Originally Posted by West Coast Jungle View Post
Out of over 100 Ball pythons maybe 6 will eat pre-killed, all the rest eat only live. My advice, feed live
When I got my first BP I feed her live for a few months, but it was a huge pain to keep going to the store and I have no interest in breeding or keeping rats or mice. They smell nasty.

Quote Originally Posted by Drewp View Post
I've got an 09 pastel female at about 500 grams... she was over 800 at one time... absolutely won't eat... rats, asfs, mice, f/t, live... doesn't matter. She used to eat fine on F/T rats and was putting some size on but when fall came around, nothing. No interest. You put a prey item near her and she smells it, but then balls up and hides her head. She's never been bitten or anything, I've taken her to the vet who says she's fine... done a stool sample and everything, but there is apparently nothing wrong other than her lack of appetite.

I've tried all the tricks from leaving it overnight, heating it up extra, braining, even assist feeding once to see if she'd wrap once it was in her mouth (I didn't try to shove it down her throat)... no dice.

She just ate a live mouse a few days ago and thats her second meal in about 3.5 months. She's getting really thin looking and I feel so bad for her but I don't know what else I can do. I'm hoping she'll eat again in a few days, I'm going to stick to a live mouse again... hopefully she'll take 2... as long as she'll eat something and doesn't starve herself I'll be happy. Its very frustrating.

She is in the same rack as my other balls and they all eat fine. I've got one female who will only eat every 2 weeks but that doesn't bother me because she'll at least take Med-Lg F/T rats and never goes for a 3rd week. My others would eat their weight in rats while in full shed, I swear... just savages lol. Jumping out of the tub at you the day after a big meal... lol

I really wouldn't worry about missing one feeding, well not much anyways... if your husbandry is right, no sign of RI or mites or anything...you're probably fine. A lot of people feed every 10-14 days and think once a week is "power-feeding." Its when they start going over a month that I'd be getting a bit concerned, but even that isn't very uncommon.
She still looks great, so I'm not worried yet. The breeder I got her from said she was eating f/t rat pups and that's what I've been offering her. If she wants to skip a week every now and again that's okay, it's just annoying because then I have to figure out what to do with the refused food.