!!!Need help and advice!!!

[WingedWolfPsion]

Now, hatchling ball pythons:

1) Do not handle, other than for cage cleaning, until the animal eats.
2) Make sure the cage is small. If it's in a 10 gallon tank, try putting it in a 5 quart shoebox bin inside the tank (clamp the sides so they can't be pried up, and use a soldering iron to make air holes). Ball pythons can become stressed in larger spaces.
3) Make sure the hides are just big enough for the animal to squeeze tightly into, and have a single entrance.
4) Make sure the enclosure is in a low-traffic area.
5) Offer food at night, 1 hour after the lights have gone out. Ball pythons are nocturnal.
6) Offer the EXACT same food the animal was eating before you got it, and the exact same size. Leave.
7) Leave the food in for an hour. If it is not eaten, remove it. Do not offer food again for at least 3 days. (Many say 1 week...I say 3 days, because hatchlings cannot go long periods without food, and the extra days rarely matter--the feeding response seems to reset after 3 days in really young animals).
8) If that doesn't work after 2 tries, fill the bin with crumpled newspaper, wait a day, and then try again.
9) If your snake becomes emaciated and begins to weaken, take it to a vet for tube-feeding. Nutritional support may be necessary if an animal is too thin.
10) Just because the store said the animals ate doesn't mean they ate. Whenever possible, buy from a breeder, not a store. Buy a well-established hatchling if you are a first-time owner. (That means an animal that weighs over 150 grams).