Advice needed please: FEEDING

[KWenger]

I am new to this site and also new to ball pythons. I do have experience however with corn snakes and boas. Recently I acquired a healthy (1600 gram) 6 year old male ball from a man who had raised him from a hatchling. The snake has always had excellent care and was handled daily, often several times a day, by the man and his family. He is extremely gentle and docile and has what can only be described as a sweet disposition. The previous owner said he has always fed f/t rodents and had never given the snake live food. Never. His feeding schedule was one medium rat every 7-10 days. I got him over two weeks ago and he had not eaten for about 10 days before I brought him home. He is housed in a 40 gallon breeder tank with carefully regulated temp and humidity. Aspen substrate. One large water bowl. Two hides. The hide on the "hot" side is kept at 88-90 degrees. The hide on the opposite, "cool" side is around 80. Both hides are nice and snug and dark. Ambient temp stays in the low-mid 80s. Humidity around 60%. I do my best to give all my pets the best possible care and have tried to make a close to perfect environment for the ball. So why won't he eat? I've offered him freshly thawed rats numerous times and he ignores them. I've always fed my snakes in a separate "feeding box" and did that at first with this snake. No luck, so I tried feeding him in his cage. Still no luck. I read on line that some balls will only eat at night, so I've offered him fresh rats late at night when he is active. He ignores them. I even warmed the rats up in warm water to 100 degrees which I read is the perfect temp. Last night I did that and he carefully examined the rat and sniffed it all over, but didn't eat it. I dangled the rat from a pair of long forceps to make it look more tempting but that didn't help either. He did shed three days ago, and I realize some snakes wont eat when they are in shed, but the previous owner tells me this snake has never turned down a meal until now. Any suggestions? I've been handling him for about 30 minutes a day......perhaps I shouldn't do that? How long do you think I should wait between attempted feedings? I know that balls have been known to fast for months, but this snake has never done that. He hasn't eaten for about a month now and I'm worried. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks! Keith

[NormanSnake]

Stop handling him and leave him alone for a week, then try again. Handling can stress them out a lot when they're trying to get accustomed to their new home.

[wolfy-hound]

Stop handling him. When you bring a BP into a new environment, he's naturally stressed. Let him settle into his new home for about a week, without bugging him except for changing water. Then offer him a FT. You can warm it to the 100F and then use a hair dryer to give it a final "hot spot" on the fur, then offer it. If he doesn't eat, don't keep offering every day. Give him some time and then offer again. I usually offer once a week, regardless of whether they eat or not. If they don't eat, I wait a week and generally that builds their appetite up nicely.

BPs don't eat if they are stressed. Shedding can mean they won't eat. Moving can mean they won't eat. Unfamiliar handling may mean they won't eat. Sometimes they don't eat just because they like to see us tear out our hair trying to figure out why they won't eat. I'm sure he'll eat for you, just give him some time to settle in and relax.

[KWenger]

Thanks. It seems I have definitely been handling him too much. I suppose I am too used to the behavior of corn snakes which never seem to get too stressed to eat, at least not in my experience. Given the frequency of handling this snake has always been used to I assumed (incorrectly) that it wasn't very stressful for me to handle him. I'll leave him alone now except for water changes and offer him a rat next weekend.

[Greekinese]

You can also heat up the rat and leave it in its tank and turn down the lights and hide hehe.

My bp ate last night at 3am, but I had to make him believe he was all alone.
He's new, so he's a little stressed...I don't think they'll mind an audience in time, but if they're new it might be good to give them space.

[wolfy-hound]

Yeah, cornsnakes are pigs. They'll eat while you're handling them I think.

[NormanSnake]

Yeah, cornsnakes are pigs. They'll eat while you're handling them I think.

mine will eat in your lap, but she gets really defensive about her food when you get too close. I definitely don't recommend feeding ANY snake in your lap.

[KWenger]

Just wanted to follow up and say I am pleased to report my snake ate last night. As you recommended, I left him completely alone for a few days after the last, unsuccessful feeding attempt. Last night around 11 pm he was out of his hide and crawling around his enclosure. I thought he might be hungry, so I thawed a rat, heated it to 100 degrees F in warm water, and then used a blow dryer to create a "hot spot." I placed the rat in his cage and then left him in peace. This morning the rat was gone and there is a nice little lump in my BPs belly. Also, I received an order of frozen rats (for the BP) and mice (for my corn) from Rodent Pro yesterday. I was impressed with how well they were packaged and they look good. Fast shipping and good prices.

[wolfy-hound]

Excellent news!