Feeding new BP

[pie.r.square]

Idk if anyone remembers me from a few days ago with the question about mites (only like, two people replied so I doubt it) but I recently got my first ball python. I tried feeding her today, and it didn't work. I was told to feed her large hopper mice even though I'm sure that those are way too small for her. I only bought two at the time to last me for 2 weeks until I get paid, but next time I buy her food I think it's gonna be either adult mice or rat pups. I'm not too sure how old she is, but from what I hear she's definitely too big to be eating hopper mice.

Would upgrading her food convince her to eat? She's also kinda stressed still, should I just leave her alone for a couple of weeks? I keep her heat and humidity at the right levels so it shouldn't be that.

[nighttrain_1991]

Are you feeding her live or frozen/thawed? Do you know what they were feeding her before you got her? If she was being fed live before, and you are trying to feed f/t it may take some time. If you've only had her a few days she may need more time to get acclimated from the move. How are you trying to feed her? Do you just leave it in her tank for a while? I've had to do that before just leave the mouse in the warm side of the tank at night and in the morning it was gone. I've found with my normal at least that movement is the key. I just jiggle it back in forth in front of him and he usually strikes right away. Do you know how much she weighs? If you don't have a digital kitchen scale it is a good investment (only 10-15$) The general rule of thumb for young snakes is to feed 10-15% of their body weight as long as the prey at it's widest point is not larger than the snake at it's widest point. I.E if your snake weighs 150g then you should feed a prey item that weighs between 15g and 22g. From what I've heard a slightly smaller prey item would be taken more readily than larger, but at some point if it's way to small they might not see it as food.

[Annarose15]

Tell us a little more.

What exactly are her temps and humidity?
Any idea what she weighs, was eating previously, or at least a picture?
What kind of hides, and how many?
Handling her how often?
Are you treating her for mites?

[Inarikins]

Leave her alone for a week before you offer again. Don't handle her or anything. Change water and make sure she's in there as you need to, but limit the interaction. Offer in a week or so at night in her enclosure and congrats

[pie.r.square]

nighttrain_1991: They said she was eating f/t at the store, and they were large hopper mice. It's barely been a week so I figured she would eat the same thing. I took her out of her tank and into a separate bin thing and tried to feed her there, since that's what I've read was the best thing to do. However I think that might have freaked her out too much, which is why she didn't eat...next time I'm just going to take your advice and attempt to feed her in the tank. I do have a scale but I'm not going to weigh her until she settles down because I don't wanna mess with her anymore than I need to. The hopper mice do look too small as they are smaller than her widest point, which is what I got my conclusion from.

Annarose15: The temperature on the warm side stays in the 90s and the cool side stays in the 80s to mid 70s (kinda varies depending on the time of the day, my room gets hotter in the afternoon or if the sun shines on the house too much). They said she was eating well at the store. She's in a 10 gallon tank right now with a hide on the warm side made out of a couple of old tissue boxes, a thing to climb on on the cool side, and a water dish in the middle. I would give her a second hide but I don't really have room for it...I'm upgrading her to a 20 gallon in a couple weeks though as soon as I have money. I'm also going to buy her a couple proper hides (tho for the record she does spend a lot of time in her tissue box, so I think she likes it). I try to handle her as little as possible, but have been forced to handle more often the past couple days since I've been treating her for the mites. She was never really infested so I don't think they were bothering her too much, but I could be wrong.

Inarikins: Thank you, will do!

[pie.r.square]

Oh and I forgot to mention the humidity, which I keep in the 40-60% range as recommended by numerous care sheets

[Annarose15]

Find a way to squeeze a second hide in there, or clutter up the cool side somehow. I agree that moving her to feed is the first red flag that I would address. Just feed her in her tank and minimize handling like you already are. Good luck!