My BP Won't eat :(

[Naom9Anne]

Have you tried placing your BP in a smaller enclosure e.g. box or bag you got them in? Just thought that this is what was suggested to me should mine refuse to eat again (totally forgot to mention). If she shows no interest/strikes but doesn't constrict etc I was told to put mine in a box/bag with the rat inside (F/T not live of course) with her and place in the middle of the vivarium (or whatever you're using to house her) overnight. It's another option to try?

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

I had a 3 week old hatchling that wpuldnt eat FT and I tried a lot of things..finally went live last night and it was no problems..slithered around for a few mins smelling then struck and did its things...going to do 3-4 more live feedings,then try FT again,also switching to rats this weekend.

[NH93]

Anyone who owns a snake needs to be willing to feed live.

Sorry but I absolutely disagree with this statement.
That is completely opinionated. Perhaps you feel this way about BALL PYTHONS specifically, but many other snakes should not be fed live, out of safety of the animals - perhaps snakes that are not as strong physically, do not have as strong a feeding response, etc. Each snake is individual. Having a "captive" snake is different than what would be found in the wild, unfortunately (or not?).

I have wanted snakes for a long time and never will I be willing to feed live UNLESS it were absolutely necessary... and I couldn't do it myself, I would have to get someone else to. It would break my heart.

In your situation OP, it is very unfortunate that you believe your BP was not fed enough before you got it. That is difficult for you, and will make switching to f/t difficult as well.
However, it can be done! Don't give up on that if it is really what you want to do.

But what comes first and foremost, as everyone has said, is the health of your snake. There are a tonne of threads on here about how to feed live, and then also how to switch to f/t (which it sounds like you have checked out and tried already).

I don't have any experience feeding live, so I cannot help you there... but I hope everything works out for you, and that your BP takes some food!

Good luck, and don't be discouraged!

[NYHC4LIFE8899]

I strongly disagree with yours... If u own a snake or any reptile that is known to eat live,u should be prepared to do so. If u don't have the heart to feed live then what???? I have s baby that wpuldnt eat FT no matter what I tried. Put a live fuzzy in and ate no problems. You have to do what you have to do in benefit of the animal and put your feelings aside.

Sorry but I absolutely disagree with this statement.
That is completely opinionated. Perhaps you feel this way about BALL PYTHONS specifically, but many other snakes should not be fed live, out of safety of the animals - perhaps snakes that are not as strong physically, do not have as strong a feeding response, etc. Each snake is individual. Having a "captive" snake is different than what would be found in the wild, unfortunately (or not?).

I have wanted snakes for a long time and never will I be willing to feed live UNLESS it were absolutely necessary... and I couldn't do it myself, I would have to get someone else to. It would break my heart.

In your situation OP, it is very unfortunate that you believe your BP was not fed enough before you got it. That is difficult for you, and will make switching to f/t difficult as well.
However, it can be done! Don't give up on that if it is really what you want to do.

But what comes first and foremost, as everyone has said, is the health of your snake. There are a tonne of threads on here about how to feed live, and then also how to switch to f/t (which it sounds like you have checked out and tried already).

I don't have any experience feeding live, so I cannot help you there... but I hope everything works out for you, and that your BP takes some food!

Good luck, and don't be discouraged!

[Anya]

Agreed. "Prepared" Is probably a better word. You simply must be prepared to do whatever is best for the health of your snakes. If they only eat live, at some point you're going to have to make the choice between your snake starving to death, and the possibility of something going wrong during feeding. *shrugs*

[NH93]

(Like I said, if it were absolutely necessary. And I wouldn't do it, I'd ask someone experienced or willing to, if they could. That's my opinion. I don't feel anyone has to do anything they don't want to.
If it were that big of an issue for me, I'd give the snake to someone more able and find myself a f/t feeding snake. My snakes are both f/t eaters, and I bought them purposely because of this... I obviously wouldn't want to risk the health of my pets! That's not what I meant at all!)

OP I forgot to ask, have you tried using tongs and doing the little dance thing? If you do try f/t again, I have a suggestion (unless you've tried it already, in which case, my apologies for repeating):

Mine wouldn't eat the first week or two, but what I ended up doing (which worked) is I thawed a rat, put it in a baggie in HOT water, left the zip open and the cup right beside the tank for 15 mins. This usually gets my BP out and hunting, if he isn't already. I would then turn out all lights but one in a back corner so I could see, and get the tweezers and grab the rat in the middle, then slowly put it in the tank (not near my BP). I would jiggle it a bit, then slowly go a bit closer to the BP. When he noticed it (so he'd be about 6" away) I would start to entice him with it. Normally that got him to come closer. I would not move the rat closer to him, but wait for him to move towards it. I kept jiggling it, kind of acting like it was alive still. It could take a few minutes sometimes, but he always struck. When he coiled, I would give it another little jiggle for 5-10 seconds after, so he would coil tighter.

Now he knows the whole routine and it really doesn't take him long at all. Usually as soon as I lift the lid after scenting he's ready to go.

I also thawed the rat in with a mouse the first couple of times. I don't know if that made a difference or not though.

Anyways, good luck, whatever you decide!

[Crazymonkee]

Agreed. "Prepared" Is probably a better word. You simply must be prepared to do whatever is best for the health of your snakes. If they only eat live, at some point you're going to have to make the choice between your snake starving to death, and the possibility of something going wrong during feeding. *shrugs*

Yes prepared is a better word for it. My first went for 2 months without eating f/t no matter what I tried. Was I to let her starve to death because I originally wanted to feed f/t???
I quickly changed my thinking in the best interest of her.

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[BloodStar]

Sorry but I absolutely disagree with this statement.

I have wanted snakes for a long time and never will I be willing to feed live UNLESS it were absolutely necessary... and I couldn't do it myself, I would have to get someone else to. It would break my heart.

Thank you very much for the incite. I will do it for the sake of my snake, but I love all animals and even though it is part of nature and such, I don't really want to contribute to death of such innocent awesome fuzzy creatures I may try F/T one more time tomorrow night. But she should weigh over 100 grams right now and she doesn't even come close.

[Crazymonkee]

Sorry but I absolutely disagree with this statement.
That is completely opinionated. Perhaps you feel this way about BALL PYTHONS specifically, but many other snakes should not be fed live, out of safety of the animals - perhaps snakes that are not as strong physically, do not have as strong a feeding response, etc. Each snake is individual. Having a "captive" snake is different than what would be found in the wild, unfortunately (or not?).

I have wanted snakes for a long time and never will I be willing to feed live UNLESS it were absolutely necessary... and I couldn't do it myself, I would have to get someone else to. It would break my heart.

In your situation OP, it is very unfortunate that you believe your BP was not fed enough before you got it. That is difficult for you, and will make switching to f/t difficult as well.
However, it can be done! Don't give up on that if it is really what you want to do.

But what comes first and foremost, as everyone has said, is the health of your snake. There are a tonne of threads on here about how to feed live, and then also how to switch to f/t (which it sounds like you have checked out and tried already).

I don't have any experience feeding live, so I cannot help you there... but I hope everything works out for you, and that your BP takes some food!

Good luck, and don't be discouraged!

No one kills prey in the wild for hatchlings. A snake has everything it needs to eat appropriate sized live
prey, yes even captive bred ones.
Humans prekill and freeze them for convenience.
Please don't make people afraid or feel bad for feeding live.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[BloodStar]

OP I forgot to ask, have you tried using tongs and doing the little dance thing? If you do try f/t again, I have a suggestion (unless you've tried it already, in which case, my apologies for repeating):

Mine wouldn't eat the first week or two, but what I ended up doing (which worked) is I thawed a rat, put it in a baggie in HOT water, left the zip open and the cup right beside the tank for 15 mins. This usually gets my BP out and hunting, if he isn't already. I would then turn out all lights but one in a back corner so I could see, and get the tweezers and grab the rat in the middle, then slowly put it in the tank (not near my BP). I would jiggle it a bit, then slowly go a bit closer to the BP. When he noticed it (so he'd be about 6" away) I would start to entice him with it. Normally that got him to come closer. I would not move the rat closer to him, but wait for him to move towards it. I kept jiggling it, kind of acting like it was alive still. It could take a few minutes sometimes, but he always struck. When he coiled, I would give it another little jiggle for 5-10 seconds after, so he would coil tighter.

I have tried something similar to this, but not that type of scenting. I will try your idea tomorrow. She seems healthy and happy. She comes out usually about an hour after I turn my lights off around 7 pm and climbs all over stuff and tries to escape Hahaha...She is also very active with her tongue "smelling" activities She just seems uninterested when I present the food......your idea seems worth a shot though before I attempt a live feeding. (Recruiting my roommate for this part if necessary) Haha