Help with my baby

[nwright]

Hi everyone!

New here, just got my new baby on Saturday morning I've been looking into getting me a ball python for a while and have done a lot of research and have been talking to the local reptile store for awhile waiting for a baby to be ready. I knew feeding is often an issue, so I am just hoping for a bit of guidance!

the babies at the store came from a local breeder. They were brought into the store on October first when it reopened after renos. Since then, none of the babies have eaten. The store owner and I decided on Saturday that it might be better for me to take one home and see if I can spend a bit more time and care with it to get it to eat (she was moving them from the tank to a plastic tub for feeding, and was also feeding during the day).

So on the morning of Saturday the 24th I brought her home to the tank I've had set up and waiting all month. One end has a heat pad with a hide with built in water dish on it, the other side is a bit cooler and also has a hide and small glass water dish. It's a ten gallon glass tank. She explored for a bit, and curled up in the back corner of the warm hide. She didn't come out until Sunday evening, and she explored for a bit, then went back into the hide before I went to bed.

monday night I decided to try and feed. I've read to wait ten days, but it's also been over a month since she's eaten (I'll also admit I can be impatient..) , so I placed a frozen fuzzie (which the breeder was feeding) on a small piece of paper towel just outside the hide. Around 10 she poked her head out, laid it on top/beside the fuzzie, curled around it. By 12:30 I went to bed and was pretty sure she would eat. I woke up around 9 and the fuzzie was next to the paper towel - I don't know if she moved it, or regurgitated it (it didn't look particularly different side from having moved). Tuesday night, and now, she's come out and explored all over the cage. She's been climbing the sides until just the tip of her tail is on the ground, and eventually falls. I've kept an eye on the temperatures and I've been misting one end of the tank when I see her start to poke her head out of the hide in the evening.

Im wondering if i should try and feed her again soon, or wait a week or so? Also, if I should keep trying fuzzies, or try pinkies or live? I know they can be finicky eaters, especially after moving to so many new places, but it's been over a month now and I'd like to see her eat thanks in advance for any advice!!

[nwright]

Oh, also.. I've thought about adding some vines/sides for a bit more security. But will this scare her more? Should I wait till after she eats?

Shes also become more active since I tried to feed her, though it was two days after she came home, so maybe she's just getting more comfortable to the idea of exploring?

[Zincubus]

They usually suggest leaving them alone until they've eaten ( at least once ) before you start messing around with their surroundings ..
Anyways , when the time is right I'd get as much stuff in there as possible as they hate ' open spaces ' ... My vivs are full of branches and hides all over ... They WILL climb probably every evening if there are branches and they will spend hours exploring despite the claims that they are pet ' rocks' who do nothing ..

[AjBalls]

With feeding frozen, most still need to be enticed that there is in fact a meal there. Heat up the rodent, whether is just be hot water or with a heat lamp, for a couple minutes and introduce the meal by moving it near it. Making it think it's still a live rodent. Rarely, from my experience, will a hatchling go up to a rodent just lying there and begin to eat it.

[ReptiMoto]

Get a tub with a lid and put black paper covering all 4 sides (so it is dark inside) then put some aspen or any bedding in there. Put your snake in there with a live baby rat or live fuzzy (there eyes will be closed so it cant hurt your snake). Leave the room and eliminate all noise/activity in the room. I guarentee you it will eat if its hungry.

[200xth]

How old is the snake and how much does it weigh? Bigger snakes you have more leeway with experimenting since they can go longer without food than smaller/younger ones that need to grow.

[AllThatInThemGenes]

Get a tub with a lid and put black paper covering all 4 sides (so it is dark inside) then put some aspen or any bedding in there. Put your snake in there with a live baby rat or live fuzzy (there eyes will be closed so it cant hurt your snake). Leave the room and eliminate all noise/activity in the room. I guarentee you it will eat if its hungry.

if you don’t want to try feeding live yet I would follow the instruction to warm the thawed fuzzy to trick the snake into thinking it’s a live rodent. I would do the above ^, you could probably get away without preparing a black out box and just put the live feeder in the 10 gallon overnight.

[nwright]

How old is the snake and how much does it weigh? Bigger snakes you have more leeway with experimenting since they can go longer without food than smaller/younger ones that need to grow.

Shes es about ten weeks old now - I haven't weighed her, as I don't have a scale, though I'm going to get one before I take her out of the tank (I haven't done this yet, I've left her alone since bringing her home.


which was my other concern, that I think she's still scared of me. She slowly goes back to her hide if I come anywhere near the tank, so I doubt she would eat if I'm standing over her holding it (to whoever suggested it - thanks though!)

to clarify, I defrosted the fuzzie in a ziplock with warm water, and it was fairly warm when I put it in her tank - perhaps this is why she cuddled up with it? Tomorrow I'll grab a new thermometer and double check the tank is warm enough for her

im also go to look to see if I can find live pinkies around here. Thanks for all the suggestions!

[bcr229]

A live mouse pinky - heck even a live rat pinky - is too small of a feeder for a baby ball python. Given this one's age it was probably eating either live mouse hoppers or rat fuzzies when the breeder sold it. Most breeders don't bother converting their babies to f/t.

As for the store, if the owner is keeping the babies in a tank and then moving them to eat during daylight hours, it's a good bet those babies won't eat. Typically they eat at dusk and they want to be well-settled in a small, dark, tight, private place before the feeder shows up. This is why BP's don't thrive in a retail environment - stores and displays are brightly lit, and the displays don't give snakes a place to hide as otherwise customers couldn't see them.

[nwright]

Update**

tried everything and no luck. Threw a live pinkie in her tank and it was down within ten minutes! Thanks everyone for the advice, here's hoping that she feeds reularly from here on out