I know Deborah was only highlighting the basics for setting up the enclosure and the proper things that need to be in place for the ball python to continue on and finish his meal. It's okay if he makes a kill and then for whatever reasons decides he doesn't want the prey item. What experience has taught us is that in that situation what we do is either abort the whole feeding attempt until the next scheduled feeding day or we can rewarm the already freshly killed prey to the snake one more time. Why? Because the python is making his own kills and therefore doesn't need to be assist fed. Assist feeding is a very stressful procedure on the animal and should only be done as a last resort. We know you mean well but don't let one missed meal make you resort to the extreme measures of assist feeding.![]()