Hi I'm New. I have a quick question...

[Hypancistrus]

Leave the dead mouse in there and if the snake doesn't take it within 20 to 30 mins then take it out...I should also mention that ball pythons are jumpy by nature. Especially when you have a new snake and it is in a new environment, it can seem very uneasy.

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I have left mine in with snakes as long as overnight. Sometimes they will eat hours after the "big scary thing" AKA YOU has left. No worries about it. Also, this last sentence is totally correct. Ball pythons, in my opinion, can be terrible "first snakes" for new snake owners because they can be so very finicky about food, handling, humidity, shedding, etc. They really do not tolerate handling well, again, in my opinion and experience. I teach HS science and I keep a corn snake in my classroom for my kids to handle. He can be handled on and off all week and still slam a rat on Friday. My BP's do not adjust as well to handling stress and the busy environment of a classroom (or home) with kids. I am not saying it can't work... but you need to acknowledge the natural limits of the species and respect them.

Hey I too got my bp from petsmart. She was the same way wouldn't eat for almost a month, probably had to do with the fact that they force feed her a dead mouse, but I had a visit to the vet planned when I tried a live mouse, she got it in less the 5 secs and I haven't had a problem with feeding ever since. Her eyes where the same too, and went away after the first shed, but to be safe still take to the your snake to the vet.

For the record, BP's and most other snakes can easily be converted to f/t prey instead of live, and it really is safer for your snake. F/t prey do not fight back and cannot injure your snake. Some BP's are less inclined to take f/t prey at first and need live to start, but it's not hard to convert them, and feeding f/t "dead" prey should not be equated with "force feeding." All of my BP's take f/t quite readily. I've never had one I could not convert to f/t.

Now... OP, I do have one other question. You said you have a "glass lid" and by this, do you mean one of the glass aquarium lids for a fish tank? Or you have a screen lid and put glass over part of it?? Snakes are escape artists... so whichever lid you are using, make sure it is extremely secure. Don't just put books on it. They are very strong critters.

Good luck with the eye issue. It also looks to me like a scuffed eye cap, and should correct with the next shed.