New ball python owner... He won't eat

[Craiga 01453]

I suggest using the tapatalk app on your phone to upload pics. Very easy to use.

I also suggest: - no handling of your snake (unless absolutely necessary for cleaning the enclosure) until AFTER he has eaten a meal or two.
- Get your husbandry right asap.
- As for hides, something that is well closed off with only one entrance is ideal. There are several options at your local pet stores, there are also many ways to make your own on the cheap, or order from the tons of options found using a simple google search
- and please feed your snake in it's enclosure

Good luck, we're here if you need more help

[Zincubus]

They grow at different rates, but that's a bit small for 9 months, which makes me think he hasn't eaten many meals in his life to begin with. Ball pythons can be VERY picky about setup/security/hides and temps, so it will definitely be easier to get him a smaller tub setup (sterilite tub) to better manage his basic needs for now, until he eats for you. Posting a pic of his current setup anyway will help too!

Make sure you're using digital thermometers/hygrometers to measure his temps accurately.

Feed him in his enclosure- it may very well be that the taking him in and out is causing him to snap out of feeding mode (due to stress) and not want to eat.

If you want to keep using the tank for some reason, you'll want to clutter it up with lots of tight, secure hides (not half log hides) and a lot of "cover"/clutter, as much as possible. This is my tank setup.

Great looking setup ( and snake ). !

[Sargentnoid]

Somone else may have already said this and I missed it but feeding at night may also help

[Zincubus]

Somone else may have already said this and I missed it but feeding at night may also help

As above plus in dim light or even darkness ... and if feeding thawed remember to give it a good blast with a hairdryer before offering ..


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[cchardwick]

173 grams for 9 months old? That is extremely small. You should be feeding a max of 10% of their body weight, so about 18 grams max. An adult mouse weighs about 35 grams, so you need something smaller. I'd find a source of rat pinkies and try to put a live one in his enclosure for the night, only rat pinkies with eyes closed are safe to leave in there unattended. Any other live food and I'd supervise to make sure the rodent doesn't harm the snake. If he doesn't eat I'd return the pinky and try another one in a week, or euthanize with CO2 and freeze, then try frozen thawed a few days later. But I'd still try a rat pinky once a week until he eats. A snake that small should be eating twice a week once he starts eating. Once you get him on rat pinkies on a regular basis you can move over to fresh killed then try frozen thawed.