Switched from a 10 gallon to a 96 qt sterilite

[NomadOfTheHills]

Topic ^^^^

My guy was born in July, got him on Oct. 11th. He is a normal, and hasn't eaten since I have had him. His temps are fine and so is the humididty, so I am hoping the switch will make the difernce, it has like 4 hides and fakes leaves and rocks, on paper towel subbstrate.

Any thoughts? DOes this sound good? Anyone ever had switching to a larger/ different tank had any luck with feeding response? Thanks

[BallPythonBabe448]

Normally the worst thing youc an do is change their envirenment when they go offfeed. Just one more thing to stress them out, especially a bigger envirenment. but, I guess you can't know for sure till you try. I hope he eats.

[Schlyne]

What are you trying to feed him? Frozen/thawed, pre-killed? What size of prey are you trying to feed and what was he eating before?

[Adam_Wysocki]

When I have young ball pythons go off feed in their first winter, I usually warm them up and put them into a smaller enclosure, with an extra small hide. Are you sure his temps are "fine"?

-adam

[NomadOfTheHills]

He was eating f/t normal sized mice, and I showed the breeder what I bought mice wise and he said that was the size he was. His warm end is 95 and cool is around 80. THere are hides in the cool end, warm and and middle, all differnet sizes. And since he pooped I know he was eating.

[Schlyne]

Are you trying to feed him in his cage or in a seperate place? Some bp's refuse to eat unless they're in a hide or something.

[NomadOfTheHills]

Ive tried both. Im not worried becuase he is really fat! But after I try in this big one, then Ill try moving him into a reall small shoebox rubbermiad, then try feeding there...

[sk8er4life]

mine will only eat it in her cage

[Adam_Wysocki]

In my experience, it is very rare for a ball python under 1 year of age to go off feed. It happens, but usually not until they are a little older. I would definitely work on your husbandry. You can up the cool side to 84 and move to a smaller enclosure. Also, I have found that filling the smaller cage with crumpled newspaper (a trick taught to me by Kev@NERD) adds to the snakes sense of security and helps put him on the fast track to eating.

My only other thought is that you are not warming your mice enough after you thaw them out. Balls hunt by sensing the thermal differences between their prey and it's surroundings. The FT mouse should be warm, but not hot to the touch.

Hope this helps.

-adam

[Schlyne]

Are you sure your ball isn't getting stressed out? If you've been handling him a lot or making a bunch of major changes to his caging set up, he might be getting really stressed and then refusing to eat.