Ball python won't eat (yes I read the pinned posts)

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I've kept the same (various) species of snake communally for decades, of this group I've had some for up to eight years. They are all fat, shiny, eat great, and are active and yes.. social, both with humans and each other. They are in a HUGE enclosure (over 18sq ft floor space) with multiple areas to shelter, warm, etc and a variety of environmental options. For your information they don't just hide in a hole 24/7 when given other options. My oldest was sitting up like a meerkat the other day watching birds out the window lol. Not everyone chooses to keep an animal in a freaking drawer for it's entire life... and I did provide him with an independent enclosure for the first month and then another go of two months solid and he still refused to eat.

How is this working for the new snake?

While you were busy tearing me apart while in no way addressing the problem, a HELPFUL person contacted me with information that I will share for any other person dealing with this issue that had the misfortune of coming here for advice: It is common for exotic morph babies to have little to no natural feeding instinct, it is common for breeders to dump problem snakes at snake shows (lesson learned there)... and detailed instruction including VIDEO for "braining" and assisted feeding (search those terms on Youtube or Google). End result he had his first feed in five months this afternoon.

False, respectable breeders sell well started and feeding animals (think about it for a minute do you think someone would be in business long if that was their business model????)

Your inability to get the snake to eat is 100% on you and your choices, I understand blaming it on the breeder or people here not wanting to tell you what YOU want to hear might make you feel better but assisting an animal that would eat in NORMAL and OPTIMUM condition is not the answer, it's the easy way out of someone wanting to do what he wants to do not what has to be done.

When you are willing to listen and make changes let us know and we will be able to guide you and have that snake eating in no time, until then well good luck.

[zina10]

And here we have the ever more common species of

"Pretendaneeda advica, yetknowidallalready andtellyouso supremo"


While our Ball Pythons are not in the wild, and we cannot replicate the wild, we should look for CLUES to their natural habitat, behavior and general needs.

It has already been proven without a doubt (scientifically proven as a fact, not opinion) that Ball Pythons are NOT social animals. Not with each other. Not with humans. Not with pet Lions.
They are not social. They come together at times to pro create, because that is what their rather simple brain and instinct tells them to do.

Aside from that they do not seek out each other or other species.

They do however prefer small, dark places to hide. Do they move in the wild? Obviously at times they do. To find a breeding partner. And most often, to find a NEW dark small hiding place since they had to either pee and poop and the old hiding place does not work anymore, since the prey can smell the snakes waste and will avoid the area. You see, Ball Pythons often wait for prey to show up and then grab it. They are opportunistic like that. They usually do not "hunt". They are far to slow for that, other then coming across a nest of baby birds or baby rodents that cannot get away.

Ball Pythons are also cold blooded. And they shed their entire skin. So...depending on whether they ate or are getting ready to shed, they need to seek out areas that are warmer/cooler/ more or less humid.

In a rather small enclosure (and compared to the wild, yours is small) there will be only a couple areas that are "just right" for having just eaten, or going by the ambient temperature or humidity level, etc etc. What you see as SOCIAL behavior (they cuddle up) is that they simply compete for the "just right spot" at the same time. There is no cuddling going on, no tea time, no gossip hour.

They are also not social with humans. They do not have the brain capacity (again, proven) for advanced psychology such as that. What they CAN learn to do is to realize we present no danger. We won't eat them. We won't hurt them. They can learn to "trust" into that, for lack of better words. And that in itself is AWESOME, considering they are wild animals and very shy ones at that. But...for some people that is never going to be enough. They have to pretend that reptile loves them, looks forward to play time, needs its enrichment, is social, etc etc. If it makes those people happy to pretend that, well, nothing wrong with that. Until it gets in the way of taking the proper care of them, of providing the basic needs. Now, there are some reptile species that are more aware and smarter then others. But we are talking about Ball Pythons here.

So what if most of your snakes are fat and "happy" ? You know what, I can stick a dog in a small cage all his life and feed it well. It will still be fat and it will wag its tail when I feed it (happy??). Does that mean I take into account the needs for that species ? Dogs ARE social, they ARE affectionate. They make the best of pets for people that need an animal to return love and affection. Some of your snakes do well DESPITE your care, certainly not because of it. As you learned, some just cannot.

I do realize I'm typing to the wall, so to speak. Because you will not care nor listen. You know it all. You know better then us, and you know better then anyone that opposes your opinions. Opinions you present as "facts". They are not.

So you got the snake to eat, after someone gave you "real help" consisting of such things as braining and assist feeding. Most likely you "assist" fed then. What a shame to do this to a snake that simply didn't eat because of your ignorance and inability to take many years of knowledge and practice into account, not to mention basic facts about a species.

So go on pretending you are the bomb when it comes to those animals and we are all wrong. Go on assist feeding every snake that can not get used to living in improper care. Just do whatever you want to do.

You will anyway.

Since this forum is so unhelpful and terrible, there are many great Ball Python pages on Facebook you may like.

[Kira]

For one, just because you have more snakes and had them for years doesn't mean that you have good husbandry. Housing multiple ball pythons in one enclosure is not good. As someone who has had years of experience you should already know that. That along with thinking that ball pythons socialize (they do NOT socialize with humans or other snakes) shows how limited your knowledge on ball pythons is.

I highly recommend swallowing your pride and following the advice that you have been given on this thread. Hearing that you're wrong is never easy but please realize that we are telling you these things for a reason- WE CARE. We care about the well being of your snakes and that is why everyone on this thread is so passionate about you correcting your husbandry. If we didn't care we simply wouldn't post.

[Sunnieskys]

Check the IP is Dutti back?

Seriously dude....no one accused you of animal abuse..we pointed out facts.

you have some choices:
1. Listen to breeders who have been giving you solid advice who have been doing this for decades and have the facts to back it up.
2. Don't listen and go on your merry way.

it really is that simple.

[SDA]

take the problematic snake out of the enclosure giving it problems and get it isolated in a proper enclosure that will reduce stress and you can better monitor until it eats. Even with previous experience contradictory toward everyone you should at least be humble enough to know you are not able to provide the care needed with your current conditions so swallow that pride, take the advice from the people here and save your snake. Deborah for example drives me nuts on this forum but there is nobody on here more knowledgeable getting ball pythons feeding so suck it up and listen to her already.

[Craiga 01453]

And here we have the ever more common species of

"Pretendaneeda advica, yetknowidallalready andtellyouso supremo"


While our Ball Pythons are not in the wild, and we cannot replicate the wild, we should look for CLUES to their natural habitat, behavior and general needs.

It has already been proven without a doubt (scientifically proven as a fact, not opinion) that Ball Pythons are NOT social animals. Not with each other. Not with humans. Not with pet Lions.
They are not social. They come together at times to pro create, because that is what their rather simple brain and instinct tells them to do.

Aside from that they do not seek out each other or other species.

They do however prefer small, dark places to hide. Do they move in the wild? Obviously at times they do. To find a breeding partner. And most often, to find a NEW dark small hiding place since they had to either pee and poop and the old hiding place does not work anymore, since the prey can smell the snakes waste and will avoid the area. You see, Ball Pythons often wait for prey to show up and then grab it. They are opportunistic like that. They usually do not "hunt". They are far to slow for that, other then coming across a nest of baby birds or baby rodents that cannot get away.

Ball Pythons are also cold blooded. And they shed their entire skin. So...depending on whether they ate or are getting ready to shed, they need to seek out areas that are warmer/cooler/ more or less humid.

In a rather small enclosure (and compared to the wild, yours is small) there will be only a couple areas that are "just right" for having just eaten, or going by the ambient temperature or humidity level, etc etc. What you see as SOCIAL behavior (they cuddle up) is that they simply compete for the "just right spot" at the same time. There is no cuddling going on, no tea time, no gossip hour.

They are also not social with humans. They do not have the brain capacity (again, proven) for advanced psychology such as that. What they CAN learn to do is to realize we present no danger. We won't eat them. We won't hurt them. They can learn to "trust" into that, for lack of better words. And that in itself is AWESOME, considering they are wild animals and very shy ones at that. But...for some people that is never going to be enough. They have to pretend that reptile loves them, looks forward to play time, needs its enrichment, is social, etc etc. If it makes those people happy to pretend that, well, nothing wrong with that. Until it gets in the way of taking the proper care of them, of providing the basic needs. Now, there are some reptile species that are more aware and smarter then others. But we are talking about Ball Pythons here.

So what if most of your snakes are fat and "happy" ? You know what, I can stick a dog in a small cage all his life and feed it well. It will still be fat and it will wag its tail when I feed it (happy??). Does that mean I take into account the needs for that species ? Dogs ARE social, they ARE affectionate. They make the best of pets for people that need an animal to return love and affection. Some of your snakes do well DESPITE your care, certainly not because of it. As you learned, some just cannot.

I do realize I'm typing to the wall, so to speak. Because you will not care nor listen. You know it all. You know better then us, and you know better then anyone that opposes your opinions. Opinions you present as "facts". They are not.

So you got the snake to eat, after someone gave you "real help" consisting of such things as braining and assist feeding. Most likely you "assist" fed then. What a shame to do this to a snake that simply didn't eat because of your ignorance and inability to take many years of knowledge and practice into account, not to mention basic facts about a species.

So go on pretending you are the bomb when it comes to those animals and we are all wrong. Go on assist feeding every snake that can not get used to living in improper care. Just do whatever you want to do.

You will anyway.

Since this forum is so unhelpful and terrible, there are many great Ball Python pages on Facebook you may like.

pet lions, tea time, gossip hour... I love it

[Braxibear]

Oh, this is good. Gonna get some popcorn!

[Momokahn]

And here we have the ever more common species of

"Pretendaneeda advica, yetknowidallalready andtellyouso supremo"


While our Ball Pythons are not in the wild, and we cannot replicate the wild, we should look for CLUES to their natural habitat, behavior and general needs.

It has already been proven without a doubt (scientifically proven as a fact, not opinion) that Ball Pythons are NOT social animals. Not with each other. Not with humans. Not with pet Lions.
They are not social. They come together at times to pro create, because that is what their rather simple brain and instinct tells them to do.



Aside from that they do not seek out each other or other species.

They do however prefer small, dark places to hide. Do they move in the wild? Obviously at times they do. To find a breeding partner. And most often, to find a NEW dark small hiding place since they had to either pee and poop and the old hiding place does not work anymore, since the prey can smell the snakes waste and will avoid the area. You see, Ball Pythons often wait for prey to show up and then grab it. They are opportunistic like that. They usually do not "hunt". They are far to slow for that, other then coming across a nest of baby birds or baby rodents that cannot get away.

Ball Pythons are also cold blooded. And they shed their entire skin. So...depending on whether they ate or are getting ready to shed, they need to seek out areas that are warmer/cooler/ more or less humid.

In a rather small enclosure (and compared to the wild, yours is small) there will be only a couple areas that are "just right" for having just eaten, or going by the ambient temperature or humidity level, etc etc. What you see as SOCIAL behavior (they cuddle up) is that they simply compete for the "just right spot" at the same time. There is no cuddling going on, no tea time, no gossip hour.

They are also not social with humans. They do not have the brain capacity (again, proven) for advanced psychology such as that. What they CAN learn to do is to realize we present no danger. We won't eat them. We won't hurt them. They can learn to "trust" into that, for lack of better words. And that in itself is AWESOME, considering they are wild animals and very shy ones at that. But...for some people that is never going to be enough. They have to pretend that reptile loves them, looks forward to play time, needs its enrichment, is social, etc etc. If it makes those people happy to pretend that, well, nothing wrong with that. Until it gets in the way of taking the proper care of them, of providing the basic needs. Now, there are some reptile species that are more aware and smarter then others. But we are talking about Ball Pythons here.

So what if most of your snakes are fat and "happy" ? You know what, I can stick a dog in a small cage all his life and feed it well. It will still be fat and it will wag its tail when I feed it (happy??). Does that mean I take into account the needs for that species ? Dogs ARE social, they ARE affectionate. They make the best of pets for people that need an animal to return love and affection. Some of your snakes do well DESPITE your care, certainly not because of it. As you learned, some just cannot.

I do realize I'm typing to the wall, so to speak. Because you will not care nor listen. You know it all. You know better then us, and you know better then anyone that opposes your opinions. Opinions you present as "facts". They are not.

So you got the snake to eat, after someone gave you "real help" consisting of such things as braining and assist feeding. Most likely you "assist" fed then. What a shame to do this to a snake that simply didn't eat because of your ignorance and inability to take many years of knowledge and practice into account, not to mention basic facts about a species.

So go on pretending you are the bomb when it comes to those animals and we are all wrong. Go on assist feeding every snake that can not get used to living in improper care. Just do whatever you want to do.

You will anyway.

Since this forum is so unhelpful and terrible, there are many great Ball Python pages on Facebook you may like.

I so wanted to reply earlier today to this thread but my hero Zina came through and NAILED IT. You see I am trying to get better with my passion and emotions.

[redshepherd]

Since this forum is so unhelpful and terrible, there are many great Ball Python pages on Facebook you may like.

Go get em. OP, join the ball python facebook groups! They'll be much more helpful and "kinder" to you than we honestly were here, until you decided to refute the good advice provided. I promise.

Actual food for thought though... OP, if everything you're doing is right and your ball pythons are happy, why are they not even accomplishing such a basic, important behavior such as eating? There is obviously something wrong. We are just telling you what is wrong and how to get them eating. They're not complicated animals, and are easy to learn and get right, if you WANT to do proper research and take the advice of experienced, successful keepers.

[Craiga 01453]

I so wanted to reply earlier today to this thread but my hero Zina came through and NAILED IT. You see I am trying to get better with my passion and emotions.

I decided to just ignore too, and then Zina hit it out of the park.
I'm just gonna assume Zina was right when referring to "talking to the wall". Something tells me this OP wouldn't take basketball advice from Michael Jordan, cooking tips from Gordon Ramsay, or financial advice from the sharks on Shark Tank....
But it's ok, he's taking assist/force feeding advice from somebody "helpful"....

Those poor snakes....ugggh