Ball Python not eating

[vivi]

After fuzzies, its hoppers, after hoppers, its small mice.
Hoppers are hoppers. Small mice are small mice. Fuzzies are fuzzies. Don´t feed anything smaller than a hopper.

[kylie.em]

After fuzzies, its hoppers, after hoppers, its small mice.
Hoppers are hoppers. Small mice are small mice. Fuzzies are fuzzies. Don´t feed anything smaller than a hopper.

Okay in that case they don’t sell them or at least don’t have them labeled as that but the small mice look just like a hopper so should I just go with a small mouse?

[dr del]

Hi,

One question I haven't seen asked is how you prepare the snake and the meal before hand.

With mine I found that letting them defrost near the enclosure lets the snake know a meal is on the way. The eating sideways raises the thought that maybe you need to heat the head of the prey more ( that is generally how they key in on the head of the prey animal) with mine, once it is defrosted, I heat the head region with a hairdrier.

This has a dual purpose - it wafts the scent of the prey around a lot more just before offering, and it gives them a clear hotspot on the animal to aim for when presented.

Hope this helps.


*ETA* yes I would try the small mouse.

del

[Craiga 01453]

Yeah, definitely go with the small mouse. I would wait til Tues or Wednesday though.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I don’t know how much he weighs and I don’t have a scale.

That is where you need to start, get a scale, get the weight.

Not only will it give us an idea on what prey you need but it will also affect what you need to do when it comes to husbandry changes because there is a high possibility that changes will be required.

[kylie.em]

Hi,

One question I haven't seen asked is how you prepare the snake and the meal before hand.

With mine I found that letting them defrost near the enclosure lets the snake know a meal is on the way. The eating sideways raises the thought that maybe you need to heat the head of the prey more ( that is generally how they key in on the head of the prey animal) with mine, once it is defrosted, I heat the head region with a hairdrier.

This has a dual purpose - it wafts the scent of the prey around a lot more just before offering, and it gives them a clear hotspot on the animal to aim for when presented.

Hope this helps.


*ETA* yes I would try the small mouse.

del

I thaw them in hot water for about 10 minutes or until thawed all the way through. I’ll try the hairdryer method the next time I feed him. Something I forgot to mention though, he doesnt immediately strike. He likes to rub his face on the mouse and then bites it. I don’t know if that is worth mentioning but I’ve always thought it was odd.

[kylie.em]

Will any scale do? My boyfriend has a scale somewhere that we used to measure livestock feed. I’m not sure what it was supposed to be for but I’ll find it if that’s the kind I need.

[Craiga 01453]

Will any scale do? My boyfriend has a scale somewhere that we used to measure livestock feed. I’m not sure what it was supposed to be for but I’ll find it if that’s the kind I need.

If it measures grams it'll do the trick. Many of us use kitchen scales. I got mine from Walmart a few years ago and I think it was$20.

[kylie.em]

If it measures grams it'll do the trick. Many of us use kitchen scales. I got mine from Walmart a few years ago and I think it was$20.

Craiga I owe you one heck of an apology. So I went against your advice about when to feed because he was acting like he would eat so I went ahead and heated up of those small mice. He grabbed it immediately and ate it head to tail like a champ. Thank you so much and I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. �� I’m going to weigh him in two days so that I don’t mess with his schedule and stress him out. Should I start feeding him every 5 days?

[PitOnTheProwl]

Many of the older member here have been doing this for a long time, some as hobby and others as business.
Research is your friend.