killed food but then stared at it all night

[Kagez28]

so i just got this little guy, don't know how old he is but he's about 18 inches long, and he was due to be feed on tuesday. i let him get pretty comfy in his new home then tried feeding frozen and thawed an adult mouse, which he didn't care to even try to get. tired a smaller mouse the next day and nothing, so the lady at the pet store tells me to try live. so i snap up a live one and come night time when he emerged from his hide i dropped him in there and watched closley (i read all the warnings). took him a bit but he attacked it and killed it, then let it go and laid on top of his hide staring at it for the next 3 hours. is this normal? was the mouse too big for him? he killed it in the cool end about 75 degreese and the humidy is between 50-60%

[frankykeno]

Welcome to BPNet! Often feeding issues are related to husbandry so the first thing to address is your snake's housing. Here's our caresheet to help you get the temps and humidity stable and correct so your snake will be comfortable and more likely to eat successfully for you.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59

Things like appropriate hides are also an issue for these shy, nocturnal snakes. Do you have one hide on each end of his enclosure?

When a snake settles in to eat it's prey it is at a very vulnerable place. It can't really fight or flee when it's mouth is full of prey so if it feels unsafe, it will often kill it's prey but not settle down and eat it. Things like someone hovering too close, a loud or busy area of the house or a big open glass tank can contribute to that problem.

Hope this has been of some help.

[darkangel]

You just got him right? Might want to wait a few weeks for him to settle in before trying to feed.

[sg1trogdor]

if not that make sure the mouse is warm enough are you just thawing them or heating them i tried it once and it was a pain til i got the idea to throw it under the heal lamp on top of tank for a few minute this served two purposes gets the scent into the tank and also warms the mouse (these snakes do use heat to look for prey and can sense if something is warm or not. onces warmed up my snake munched it right down but i would go with live fed no f/t just personal preference. if you use live you need to watch the mouse and make sure it doesnt bite your snake i just hold them by the tail and let the snake take them that way(feeding tongs recomended i made that mistake once and once is enough i have been bit twice kinda a pain.

[Kagez28]

could it be a matter of size? cause i heated the mouse up with a blow dryer and dangled it, he took it and constricted but then let go of it and just layed next to it for a while. i am feeding him adult mice, should i got smaller?

[Sausage]

The mouse/rat should be about the same size of your snake's midsection... for an 18 in. BP I'm guessing that would be a fuzzy mouse/rat.

Make sure all of his cage requirements/temps are met and wait a week... maybe he will eat next time.

[_BoidFinatic_]

The mouse/rat should be about the same size of your snake's midsection... for an 18 in. BP I'm guessing that would be a fuzzy mouse/rat.

A fuzzy rat and a fuzzy mouse are totally different in size and smell .

An 18'' ball can handle jumbo mice, but when I choose to do that, I wait two weeks until the next feeding. Your ball would have started to swallow the mouse way before he realized that it may be to big to handle .

[Sausage]

I guess I meant fuzzy rats... I feed rats, so I don't know as much about mouse size.

[VesuviusVicki]

My little guy was doing the same thing. He didn't eat for 2 weeks and finally ate on Friday night. I had to throw 2 mice away that I had frozen and rethawed out. I decided to give him 4 days straight of no interaction and it worked, or else he was finally so hungry he didn't care.

I had tried many of the techniques that I read about on here. Plop in hot water, use a blow dryer, thaw out then blow dry.

What finally worked for my guy was thawing (in the bag) beside his tank for about 5 hours, then dropping in hot but not boiling water for about 1-2 minutes. I didn't let the mouse (small) get wet this time and so he was fuzzy and squishy in the middle.

I used the tongs and he tried to ignore it again. I did the tong dance and I think it just scared him. He was looking for an exit but I had taken his hides out this time. I dropped it beside him and he finally just grabbed it and ate it. I was so excited!

Good luck. I know it seems frustrating at times, but I think he just needed to get used to his house. So I would try the don't try to feed him again or touch him for a week then try again.

[rabernet]

I decided to give him 4 days straight of no interaction and it worked, or else he was finally so hungry he didn't care.

He was looking for an exit but I had taken his hides out this time. I dropped it beside him and he finally just grabbed it and ate it. I was so excited!

Hi! Just wanted to address these two.

First - good instincts of no interaction with your snake (although I would have waited 7 days). If any of mine refuse food one week, they get no interaction until they successfully feed again.

Second - removing hides aren't necessary and in fact remove the security that our shy ball pythons need and want. I don't remove any hides for mine (or water bowl for that matter). My snakes get very insecure if the hides are removed and would be more likely to refuse without the safety and security of their hides.