Failed feeding =( - not coming out at night

[dotc0m]

I've had my BP for about a few days now. Lately I've been moving him around a lot because as some may know I had him in a 10g aquarium, then was convinced to move him into a tub, 21qt, and then finally convinced to move him into a 12qt tub where he is now. He is 2 months old.

Sunday was the last day he was fed before he came to my house (Tuesday). He is going through a shed and has the blue eyes now. I tried feeding him a hopper mice, thawed at room temperature in a tupperware container that was put in his tank to pre-scent it. Then hair-dried to increase body temperature, and when i tried feeding him, he just looked at it, shows some interest, but never struck it or anything, although he did open his mouth at it for some reason but then pulled away.

His eyes are blueish, so I'm assuming he can't see very well, so I'm hoping that's the reasonw hy he won't eat, along with the fact that he has been in his habitat tub his second day now, but has been with me for four days.

Besides that, at night I never see him come out, he just hangs out in his hide and sticks his head out looking as if the tooth fairy will come. Is there anything wrong with that?

[SnakieMom]

Tony, i don't think there's anything wrong with his night time behavior.
He's been moved around a bit, and he's probably just trying to relax and
get comfy in his new home.

As for tryin to feed him, it's pretty common for a ball not to eat when shedding, at any phase.
Balls aren't sight predators, so him seeing the food isn't a problem.
How long has he been in this tub? Give him a week, maybe a little longer (say, maybe 10 day or so) then try again.

good luck
~Courtney

[dirty ric]

Sounds fine to me, a lot of bp's don't eat during shed. When mine is in shed, I "brain" my mice. Since his vision isn't the best at this time, he smells the brains and he eat's. As far as the staying in the hide and looking out, thats a hunting response. The only time I see my bp out, is when he is moving hide to hide or getting something to drink. He loves to stay in his hide, with his head in the "door way"

[xdeus]

I'd leave him completely alone for at least a full week with no handling before attempting to feed him again.

Young Balls can get stressed easily and quite often they won't eat when they're stressed. You've only had him for 3 days and have already moved him around and handled him quite often during that time, so you can plainly see why he might be a little stressed right now. In addition, many snakes will not eat while in shed.

Give him some time in a proper environment and he'll come around. Don't be discouraged if he doesn't eat again, just keep trying once a week with the same type of prey item that he was eating before.

Good luck.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Since his vision isn't the best at this time, he smells the brains and he eat's.

BP have a poor eyesight even if not in shed, BP rely on the smell of the prey itself and the heat signal when feeding.

You don't have to "brain" the mice for your BP to eat.

I feed all my BP regardless of shedding and rarely have a refusal, also while in shed I do not feed any differently then when they are not.

Now to the OP some BP do refuse to eat while in shed so it might be one of the reason why he refused to eat, the other could be the different changes that occurred, remember that when making husbandry changes you should allow one week so your BP acclimate to his new environment.

As Lawrence said leave him alone for another week with no handling before offering again. Once your BP start eating on a regular basis you will then be able to start handling him.

[Kyle6203]

As others have stated what your seeing is normal behavior. Some bp's, not all but some won't eat during shed. Mine will eat but it takes him alot longer, usually he will have the mouse dead and going down his throat in mere seconds while not in shed, but while in shed it can take him up to 30 minutes to actually find and eat the mouse. I'm pretty sure they are also fairly shy while in shed so him staying in his hide all the time is also normal.

[frankykeno]

Okay Tony let's look at it from the snake's perspective. It's very young, it's only been in your home less than a week, it's been switched into three different enclosures and it's in blue (shed cycle). If it had eaten that would have been quite a surprise actually.

Even when we do changes for the best for our snakes, we must allow them time to adjust to these changes...that's first. Then the fact that this is a young snake. They have a tendency to be even more shy, more easily startled than mature snakes that are used to a captive environment and captive routines, they see you as basically a big heat signature that may just want to eat them up. Then add in the shed cycle which can make even the best feeder go off (some don't eat during shed, others do). Put all these things together and it's pretty normal that your little baby snake would refuse to eat right now.

Give it some quiet time, no handling, no feeding attempts, little movement or action around it's enclosure. The peeking out of the hide is a good sign. It's called lurking and many snakes do this when they are getting ready to eat or just checking things out from a safe position.

Be patient, most likely the baby will eat if you let it de-stress for a week, then pick a quiet evening and offer it what it's used to eating in the way it's eaten before (ball pythons like habit and routine and respond best to what they already know).

[dotc0m]

He was fed live prior to my ownership. I am trying to get it to eat F/T now since it'll be his ~6th feeding, so I want to do it while it's still early. Is this a smart idea?

[juddb]

Getting a bp to feed f/t any time is a smart idea.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

He was fed live prior to my ownership. I am trying to get it to eat F/T now since it'll be his ~6th feeding, so I want to do it while it's still early. Is this a smart idea?

One thing I do with new acquired snake I do not switch them before they fully acclimate to their new environment and until they have taken 3 to 4 successful consecutive meals with me.

Switching or attempting to switch only start after those successful feedings.