Hi everyone. Ive had my ball for about three weeks and im beginning to have issues. Im supposed to feed him every five days, and on the first feeding, he ate a live rat pup without hesitation. Since then, he began to get dull and his eyes cloudy, and I figured he was about to shed. He also started fasting. I tried pinky mice, a rat pup (both frozen), and then I tried a mouse, but he wouldnt take anything. Yesterday he finally shed , and I tried frozen pinky mice and a dead rat, and he still wont touch anything. Why wont he eat? I know theyre famous for hunger strikes, but he hasnt eaten in about 10 days.

To make things worse, I figured id handle him (I stopped for the last week because I thought he was nervous and figured it would help him eat), and while he was moving about, I found a tiny white thing the size of a period (.) . I figure its a mite? I rubbed it off, and inspected him, and couldnt find any others. How'd he get it, do I need to treat him , and should I remove his substrate and put down fresh stuff? (I have aspen, and I just got some coconut fibres in brick form, so Im switching soon anyways).

Please help me out, Id like him to be as comfortable and well-fed as I can make him!