Feeding problem

[tncorns]

I picked a ball python up about three weeks ago. I offered it food a week after getting home to let it settle down first. She will not eat anything I have offered. The list includes mice,rats,gerbils live and frozen thawed. Well I decided to email the seller and he said she had ate a soft furred for him. I asked about his temps she was on also. He was keeping her at cool 85 hot 95. I keep my rack at cool 80 and hot 92. I don't have any soft furred rats in my area. I have also tried braining these feeders also, as bad as I hated to. So do you guys think she will eat for me soon or do I need to take a road trip to find some soft fur rats. She is roughly around 800grams. And I was told she is a CH also. I asked at the show if she was eating and the seller said yes. I should have asked what she was eating. My fault I guess. SO let me know what you think. Oh I also tried the frozen thawed in a dark closet trick also with no luck. Any help would be great. And if anyone in East Tennessee raises soft fur rats, please let me know.. Thanks

[bonheki]

I would try feeding at night my ''new'' chondro wouldent eat after I offered him food over 6 times and all he would do is hiss at it and once I offerd at night and wham he ate it! If he doesnt want it I guess look for thoes ''soft furred rats''.

[51-50 Python]

wth is a soft furred rat? i would just keep trying every week and everytime u try.. do it late at night like at 1 am.. ive never had this problem but i know my snake always comes out late at night so thats the best bet u have.. if he doesnt eat for a long time i heard its not 2 much of a big problem because they can go months without eating.. but if it gets skinny then u might have to start force feeding it

[Gloryhound]

I believe by saying soft furred they are refering to African soft furred rats. These rats are native to the area ball pythons are from. The problem with feeding them to ball pythons is they are like a drug to them. They can easily get to the point where they will eat nothing but African Soft Furred (ASF)! ASF rats are not cheap unless you are breeding them yourself. They are generally only used to feed ball pythons when they go a significant amount of time without eating or if you don't mind the cost they are an exeptionally good way to fatten up a female, but generally speaking you have to be ready to pay the cost for the rest of the life of the snake. If your snake only ate ASF rats previously you have three choices:
1. Keep offering regular rats once a week until he decides she needs to eat and it does not matter to her what she eats. (which may or may not happen)
2. Get ASF rats and feed her those.
3. Keep trying the regular rats for a couple of months and if she doesn't eat one by then you could give in and give her the ASF.

I don't think the breeder you bought him from was up front and honest if he didn't tell you she was eating ASF's. This is the type of stuff that ticks me off because it causes a bad experience for the newbee and generally if they stay in it they tend to avoid the smaller just starting out breeders because they don't want to get burnt again by a small time breeder.

[tncorns]

Thanks Glory. I should have made myself a little more clear on the ASF I guess. I assumed everyone knew what they were. I guess I will just keep offering rats every so often until I move to FL. and if she doesn't eat before then, well I'm sure there are ASF rats there. I was also thinking of trying to get some guina keets. Since those are African birds. Has any one tried those before. I mean if they work they will be as good as rats and a little cheaper I believe. With feeding keets I can cut off the toe nails and after the bird is died I can remove the beak. Is there any other problem with feeding birds that anyone knows of. Let me know before I try this. Thanks

[starmom]

American Rodent Supply offers AFS's. Here's the link: http://www.americanrodent.com/softfurs.html

[tncorns]

Thanks. I will keep them in mind. They have a 100.00 min. order. DOes any other company offer ASF rats

[Thor26]

umm mine went off feed for two weeks and i tried feeding him in his cage and he hit it right away try putting a hide near him when he eats.

[Gloryhound]

Additional things to consider is it sounds like your snake is an older snake. Older snakes take a lot longer to get cozed in. Also the size of the enclosure can make a difference in stress levels from what I have heard. We have a big girl 1800 grams who has not eaten in the month we have had her. We first had her in a CB-70 and she was always in her hide it seemed for the first three weeks. We put her in a 32 qt sweater box and now she is starting to come out once or twice a day/night and look around so I hope this is a good sign that she is starting to relax and may
be ready to eat soon. At 800 grams depending on the breeder she may have been kept in a 15 qt tub or possibly a 32 qt. Some larger ball pythons just are not ready to move up in tub size according to the progression generally recommended. Every ball is different and that is one of the things I love about them! You have basic husbandry that has to be met for each, but then each one seems to do better in different size enclosures and some like different style hides more than others. Then it could be like our albino who doesn't like to go in any hide. She prefers to lay snugged up against them. Each one is different and I think figuring that stuff our is what seperates the basic level BP owner from the intermediate or advance BP owner.

[tncorns]

I didn't think about what tub size she was kept in. I have her in a 32qt. I thought that was small enuff for her to feel comfortable without being to small. And I bet thats why my Het male didn't eat this week. I just moved him up to a 32qt tub also. I will start moving them back down to a 15qt. and see if that helps any. Thanks Glory. I should have looked at that earlier. I will have to add that to my list of questions to ask before you buy list.