feed ball pythons

[psykotik8]

i just bought 2 (1 male 1 female) bp's i am trying to feed our male and ive had the feeder mouse in his terrarium for about 30 min now and he does not seem interested to be interested in his foodi understand this can be normal for bp's to not eat. how long should i leave the mouse in there for him to try and eat??

thank you for any and all help

herbd

[starmom]

If you just got the snake you need to wait a week or two before trying to feed. Waiting gives your snake a chance to settle in and feel safe and secure in his new home

[psykotik8]

well... we got the female today and were not trying to feed her yet. the male we have had for about 7 days now. when i bout him they told me i needed to wait a week or so for settling before trying to feed. also not to feed in hir terrarium so i have a smaller terrarium for them while there being fed.

how long should i leave the mouse in the cage before taking it out?

thank you for all your help.

herbd

[dalvers63]

well... we got the female today and were not trying to feed her yet. the male we have had for about 7 days now. when i bout him they told me i needed to wait a week or so for settling before trying to feed. also not to feed in hir terrarium so i have a smaller terrarium for them while there being fed.

how long should i leave the mouse in the cage before taking it out?

thank you for all your help.

herbd

If the snake doesn't take the mouse within the first few minutes, you can be pretty sure it isn't going to eat.

How is your tank set up?
What are his temps/humidity?
Hide boxes?
What size tank is he in and how big is he?
You say you got him 7 days ago - since then what have you done with the snake? Any handling at all?

Personally, I feel there is no reason to remove him from him cage to feed him. You stand more of a chance of stressing out a new snake doing that than you do feeding him in his cage. You will be in the cage more often to change water, handle and clean than you will be to feed so there is nothing to worry about in regards to him thinking there is always food (if that's the reason the person gave you for not feeding in the tank).

Give us some more information to go on and we'll see if we can get it sorted out!

[blackcrystal22]

It depends. If the mouse is looking to bite the snake, then obviously not long. If he doesn't look interested, he probably won't be.

What are the temperatures and humidity in the cage. What type of cage are you using, tub or terrarium. Also, is your cage full of stuff or too empty?

Going one week without eating isn't a problem.
You should just let him settle for at least a week or so more WITHOUT handling him before you try to feed him.

Your cage could also be too large.

[psykotik8]

If the snake doesn't take the mouse within the first few minutes, you can be pretty sure it isn't going to eat.

How is your tank set up?
What are his temps/humidity?
Hide boxes?
What size tank is he in and how big is he?
You say you got him 7 days ago - since then what have you done with the snake? Any handling at all?

Personally, I feel there is no reason to remove him from him cage to feed him. You stand more of a chance of stressing out a new snake doing that than you do feeding him in his cage. You will be in the cage more often to change water, handle and clean than you will be to feed so there is nothing to worry about in regards to him thinking there is always food (if that's the reason the person gave you for not feeding in the tank).

Give us some more information to go on and we'll see if we can get it sorted out!

How is your tank set up? water bowl, branch and hide spot, katee aspen bedding
What are his temps/humidity? 83-88 day 78-85 night humidity 18-25
Hide boxes? only one right now
What size tank is he in and how big is he? 20 gal terrarium he is 22 inches right now
You say you got him 7 days ago - since then what have you done with the snake? Any handling at all?we made sure he has spent plenty of time in his terrarium to get used to it and we have had him out to get used to us. when we first got him he was very head shy and he isnt anymore so he is used to us now.

his feed tank is probably a 2/3 gal plastic "reptile tote" i put some of the "kaytee aspen bedding" in there also to make him feel "at home" more.

now that we have the female also we are "cohabitating" them in the same tank for now until they get bigger so i dont want to feed him there so he gets his food and when the time comes she will get hers. i know he knows my scent and i also know to use tongs (or something of the sort) when feeding and also dont get the scent of the mouse on me.

thank you for your help
herbd

[psykotik8]

also we are not feeding live they are frozen i thawed and warmed up the mouse before putting it in with the snake

thank you for your help

herbd

[dr del]

Hi,

Few things pop out.

How is your tank set up? water bowl, branch and hide spot, katee aspen bedding

It's best to have two identicle hides - one at each end of the temperature zone so they don't have to choose between security and thermoregulation. They should be nice and snug (touching him on all sides) and dark inside.

What are his temps/humidity? 83-88 day 78-85 night humidity 18-25

There is no need for any night time drop unless you are trying to bring them into breeding mode so I wouldn't advise that.

We like to reccomend a hot side of 90-94f and a cool end of 80-84f. This allows the snake to choose the temperature it needs at all times.

Humidity should be kept around 40-50% normally and 60-70% during a shed cycle - we should be able to help you make any changes to the tank needed if you have trouble getting it steady at those levels.

What size tank is he in and how big is he? 20 gal terrarium he is 22 inches right now

It might be helpfull to take some pictures if you can so we can see how any changes could be made.

You say you got him 7 days ago - since then what have you done with the snake? Any handling at all?we made sure he has spent plenty of time in his terrarium to get used to it and we have had him out to get used to us. when we first got him he was very head shy and he isnt anymore so he is used to us now.

This might be part of the problem as well - the settling in period was to let him relax and get used to feeling safe in his new home - the handling can prevent that.

Give him a week of no handling once the tank conditions are fixed (apart from routine tank cleaning etc) then try feeding again.

now that we have the female also we are "cohabitating" them in the same tank for now until they get bigger so i dont want to feed him there so he gets his food and when the time comes she will get hers.

Now this is also something we really don't recomend
either - you are correct not to try and feed two snakes in the same enclosure but the best thing of all is simply to have one snake in each tank and feed the animal in the place it feels safe.

There really arent any plus points for the snake in cohabitation - but there are an awful lot of negatives.

Have a look around the site for threads dealing with this issue - you should also look into threads in housing in tubs as this is a good emergency stop gap in your situation as you can seperate the snakes without too much expense while you decide on what long term housing you want to use. Tubs will make your humidity issues easier to manage too so are definately worth considering as permanent homes.

Pop up a couple of pics of the setup you have now and we will see what the best way forward for you and your snakes is.


dr del

[hoo-t]

I won't go into the other issues. Derek did a good job there. One thing that I had never considered, but popped into my mind as I was reading this thread was about the separate feeding container. We've discussed the necessity of letting the snake settle into his new environment for a week before feeding. By using a separate feeding container, you are negating the settling in period. You're taking him from the habitat that he is used to and placing him in a strange environment, then asking him to eat. Ok, I said I wasn't going into it, but here I go anyway - this is actually one of the many reasons co-habitation is not a good idea. Separate feeding containers become a necessity. Until you can set up a separate habitat for your female, I'd remove HER and feed the male in his cage. But you should probably separate her permanently as soon as you possibly can.

Steve

[Mochelem]

also we are not feeding live they are frozen i thawed and warmed up the mouse before putting it in with the snake

thank you for your help

herbd

I have a female that refuses to eat frozen, I have tried many times. As soon as I put a live one in there she snags it.