Just so you understand where (at least) my response is coming from ...



You have had the snake for 1 month - you should not have offered it food for the first week to let it settle in. Which means it should have only been offered three meals thus far. If it did not accept a meal the second week you should have waited another week to try to feed it. And then again a week later and so on and so on. In the mean time you should not be disturbing this snake until it has eaten - limit your contact.



For a ball to go off feed (even a small one) for a month especially given that it has just been relocated and that it is winter - is not uncommon or a big deal and certainly not life threatening.



The twice a week feeding attempts as well as the assist feeding is extremely stressful on the animal and you are basically shooting yourself in the foot.



Have you contacted the previous owner and found out what and how they were feeding it and are you feeding it the same way? Was it feeding well for them? I am assuming if you have been spot cleaning that means it had nourishment in it and you shouldn't have any worries?



Anyway - at this point you know it has food in it's belly - leave it alone for a couple of weeks - find out (if you don't already know)it's feeding history and go from there. Unless there are other underlying issues assist feeding should be a last resort.



If there were other issues you didn't include in the initial post (like the snake hasn't eaten in 6 months, is bone thin and flopping to the side) then you can't fault the responses you received.



I hope this makes sense.
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Tosha

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