You've probably tried this already, but have you left the snake in a small container for a couple hours with the f/t food? Make sure the container is totally dark, or covered with a cloth.

That usually works for most stubborn feeders but recently I had a picky snake that after 4 months I finally gave in and force-fed (first time ever). Well, I guess it was more like "assist-feeding", not really force-feeding. One of my picky eaters went through a normal winter-fast but then never came out of it. To get her to eat, I only used a tiny pinky mouse and carefully pushed it to the back of her throat, closed her mouth on the food, and then immediately put her back in her cage and turned off all the lights in the room. She swallowed it just fine, and a week later I did the same. The third time I offered her a live fuzzy rat and she ate it just like she used to.

I think that if ball pythons go too long without food their brains (and stomachs) stop telling them that they are hungry. Their metabolism slows down and they are no longer aware of needing food... but once they get food in their stomachs their metabolism kicks in again. I still would only recommend force-feeding as a last result because it stresses them out alot, and can potentially damage the snake if not done carefully.
If you have eliminated the possibility of the snake being sick, and you've tried every other trick in the book, you might try "assist-feeding".

Hope this helps,
Good luck!
~kasey

[ Hide Replies ]

• NEED HELP FEEDING - mikes_herps, Thu Jun 14 22:38:32 2007
• RE: NEED HELP FEEDING - snakesbydesign, Thu Jun 14 23:07:46 2007
• RE: NEED HELP FEEDING - mikes_herps, Sat Jun 16 00:00:23 2007
• RE: NEED HELP FEEDING - LibertyReptiles, Thu Jun 14 23:41:32 2007
• RE: NEED HELP FEEDING - mikes_herps, Fri Jun 15 23:58:46 2007
• RE: NEED HELP FEEDING - JenHarrison, Fri Jun 15 02:04:10 2007
• RE: NEED HELP FEEDING - dsreptiel, Fri Jun 15 02:50:51 2007
• RE: NEED HELP FEEDING - mikes_herps, Fri Jun 15 23:56:08 2007
• RE: NEED HELP FEEDING - GaBallPythons, Fri Jun 15 09:39:50 2007
• RE: NEED HELP FEEDING - mikes_herps, Fri Jun 15 23:57:55 2007
• RE: NEED HELP FEEDING - FireStorm, Sat Jun 16 06:11:44 2007