Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A friend of mine surprised me by buying me a baby ball python. She got it from a pet store. I've had him for just about a month now. He's in a 20g aquarium with the temps right (78-86), the humidity is a little low (40s) but I mist frequently to keep it up. He has plenty of hides and fresh water. I've tried everything but I can't get him to eat. I've offered him F/T fuzzy mice and even pinkies (that's what my friend said the petstore was feeding him)I have NO idea what to do. Here's what I've tried

-separate feeding cage (works for my other bp)
-Feeding him in his tank (the only way my roommates boa will eat)
-I left him with food over night, in a dark room
-I dipped the fuzzy mouse in chicken broth
-I tried to make the mouse dance using tongs (works for my other bp)
-I covered the cage with a towel to make it really dark

Does anyone have any ideas? I've contemplated offering live fuzzie/pinkie mice but I can't find them anywhere near me. I appreciate the help.

One more thing, I've heard that putting the snake in a smaller enclosure would help. Would it? Thanks again.

I know a lot of people are agianst fedding live, but that is the only way my 2 adults will eat.
I have heard that if you feed them a live one and a f/t right after one another they wont notice and you can do that for a little while until they stop noticing that it is dead already. But other people on here may have better suggestions.

I could try live...but I don't know where I could get live fuzzy mice. He's only about 15 inches so he can't eat an adult mouse yet.

Most hatchlings can eat a small adult sized mouse without problems. Go to your local pet store and pick out the smallest one they have in the tank. What did the pet store feed him while he was there - that is what you should be feeding him and they should have a supply for you.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

11.42.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

One more trick to try: some snakes love the smell/taste of rodent brains, so if you have the stomach to snip open the skull and smear some brains around, your snake might be tempted into eating.
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0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Jungle Carpet Python
11.7 Monkey Butlers

Yes, changing the size of the enclosure can have an affect on his desire to eat. What size enclosure is he in right now?

By the way, I am not any good at estimating gallon/volume of enclosures myself, but I did find an awesome gallon calculator on a fish forum:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/calculator.php

...I kept my hatchling ghost BP male in a 10 gal aquarium for his first 5 months or so - which is huge compared to what most breeders keep hatchlings in, but he had and still has a GREAT feeding response, so I didn't have any qualms about moving him up to a 20 gal that I bought for cheap... but if yours is in something around 20 gal or larger in volume, he could be stressed by all of that open space. I know you said you have a bunch of hiding spots for him, but you never know exactly what he thinks of it all.

A lot of people in this forum don't like this method, but I use a feeding bin, and I don't feed any of my snakes in their cages. There are many reasons that I do this, so I will try to keep this brief, but here are a few of my reasons:

*once they are feeding, placing them in the bin kicks in their feeding response, as opposed to getting that feeding response when you open the cage to reach inside for cleaning or handling purposes.

*you can use a slightly smaller bin than the cage that your snake is housed in so he could be more "comfy"

*feeding bins are also great to be used for soaking and/or aiding bad sheds

*feeding bins are also great places to put your snake while cleaning his cage - so you don't have to try to do it one-handed

*a feeding bin can be a little easier to completely cover with a blanket or towel, and set in a quiet area to help those fussy feeders concentrate/de-stress

*feeding bins are easy to clean!

I use a tall-sided 19 quart rubbermaid tote with locking tabs on the lid as my small feeding bin. I haven't put any air holes in the container, because I only leave my snake in it for one hour maximum.

There are many more techniques out there - and I had never heard of some of the ones you mentioned, or others that people wrote in response to you here - so don't give up. Also, I don't think that you need to get drastic with any of this. Good luck.

~Rebecca
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1.1 Ball Pythons (1.0 '05 Ghost, 0.1 '03 Normal)
0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40 lb darling lap dogs)