Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i posted and thing about a young male that wouldnt eat. i was told to move him into an enclouser by himself and leave him for a week. well yesterday i tried feeding him a hopper but he wasnt interested. so i put him in a paper bag with a fuzzy and left him over night. i woke up this morning and i looked inside and there was no fuzzy. he ate! thank you all. Now what should i do. When should i feed him and what method should i use. i have never delt with a snake that wouldnt eat except for a scarlet king but i dont think im the only one there.
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Jeff Kearney Orlando Florida (407) 766 6066

0.1 CB Spouse
4.4.1 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Mali Uromastyx
2.5 Ball Pythons
1.1 Blue Dumpys Tree Frogs
1.0 Armadillo Lizard
1.0 Tokay Gecko
0.1 Marble Gecko
1.0 Fat-tailed Gecko
1.0 Lucy Leopard Gecko
0.1 Carrot Tail Leopard Gecko
0.1 Speckeled Hog-Nose
0.1 Garter Snake
1.1 Dogs
2.3 Cats

Step 1: Leave him alone. Put him back in his enclosure and leave him alone some more.

Step 2: Offer him food again a week from now. How old is the snake? Balls are able to take adult mice within a couple weeks of their first meal. Fuzzies really don't have much nutrition for a ball. The smallest my babies got were hoppers, and they outgrew those in two weeks. If the mouse is moving too much, you can try prekilling it or stunning it beforehand. Don't leave a live, adult mouse in with the snake for more than 15-20 minutes. Live prey left in too long can seriously injure your snake.

Step 3: Repeat until the snake has eaten at least three appropriate sized meals regularly.

Step 4: Begin handling occasionally! Go back to step 1 if the snake stops eating again.

Note - the snake should never be in a cage/tank/tub/whatever with another ball python unless you're trying to breed them. They're not social, and they don't do as well when forced to share space with another snake.

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

So now next week try feeding a live crawler...between a fuzzy and a hopper. For the next week try a small hopper. After that, you should be fine to go to a small adult mouse. After 5 or 6 feedings, he should be in the zone and switch to FT very easily....

how should i feed(method)box?cage?bag?
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Jeff Kearney Orlando Florida (407) 766 6066

0.1 CB Spouse
4.4.1 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Mali Uromastyx
2.5 Ball Pythons
1.1 Blue Dumpys Tree Frogs
1.0 Armadillo Lizard
1.0 Tokay Gecko
0.1 Marble Gecko
1.0 Fat-tailed Gecko
1.0 Lucy Leopard Gecko
0.1 Carrot Tail Leopard Gecko
0.1 Speckeled Hog-Nose
0.1 Garter Snake
1.1 Dogs
2.3 Cats

I resisted the urge to jump into the thread below. There is no reason to feed outside of the cage. The won't be more aggressive or mistake you for food. I've been working with these animals for 15 plus years...The whole "feed in a different enclosure" myth is perpetuated on the internet just like the "balls need high humidity" myth and all the other incorrect info out there....

and no, if the snake injests a little aspen bedding it won't hurt them a bit...

I agree with jp. I been keeping bps for about 7 years at first i feed them in my bathtub thinking enclosure feeding would make them more aggresive but the only bps that have ever tried to bite me fed in the tub when i went to return them to their enclosure. I didnt chime in on the lower post either because you will see the same post in a month or two. I find that they are alot more comfortable in their enclosure they come out grab it eat it and go back into their hides seems to me that this would cause far less stress. As long as you where not playing with rats or mice before you go to take your bp out for handleing you should be fine.
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B Sleeper

1.0 Chocolate Lab
0.1 ?? Normal Ball python (yet different)
1.0 04 Het Albino
1.1 06 Het Albino
1.1 06 Het Pied
1.0 06 Pastel
0.? 07 Pos Het Albino (Momma has not laid the eggs yet)

I think all of my Ball Pythons are just weird, haha. I can have rat smell all over me(my pet rats, around 25 of them, are across the room) and they could care less. I bring mice into the room though, you can see heads poking up everywhere and noses trying to press against the lip of the tub and the rack. I don't dare try to move any of those snakes, they'd eat my lunch. Even opening tubs on feeding day, you have to watch out with some of them, LOL.
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-Becky Brown, RVT-
1.0 Lemon Pastel Classic Jungle(NERD)
2.13 Normals
1.1 Spiders(BHB)
1.1 Yellowbellies(BHB)
1.0 100% Het Pied Classic Jungle(Don Kaye)
0.1 50% Poss. Het Pied(Gary Kettring)
0.1 Classic Jungle
1.0 66% Poss Het Ax Genetic Granite(VPI)
18 07 Hatchlings