Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright I just got 20 baby ball pythons yesterday and none of them will eat. I tried feeding them thawed out hopper mice bought from the pet store... They don't sell live fuzzies or hoppers only larger mice so I have to feed frozen. Anyway some of the snakes have loose skin and you can see their spine or w.e, what should I do? I been searching google for awhile and I can't find anything.

If you couldn't get live food, you shouldn't have gotten them.
Check a local herp society and see if there are any rodent breeders there that have live hoppers.
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J&J REPTILES
www.jnjreptiles.com
sales@jnjreptiles.com
(207)479-6658

My suggestion would be stop buying imported animals.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

You probably need to give them some time to settle in -- however you are also faced with the fact that they are emaciated and now you got to deal with that.

Did you remember to set each animal up in an individual tub?

Did you remember to heat up the hopper before presenting it to the snake - a good heat signature will do wonders when feeding f.t.

Did you remember to wiggle said feeder -- try a variety of movements.

Did you try leaving the feeder in over night right outside their hide?

See if you can find a rodent breeder in your area -- hopper mice and rat fuzzies are plentiful this time of year - rat fuzzies can be left in over night and won't harm the snake.

And last but not least -- you can try assist feeding them the hoppers by gently working them into the mouth and hooking them on the teeth -- in most cases this is enough for the feeding instinct to kick in -- but should be used as a last resort. You might have to do this a feeding or two before they will start feeding on their own.

Good luck.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

They need some water, more than just a drink. Soak them in shallow warm water.
Mike

You probably have some old CH that have not been taken care of properly since they hatched. Most important thing to do right now is to soak them in warm shallow water for a couple hours. You will probably not have much luck getting them to eat FT for their first meal. They should be able to take a small live adult mouse. Do you have individual cages for all of these?
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John Vandegrift

Dude, we tried to caution you to learn about these animals before buying any. Now, you've gone out and bought 20. How are you housing them? How are you heating them? You really should have started out with just 1 or 2. Can I ask how old you are? Not trying to pick on you, but from you posts I assume you are younger. Tell us how you have them set up, and we can give you some advice. Like the others have said, a good soak wont hurt. It will also let you know if you have a mite problem. I'd make sure they are housed individually (each by themselves), with a small tight hide. Wait a week or so before feeding.

Again, not trying to pick on you, but if you don't have the means to set them up individually, you need to find someone who can to take them off your hands. I imagine you have them in a big tank together (sorry if I'm wrong). If so, they simply will not eat...

hope and pray my friend.........hope and pray!

Pitoon

If you just got them yesterday, I am not surprised they didn't eat. A good soak won't hurt, after that, leave them in their cage for a week, then offer food again. Once settled in they should eat.
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PHLdyPayne