Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I got my first ball python from Tinley Park Reptile show a week and a half ago. My bf also got a ball python and she is eating like a pig. Mine, however, has been refusing food from the start.
I made sure to leave her alone when she was introduced to her new enclosure so i wouldn't stress her out. But i would think that she would be less stressed by now. She comes out frequently to explore and bathes in her "luxury pool." It doesn't look like she's going into shed, but it might be too soon to tell. It appears that she's starting to lose weight, which is my main concern. I've tried warming up the frozen mice and feeding by hand, i've tried putting her in a dark place with the dead mouse, i've also tried feeding her at night. She just shows no interest at all.
We were assured by the breeder we purchased her from that she ate well on freshly killed fuzzies. Do I need to try that route instead? How much time should pass before I need to be VERY concerned for her well-being?

Please help!

If you are very concerned about her weight loss, pick up a digital kitchen scale at Walmart or Target. They cost about $10-20. They are good to have around as long as you have small pets anyways.

How big is her enclosure? A baby ball python is happiest in a 10 gallon, maybe a 20 gallon with LOTS of hides. If the tank is bigger than this then you will either need to move her down a size or start adding clutter to her cage. Hides, fake plants, sticks, etc. This will help her feel more secure and make her feel comfortable enough to eat.

If it was eating prekilled, then prekilled is what you should try. I highly doubt it was (or should be) eating fuzzies. Even newborn ball pythons feed best on weanling or small adult mice. I would try these sizes prekilled first. If she still refuses to eat, then go with live. The movement and heat from the live animal will more reliably illicit a feeding response. For future reference a snake should be fed a food item that is as big around as the widest part of the snake's body about once a week. A juvenile BP can probably eat this size prey every 5 days, but use your best judgment.
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Lincoln, NE
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I agree totally, I would try a medium hopper mouse and see what happens. If it eats it then you can keep it from losing weight until you figure out how to covert it to frozen thawed.
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When was the Tinley shows ?

From the 09 babies I got this summer. Some took over a month before started eating. I kept giving them rats pups every week and some were resilient.

The ones who didn't eat were fed on live mice/rats. I also purchased others from the same breeders, and I was able to switch them to FT rats.

After a month, I fed them one time a little fuzzy, that I put in a hide (paper roll) in the night. One ate, the other not. The next week, I decided to offer a FT hopper mice the next week and they both took it.

I think you should be patient. Some take longer to settle in. If the meal is too small or too big, they might refuse it. A fuzzy (even a hopper mouse) is a bit small for a young ball python.
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