Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys i have two ball pythons i wanna say that are anywhere from 5-8 months old.....one eats well most of the time and the other doesnt even notice food i have to i know its not a good thing but i have to force feed him and even when the food gets into his or her mouth it will most likly spit it out.......so is there any way i can work on this so he or she will strike its food.....my other one stikes and constricts most times but this one does not do any of that.......i am just worried i will lose the lil guy or gal please all advice is aprecitaed
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2.0 blue tick beagels
1.1 wtfs
0.0.2 ball pythons
0.1.0 amel cornsnake

Are the two housed together? Is so, the one may be shy or intimidated. Remember a snake is most vulnerable when it is eating.

Also try feeding it at different times of the day/night.

Have you tried leaving a frozen thawed item in the cage overnight? Some ball pythons are pretty shy. The little guy will eat, you just need to figure out how he/she wants the food presented. I would try the frozen thawed mouse or rat pup. Thaw it in warm water then place it in the cage when the lights go out and don't check on it until morning. Give the snake time to do it on his/her own. A fresh killed food item offered the same way may also work. There's no need to have the snake strike at the food. Trying to force your ball python it to strike at its food will usually make the python more reluctant to eat. Does the snake have a hide box? Good luck.

Casey Lazik Reptiles

they are both housed sepretly......two hides temps 80/90 i feed in different enclosoures ive tryed leaving mice over night it shows no interest ive cut them open so he/she could smeel it better tryed live nothing im not new to snakes but im new to bps so i know i made the mistake of getting it from a petstore but they were a gift for my birthday....persoinaly i wish my girlfriend got them freom a breeder but im happy with them so i cant complain.....i just dont want to lose the poor thing or stress it out by force feeding it
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2.0 blue tick beagels
1.1 wtfs
0.0.2 ball pythons
0.1.0 amel cornsnake

Do you just throw the mice in? My snake won't eat unless the rat is right in front of her... so I hold them with tweezers when she eats... have you tried rats? Rats and mice smell differently, so it may prefer rats... Also, how long have you had the snake? if it hasn't been too long, it could be stressed out by the new environment...Force feeding it may prevent it from wanting to eat on its own and also just stressing it out.

Good luck!

rats seem too big im feeding them fuzzies and ive had them since may i hold tweezzers in from of it and nothing i place it in front of him nothing im telling you it wont eat unless i help it do it he went a month with out eatting at the pet store and 2 weeks with me so i started helping it out....its going into shed this week so i wont be feeding it becasue today is feeding day but my other two snakes wil be feed today......im just worried about this one because i dont want to keep feeding it this way
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2.0 blue tick beagels
1.1 wtfs
0.0.2 ball pythons
0.1.0 amel cornsnake

also its never been near a rat or smelt a rat so i dont think it would perfur it if its only had mice
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2.0 blue tick beagels
1.1 wtfs
0.0.2 ball pythons
0.1.0 amel cornsnake

Maybe it just does not like mice. Offer it a smaller than usual rat, Something that can't hurt the snake. Leave it alone for maybe 30 minutes and see how it reacts.

I have one BP that's a real finicky eater while her sister eats anything I put in front of her.

Good luck

first off a month and a half is nothing. iv got some that go off feed for 6-8 months at a time. iv had quite a few that when i got them in they didnt eat for a month or so. so by attempting to force it, youre probably making it worse / take longer. just let him chill on his own, dont take him out, dont offer him food for a week or two and go from there.
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