Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my ball python still hasnt eaten, i offered him a rat, it was white though so could that be the problem? i only offered him mice before, he doesnt seem to be losing any weight at all and temps are 90 on warm 82 on cool in the day and about 82 on warm 78 at night on the cool and 50-70 percent humidity. a petstore said that hes nocturnal so he wants food in the day (i only offered mice at night before) it seemed the exact opposite but i tried in the day and he didnt even unball to be handled just sat which is the first time hes done that so i will no longer disturb him in the day unless necessary...

but when i showed him the rat, live he showed no interest and didnt even unball and the rat just hid in a corner from him maybe next time ill try to dangle it? and maybe leave it in his cage after...but when i do so he doesnt even come out and roam like he usually is...could the reason for not eating be that it is still cool outside? maybe im worrying too much about him i found poop under one of his hides so is that a good sign?
any help is appreciated
Chuck

it maybe just that time of year where he doesn't want to eat for awhile. if you are going to leave a live rat in there keep a sharp eye & don't let it stay overnight. if he doesn't eat it in awhile take it out. I wouldn't dangle. I haven't had any good results with that. some balls tend to be kinda dumb when it comes to striking. So a dangling rat would be harder IMO for him to catch. also they are very head shy, so a tap on the head would piss off a boa & get a strike, but with a ball probably just scare him to death. if he's not losing any weight just have patience or try maybe scenting the rat. grab shavings from a gerbil cage & toss the rat in a container with it for awhile & see if that get's him going.

The petstore is wrong. Things that are nocturnal eat during the night since they are only out at night.

Rob Woods

if he has never eaten under your care leave him be (dont handle, or try to feed) for a week. After a week overnight change the substrate to newspaper (if it isn't already) and handle it for like 30 minutes, and during that time, take out everything but a hide on the warm side and a hide on the cool side. And place 1 FT/prekilled mouse (small ones) in each of the hides. Leave it overnight and see which one it eats. That is how i got mine to eat prekilled, worked the first time.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 normal ball python (felix)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)