Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi I am new to Ball Pythons and bought a trio of babies.
My question is They all shed and I am trying to get them to eat.
The first one shed and I offered a frozen thawed fuzzy and she struck and ate it immediately. She is on her 4th feding and never refuses food at all.
The second refused the frozen thawed and ate a live fuzzy at the first feed but is refusing frozen thawed. Can I switch him or should I continue with live. I would like him to eat frozen thawed eventually. Should I hold out and try a couple of times more or opt for live now.
The third ate live on the first couple of feeds but now refuses all food live or frozen thawed. I even use my poor pet gerbil to scent the mice but nothing (no I don't want to use my poor gerbil as food so don't go there)
Are there other things I could do to get him to eat something? Also he looks like he will shed soon. The second shed.
Any information would be appreciated.

if they are not inclined to eat frozen I wouldn't concern myself with making in happen right away. Most of the time you can get em to switch over. Now if you just got them home then that might be an issue...have you had them for a week or so? they need a week or two to get use to their ned surroundings...this can cause them not to eat, if they are housed together this can also be stressful especially if there is not enough hide spots for all. Check your temps & make sure you have proper humidity & the hot spot is where it should be. tricks to feeding you can try taking a frozen or fresh killed & put the snake in a bag with it over night (make sure it's in the cage or cant get loose & run away) try feeding at night or turn the lights off...is the snake in an area where other pets & people walk by all the time?? if so try puttin newspaper or something to cover it so it feels more secure. you can also split the frozen's head or cute the nose off sometimes a lil blood & a stronger smell might do it. you can try holding it on forceps & bring it near it's face & try a swift said movement. you can also try leaving it in front of the hole to the hidespot. also what are you trying? if a pinky mouse doesn't work try a small mouse..if that doesn't work try a rat fuzzy also this question comes in here almost daily..lol so don't get discouraged if you dont receive too many posts...people get tired of repeating themselves..lol so if you back track on this forum I am sure you will find more advice at least once on every page...have a good one if you need anything else post or feel free to email me directly...welcome to the wonderful world of ball pythons!

actually the one that is feeding I have for a couple of weeks now and the other two are with me less than a week. The guy that sold them to me told me he had them all together and they would be ok that way while they are babies. I will try adding more hide spots for them. I will try the paper bag also. I already tried holding the mouse with forceps. Maybe they will eat better after a couple of weeks. Also where can I find a good care sheet?

I've raised about a dozen or so BPs - not very many to folks here, but still enough to draw some conclusions. Here are some things I've noticed:

1. Thawed prey should be warm like a live rodent would be.
2. Try tease-feeding, but if the python shys away, leave the prey item in the cage.
3. They like to be left alone while feeding. They like to be in the dark. Some don't care, but I think all appreciate it.
4. Most important, BPs are incredibly tough snakes even if they are not always reliable feeders. All of mine grew up to be robust healthy adults even though along the way it could be frustrating because of their on/off eating.

The first one I got is such a voracious feeder that she eats anything at any time. I will have to take her out while feeding the others. I tried leaving the mouse at the door of the hide box and after eating a small mouse she snatched that away and swallowed it too. I didn't think she would eat two like that. I hope she does not regurgitate. Also she is no bigger than they are maybe a bit fatter but not bigger. I do heat up the mouse and offer it warm. I feed my corn snakes like that too.

eating again.
How often do I feed her?

This is her face.

np

nice pics,
yea as far as feeding more than one snake in a single enclosure is a really bad idea...they could fight over the meal & hurt each other. as far as living together I feel that most balls & snakes in general are solitary animals. I have kept balls togethr but that's either to breed or say if i got one & need to house it with another for a few days until I build or buy a new enclosure for it. just never keep to males together. they can fight & hurt each other. after awhile working with em I'm sure you can get em to eat, just be patient because they can be quite stubborn..lol