Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have seen this topic over and over and over again,but I am going to ask again.How do I get my baby Ball to eat? I've had it since late april or early may and it has only ate once,around the 2nd week I had it.The snake is around 15 inches long.It hasn't lost any weight yet so that is good.It does drink alot though.I did have a heating problem where my ball wouldn't go on the hot side.I have now fixed that.The hot side is 90-92 degrees and the cold side is around 78-80 degrees.And it is in a 20 long.I also took it to a guy that knows alot about ball pythons and has over 40 of them,and he said it was a very healthy snake.Anyway,I use frozen mice if that helps.Anyway I have tried every method I have seen for feeding.I have tried a seperate container,paper bag,in front of the hide,inside a paper towel roll,placed numerous places throughout the tank,I just can't get it to eat.It does play with it from time to time.I have tried pinkies which dosent even intrest the snake,fuzzies which is the only thing it has ate,and adult mice.I have tried feeding it at all times of the day and night,lights on and off.It just will not eat.What else can I do?

Are you warming the mouse up to about 98 degrees? Have you tried feeding live - you may need to until you are sure hes got a good feeding response then switch to f/t. Are you sure you are not stressing him too much? Does he have a comfortable set up? The good news is that he's not loosing weight - just keep trying to feed him once a week and leave him be until you've got him on a good feeding schedule. Sometimes it just takes them a while to get going. Hope this helps.
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Tosha

"One of these days i am going to wake up..look around...and realize my place looks more like "Ace Venturas"s than my own." Coldthumb

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope John Paul "JP"
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer
0.0.1 lizard rescued from vicious feline

Here's what worked for me. I finally found a place I could buy live hoppers. Bought one, put it in the tank with him when he was active at night, then balled up pieces of newspaper and put them all over the tank (enough to cover the bottom of the enclosure) and walked away. 1/2 hour later came back, saw Kashmire was inside his warm side hide. I didn't see the hopper, so took the newspaper out and even un-crumbled it to make sure that it hadn't burrowed into a ball of paper. No hopper to be found...which means Kashmire fed on it (after not feeding for me since I got him).

I was amazed that this "trick" recommended to me by a breeder worked. It gave Kashmire the sense of security and privacy that he needed to feed.

Robin

Use a small hidebox in your setup and try feeding it a live hopper.

Good Luck
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Adrian
AFR

live
brown or black
nightime
hopper or bigger whatever it can take

some hard to get to eat balls need bigger not smaller food item

....

better than rat uzz
gerbil hopper
hamster hop
deer mouse
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................aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhOK

I read that BP like eat gerbils and hamsters in the wild.I was wondering if I was to scent the thawed mouse by rubbing it on a hamster if maybe the snake would think it was a small hamster and eat it?

Well the snake died.The thing just refused to eat.Thanks to everyone who replied.