Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a ball python who's a few months old. today i fed her a hopper; she took it and killed it, but didnt eat it. i know balls are hesitant to take food, but i havent heard of them just killing and not eating. i fed her in a box seperate from her tank. it seemed that she couldnt position herself to swallow head first, and after a while i guess she gave up. i put the box (with my snake and mouse) back inside her tank and left it alone. it's been about 5 hours and she just retreated back to her hide box. any suggestions?

I had a female that used to do the exact same thing she was wc,it was pretty frustrating also seeing as how she is the most vicious ball python i have EVER seen,just give it time she went from killing and not eating to eating 5 out of 10 now shes 10 for 10 just keep trying, try feeding at night drop it in close the lights and listen for a thud and a squeal and leave the room immediatly and DO NOT look until you wake up the next morning and u might say haey whered that lil mouse go thn proceed to look for a lump haha

thanks, whens the next time i should try to feed her, and should i freeze the mouse and save it? i gave it to her live (yeah i know thats bad.)

very bad idea to leave a live mouse alone with a snake unattended so make sure to listen! or your snake can end up very badly injured or even need to be euthanized
Link

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my addiction:
2 ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (maizy

I would rather make sure she is eating (if she doesn't eat, she has a 100% chance of dying of starvation) than fuss over her every 10 minutes to make sure the snake isn't being bitten (which is a slight risk).

You have months to get her eating, but you have years to switch her to safer prey or feeding methods.

Leaving it alone with live prey is always a very bad idea. You may call it a slight risk, but I am sure if one of your balls got killed or badly injured by the mouse/rat you would feel very different.

I know it is not the case with this posting but I really worry about newer owners actually taking that kind of advice. It is very irresponsible and I would hate to see people taking the idea as a good one. Most of us have seen the pictures on Pro Exotics on this but for those who have not: http://www.proexotics.com/FAQ2.html#38
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Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
1-1-0 Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet
0-1-0 Little Angelic Kitten - Isis
1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
0-1-0 Wife
2-0-0 Kids

Bryan, while I agree that newcomers in the hobby should start out feeding F/T or P/K as soon as possible, it is sometimes necessary to start with live, just to get them to feed at all, especially wild caught. And as far as the pic goes, that was negligence on the keepers part for leaving a mouse in over night in the first place. Obviously he learned from his mistake, but it NEVER should have happened to begin with. I have an adult pair of Balls, 13-14 years old, that take only live, and in that length of time neither of them has taken even a small bite from a prey item. Just dumb luck? Maybe.

Quig

yeah, I'd never leave my snake alone with live prey. I've heard many stories. I'm worried because my bp is still a baby, and cant go on as long without food as adults. I'd love to leave her alone with prey, but I can't if I'm feeding her live-- this will be her first feeding with me.

I understand that is not what you had done. I was refering to the comment above about leaving them in there live without supervision. I did not mean for it to come across that you were doing it wrong, I'm sorry it came out that way!
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Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
1-1-0 Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet
0-1-0 Little Angelic Kitten - Isis
1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
0-1-0 Wife
2-0-0 Kids

I don't think you read the post the mouse was killed - she just didn't eat it - no chance of it coming back to life and eating the snake. LOL
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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

It happens sometimes - I have some seasoned eaters that will constrict the prey and then fuse over it for a bit trying to get a good grasp on it but then give up on it. Sometimes it's hard for the little ones to find the head - you may want to help her out next time if she's having problems move the head to where she can easily find it. I had a hatchling a couple of weeks ago that couldn't find the head or the butt and ate the darn thing sidways by the time I realized how it was going down she had all four paws a nose and the tail sticking out of her mouth - poor thing.
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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

Tosha, I've got calabars that do the same thing, and their jaws don't stretch like a regular pythons do. It's comical sometimes, but they manage.

Quig