Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a captive bred and hatched yearling ball python, i just bought on saturday, the last time the snake ate was saturday july 30, they tried again on friday august 5, but the snake refused, i figured it was a little to soon, and the snakes looks kind of hazy, like it is fixing to shed, they said the snake had not shed yet, it shed in the beginning part of july. before i brought the snake home i set the enclosure up, so the uth could adjust and to make sure everything looked ok.
so far i havent bothered the snake, just looked in on him but other i have not done anything to stress him out.
this morning i went to another petshop, who has a pretty bad rap with herps, that my reason for not believing them. the girl was talking telling me they were getting a few ball pythons in later this week, she knew i was looking for one.i told her i already found a yearling and bought it and have it at home.
she told me they are very hard to get to eat, and if i have a problem getting the snake to eat to bring it in to them to force feed it, they are experinced in force feeding, they killed about 3 snakes learning. here is my opinion on the whole subject, right now i think it is to soon for me to worry about the snake eating, hes only been here for 3 days, i know he needs time.... secondly i would think to start a snake off force feeding would stress it out ?? she also claimed to me that a yearling ball python could not live past a month with out eating, i dont believe that either i was under the impression a snake could go well over a month without eating.....
i hate going in to that shop they give bad advice in my opinion, but they are the only shop in town that carries the brand of ferret food i feed, and they also sell sugar glider supplies, other wise i wouldnt go in there.

Uhh... a hatchling CORNSNAKE can go more than a month without eating. A yearling ball python? Many many months. As long as the snake isn't skin and bones, you've got plenty of time to let it settle in, get adjusted, and then try to figure out what to offer it to get it feeding. Since it's in the blue, I wouldn't worry much about it not having fed at last feeding. He'll probably eat once he sheds. If the snake does refuse to eat and gets to the skin and bones point, take it to a reptile vet. Avoid the petstore and ignore any reptile advice they give you.

Incidentally, 'killing 3 snakes' to figure out how to forcefeed is utterly ridiculous. I can see why the store has such a bad rep with herps.

-Kat
-----
"You keep WHAT in your freezer?"
"Mice. And rats. If that bothers you, I can call them 'cows' instead."

i know after she told me that i was like oh i see why you all do badly at selling herps.
also they have had chams and igs in there that had mbd because they werent using proper lighting and providing calcium "its to expensive" then if thats the case dont sell those animals with those requirements........

i myself have a yearling royal python. and she is one of the most stubborn and finiky feeders i have ever come across! when she was a hatching i had to forcefeed her..she was just too lazy to get hold of the mouse herself, once id got the mouse in her mouth and pushed down about 1cm, she would carry on herself after that, she was just too lazy!
it took her a good dozen feeds before she decided to start taking food herself. problem is she still now decided that she doesnt want to eat, but ive gotten to he point where i Refuse to start her off and just let her decided to eat when she decided she is hungry, she is just on 13 months old now, and hasnt eaten for 7 weeks, im not worried, when she was 6 months old she went for 3 months without touching a thing. otherwise apart from her laziness she is fine, she is in good weight nd general health.

the thing with royals is that they are really awkward to get to start feeding regulary, but once they are they are really nice snakes. the key to royals i have found with my older specimens is to only feed them every 2 weeks. the reasoning behind this....royal are gorge feeders. in the wilds they will stuff themselves with as much food as they can within a 3/4 week period, and then not eat for a good 2/3 months. (similar to us at xmas...eat heavy xmas eve, day and boxing day, and then only eating light for the next week) so, if you feed them often and regulary in captivity you are replicating this cycle and hence they will go off their food every so often and cause you endless worry. so i find that feeding a correct sized food item every two weeks instead of every week works wonders, basically because the snake is not getting the chance to feel "Stuffed" so there for should feed alot more regulary causing you less worry and stress!

i myself work in a petshop, and we always tell people that are purchasing hatchling royals, that they may not eat for a good 2 or 3 weeks after being taken home due to the being upset with changes in routing (i.e. moving homes) so i definatly would not be worrying if i were you after only three days. i think the people you were speaking to were over reacting myself. but these are only my opinions

Balls are notoriously picky feeders and it is not uncommon for them to go months without eatting. Yes, it stresses the owner out, but frankly the snake seems none the worse for it. I have a rescued male that I've owned for about eleven or twelve years who will regularly go on fasts that last six months. He never drops weight and will resume feeding when he's ready.

For yearling or younger snakes, I typically offer an appropriately sized prey item (a rodent one and a half times the girth of the snake at its widest point) every two weeks. Once the snake reaches two years of age, I typically move the feedings out to once every three weeks (this is for my boas and pythons, the corns are fed weekly as youngsters and every two weeks as adults). My snakes are leaner and more muscular than many you see as pets, and for those of them that I've bred, I've had a good success rate of healthy babies with few or no slugs/stillborns/etc.

If he or she continues to not eat and begins to lose weight, I second the recommendation for a visit to a good herp vet. For the most part, in my experience at least, given two or sometimes three weeks to settle in and then offering prey usually works. Best of luck with your new snake...they really do make great pets.

Raven