Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First a little background on these guys. Late July, a friend told me that her coworker's husband has a ball python that had laid 5 eggs. The wife was pregnant and said that the eggs had to go. It didn't really matter where they went, as long as they weren't in the house. The eggs were a complete surprise. She hadn't been out of the house in two years, and that had been a trip to the vet. In fact, they thought they had a male until they looked in her cage one day and saw her coiled around five eggs. When they examined the eggs, three of the five were fertile.

They were having a lot of trouble finding anyone interested in the eggs, so I agreed to take them. When I got the eggs, only two still looked ok. They were in with the mother and hadn't been kept very warm, so I had my doubts about the remaining two. I built an incubator out of a 10 gal fish tank. Well, on August 29, I saw the first little one poke his head out of the egg! He was out of the egg within 24 hrs, and when I removed him from the incubator, I could see baby #2 poking his head out.

Both hatchlings looked great. Actually, I think they're the best looking ball pythons, but I might be a little bias. They're curious and active. Both shed normally a a few weeks after they hatched. Shortly after, I started offering them food. I tried everything to get them to eat. I tried live, I tried dead. I tried hoppers, fuzzies, and pinkies. I tried rats, I tried mice. Two weeks ago, the first snake to hatch (Sammy) ate a live hopper mouse. He has since eaten two more hopper mice (supervised, of course with the live mouse). He eats the mouse as soon as he sees it.

Baby number two, Asani, is a challenge. I cannot get him to accept any food. He's still active. He prowls around the cage in the evening. He spends a good portion of the day in his hide box. The temerature on the hot side of the cage is around 90 degrees. I've seen him drink from the water bowl. It's just that he shows no interest in food. When is it time to consider assist feeding? How should I go about that? Is there anything else I can try? I'm at a loss, and I'm concerned about letting him go much longer without eating.
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0.0.2 Ball Pythons (Sammy and Asani)
1.1 Budgies (Seamus and Nicky)
1.0 Beagle (Henry)

Here's another trick to try. For really stubborn hatclhings, and, before you resort to assist feeding, try placing a couple of live, fuzzy mice (not rats, mice) into a shallow dish (like a terra pot saucer you can get at garden supply stores) that has the bedding of the mice in that same dish. Oftentimes, the strong odor alone will evoke a feeding response. You can sometimes get an even stronger response by using fuzzy gerbils but that is not always possible to find. Just place the dish near the snake's hide area so that it feels secure enough to take a look w/out exposing itself too much. DO THIS IN THE EVENING. You may have to try a few times but I would go this route before resorting to assist feeding. If you do feel that assist feeding is your only alternative, use a VERY SMALL prey item at first to allow the meal to easily get down to the stomach.

Hope this helps, Rob Carmichael, Curator of the Wildlife Discovery Center

>>First a little background on these guys. Late July, a friend told me that her coworker's husband has a ball python that had laid 5 eggs. The wife was pregnant and said that the eggs had to go. It didn't really matter where they went, as long as they weren't in the house. The eggs were a complete surprise. She hadn't been out of the house in two years, and that had been a trip to the vet. In fact, they thought they had a male until they looked in her cage one day and saw her coiled around five eggs. When they examined the eggs, three of the five were fertile.
>>
>>They were having a lot of trouble finding anyone interested in the eggs, so I agreed to take them. When I got the eggs, only two still looked ok. They were in with the mother and hadn't been kept very warm, so I had my doubts about the remaining two. I built an incubator out of a 10 gal fish tank. Well, on August 29, I saw the first little one poke his head out of the egg! He was out of the egg within 24 hrs, and when I removed him from the incubator, I could see baby #2 poking his head out.
>>
>>Both hatchlings looked great. Actually, I think they're the best looking ball pythons, but I might be a little bias. They're curious and active. Both shed normally a a few weeks after they hatched. Shortly after, I started offering them food. I tried everything to get them to eat. I tried live, I tried dead. I tried hoppers, fuzzies, and pinkies. I tried rats, I tried mice. Two weeks ago, the first snake to hatch (Sammy) ate a live hopper mouse. He has since eaten two more hopper mice (supervised, of course with the live mouse). He eats the mouse as soon as he sees it.
>>
>>Baby number two, Asani, is a challenge. I cannot get him to accept any food. He's still active. He prowls around the cage in the evening. He spends a good portion of the day in his hide box. The temerature on the hot side of the cage is around 90 degrees. I've seen him drink from the water bowl. It's just that he shows no interest in food. When is it time to consider assist feeding? How should I go about that? Is there anything else I can try? I'm at a loss, and I'm concerned about letting him go much longer without eating.
>>-----
>>0.0.2 Ball Pythons (Sammy and Asani)
>>1.1 Budgies (Seamus and Nicky)
>>1.0 Beagle (Henry)
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

but otherwise good advice. Also you can leave a pinkie in overnight, gives him some time to figure out that it's food. Best Wishes-
NorthernRegius