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Feeding

C

Claw

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Hey everyone. I have a Ball Python around 3 months old and everything seems really good and he's very active and healthy. My problem is that he won't eat on his own, I have to force feed which is getting harder every time. I use frozen mice. Any suggestions? Should I try live mice? Any help will be very appreciated.
 
At that age a ball python should be voracious. What kind of a setup is he in? How is it heated? How are you regulating the heat (thermostat, rheostat/dimmer, etc)? What kind of thermometers are you using to measure temperature? What is the humidity in the enclosure?

Did you buy it from a private breeder, an exotic-specialty pet store, or a big box pet store? Was it on live or frozen/thaw before you bought it?
 
Hi bcr229, I'm trying answer this as best as I can because I'm answering for Claw he's my brother and asked me to keep an eye on his post for him while he's gone. I really don't know set up but I do know the cage is heated by an under the tank heating mat and the snake is very very active and healthy. He was bought at Pet Smart I think. I do know that once the mouse is in his mouth and he settles down he'll eat every time, he just won't go after it himself. He was feed frozen before he was bought, a friend of my brother works at the store he bought him from. I hope that helps some.
 
Ok first you need to find out if the heat pad is regulated by a thermostat so it doesn't overheat and burn the snake to death or into an expensive vet bill (yes this is a thing). Since this is a PetSmart purchase I suspect that's the case.
 
Cage temp is around 75-80, humidity around 55. The heating mat is only 4in. by 8 in. and just warms about one quarter of the cage bottom. The snake was looked at by a local breeder who deemed him very healthy and saw no reason why he's not going after the food himself. I have had 5 other Ball Pythons and raised them exactly the same way I'm doing this one without any problems at all. I sold all the others once they reached a year old and to this day they are all doing great. This is the first time I had this problem. Should I try feeding him live? My son has one that also wouldn't eat on thawed mice on it's own but it will eat live. Before I tried that I wanted to get another opinion.
 
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