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Great...now he's not eating!

W

Widabeck

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If it's not one thing, it's your Mother. - Freud

OK...We are 2 days post shed and he won't eat! I put him in his tub to eat and he took about 30 seconds to grab his fuzzy. he had it in his mouth and he put it down and now is ignoring it. It's been over 3 weeks since he ate last.

When I got him a month ago, I got him on a Tuesday, and fed him the first time that Saturday and he ate quickly without hesitation. I thought snakes his size are supposed to eat about every week.
 
What are you feeding? Live? FT? If you tried FT and it was refused, try live if youre worried. Also, you can offer small adult mice to young ball pythons. So you can try an FT small mouse ( bigger than a fuzzy) if you dont want to try live yet.
 
I'm feeding FT. I've read really negative things about feeding live. Mostly possible injury to my snake or possible aggression. Can I ask how feeding him a bigger mouse would help when he's not eating the little one?

He keeps putting his head on it and hovering over it and then going away.
 
What's the feeding ambiance like? Are you hovering over him? If he's grabbing and then dropping/not eating, he could be stressed.

I'd close up his enclosure, turn out the lights, and walk away for a couple hours as soon as he takes prey. Some just take a while to finally get around to eating. They prefer to do victory laps and then come back to eat after a bit.
 
from what i know feeding live does not take make you snake more mean. plus a mouse or small rat cant really do alot of harm to your snake. if your worried about that just feed them live at first and when they get on a good schedule then you can start feeding FT
 
Because some snakes prefer specific prey. in four days of not fussing with the animal, try again. Leave the enclosure and animal 100% alone except to refill water/take out excrement. Do not handle the snake at all.

Leave the f/t prey in with the snake completely alone after four days and check if the snake ate early the next morning. If not, remove and in another four days of being entirely alone try a small live fuzzy mouse. ( not a pinky)

Make sure your temperatures are spot on for your gradient (85-88 hot side 78-80 cool end) and that your humidity is also right. Your snake needs to feel secure so make sure you have a hide or two in there as well.
 
I only feed every five days or a week. Don't hover, if he strikes, secure the enclosure and leave the room for at least fifteen minutes. He may need some time to figure out where the head is and if you keep moving, he'll get distracted, if not stressed. Ball Pythons aren't always good stage performers, especially when it comes to eating! :D Imagine a GIANT snake (like godzilla sized) watching you while you eat through an open window. I love snakes and I'd still be wigged out.
 
By the way, don't stress too much yourself - they can go a surprisingly long time between meals without coming to any harm. So relax a little while you take some of this very good advice you're being given.....
 
Everyone is giving you great advice so far. Are you moving him to a separate enclosure to feed? If you are that may be part of the problem.
 
Here is what/how I feed
F/T Fuzzy. Thaw in warm water first (101 degrees, close to mouse body temp). I put him in a separate enclosure. I always feed after "lights out" when he normally comes out. We leave him alone however I can see him from acrossed the room. I do handle him every few days to get him used to me. The first time I fed him was a few days after getting him. There was zero hesitation in eating. According to the feeding schedule I got he ate the previous week. I have done everything exactly the same every week after that (almost 4 weeks) and he hovers over the food and slides over it but won't eat it. 2x now I have put him back in his enclosure with the fuzzy overnight and threw it out in the AM.

Why I feed that way
I did a lot of research before purchasing him to make sure I was doing everything the best I could for him. Everything I read, said that feeding live can cause your snake to learn the "striking" behavior and strike when he thinks something like my hand is food. Everything I read said to feed in separate enclosures so they don't even think your hand going in the enclosure is food and they know their food enclosure means they eat. Everything I read said that feeding live can injure your snake because live food can fight back. I'm sure a fuzzy isn't going to cause any damage but I don't want to get him used to eating live food and then end up feeding large mice or small rats that can really fight back and bite or claw.

I will be the first to admit that reading everything I can still makes me a novice owner. And all I can do is try to learn as much as I can from as many sources. I don't know if I'm getting worried for nothing but for a snake that should be eating once a week, skipping 4 meals seems like a lot and I don't want him to starve himself because I'm doing something wrong.
 
The idea that feeding in their enclosure will make them aggressive is really a myth. I feed live to a pretty decent sized collection, and I feed in their enclosures, and I haven't had an issue. Whether you feed live or F/T is personal preference more than anything. It is possible to feed live safely if he won't take F/T, but if he will and that is what works for you there is nothing wrong with that either. However, I would strongly suggest feeding him in his enclosure.
 
FireStorm said:
The idea that feeding in their enclosure will make them aggressive is really a myth. I feed live to a pretty decent sized collection, and I feed in their enclosures, and I haven't had an issue. Whether you feed live or F/T is personal preference more than anything. It is possible to feed live safely if he won't take F/T, but if he will and that is what works for you there is nothing wrong with that either. However, I would strongly suggest feeding him in his enclosure.
Click to expand...

:iagree: All of my BP's eat in their enclosures and all eat live. I have never had an issue with any of them being aggressive. The only thing I would add is that if you do feed live you just need to keep a closer eye on them. But if you can see the enclosure from across the room like you said that's fine.
 
Depending on the size, i wouldnt worry too much after a couple of weeks. Hatch lings when started sometimes wait for 2 months. Ive had a adult female go a year and 4 months... lay a clutch of eggs, then go back on feed lol. But the smaller the snake the less time really. I wouldn't call feeding live safe tho, snakes can and do get hurt when feeding live. I dont do either and pre kill because its easier for me to not have to wait a long time to feed. Tho i do have a couple that i feed ft from time to time. They get the ones i kill and the bp doesnt eat i just put it in a ziplock for next time. I also have been known to feed live but its on rare occasions.
 
Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate any I can get. I think I'll give him a few days and try again, in his enclosure. If he doesn't eat that, I'll give it a few days and then try live. He's also far less active than he was the first couple weeks I had him.
 
Ball pythons typically aren't a very active snake. They're actually quite boring if you're looking at them as a display animal.

Relax, you're doing just fine with him. He's lucky to have an owner who cares so much about his happiness.
 
Just don't be inpatient, patience is the key. Give him at least 5 days btw trys. don't worry he won't starve to death. If you haven't changed anything about his habitat and he was eating before don't worry.
 
and the very last thing you want to do is feed him out of his enclosure. This is just dumb. The snake will have major added stress in handling, be in an unfamiliar environment and then you still have to pick him up and put hnm back into his familiar/safe surroundings. Just don't do it.
 
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