picky snakes

[TheZoo]

so both of my ball's are picky little monsters where as my other snakes are garbage desposals but my little one scars me Ive tried senting, braining, hot, room tem, in tank in feed box ect I even tried starving her out (well she wasnt eating anyways I just stoped trying for like 3 weeks) but so I think I founf her prefrence. Its white adult mice f/t Ive tried using fuzzy/hopper rats that are white but she wont budge and Im not sure what to do! then the adult will only eat weaned/small rats color dosnt matter hes also a on agian off agian feeder but its like really both of you wont eat the size I need or want you to and on top of it they only eat one at a time so i cant just fill them up. so what should I do?

[MizCandice]

3 weeks is nothing really.. I think if you get them good and hungry ( and they feel secure enough ) they will eat for you.. I had a baby ball that was ridiculous, was told she only eats live.. get her home she ate once then went off feed like 6 weeks.. Id offer 1x every 5-7 days and nothing.. tried all kinda things.. then one day.. she was hungry enough, she DEVOURED her meal.. she has been a great eater ever since even taking F/T without the zombie dance :D. Just stick to it, she will come around for you!

[bigsnakegirl785]

I agree. Patience and persistence will eventually win her over.

I've been struggling with my ball python only eating once a month for a year, year and a half, and then I tried switching from live to f/t as well. I tried the zombie dance, leaving it in the enclosure at room temp and with a heated head. I tried scenting with mice and letting him get hungry. For the longest time, he would only eat on the same exact date every month. 10th of Aug, 10th of Sept, 10th of Oct, etc. It was really weird. I eventually decided to super heat the head and stick the rat as close as I could to him inside his hide. I put water on the stove until it comes to a boil, and I stick the rat's head in the water for 10-15 seconds. Then, put it in the enclosure in front of the entrance to the hide he's in at the time, and he takes it within seconds. He'll completely ignore it if I put it anywhere else. Strange thing. I tried just heating it with hot tap water (which runs at 109-110F) and he just wouldn't take it. Super-heating it with boiling water does the trick, though. The "zombie dance" just freaked him out and he'd just fear-strike it. The past several feedings I got him down to bi-weekly feedings and his last rat was only a week after the other one; the quickest in a long time.

So, just keep tweaking little things and trying out different methods to see what he prefers. Some just seem to be really particular in their eating habits.

[Aaron_S]

How are you keeping them?

If they are in "tanks" as you mentioned it could definitely be the issue as a whole.

[TheZoo]

modified tanks to hold humidity temps and humidy are good plenty of hides its just shes so little and she was loosing weight I couldnt just not feed her to see if I could get her to take a rat. shee had been off feed for over 3 months but i tried every week till the last 3.

[drumcrush]

My dads ball is pretty picky. Only wants live, nothing else

[TheZoo]

yeah im glad out of anything she isnt a live feeding snake

[Aaron_S]

modified tanks to hold humidity temps and humidy are good plenty of hides its just shes so little and she was loosing weight I couldnt just not feed her to see if I could get her to take a rat. shee had been off feed for over 3 months but i tried every week till the last 3.

What I am getting at is there's a husbandry issue somewhere that isn't suiting this snake to be so picky.

[Hurrok]

How old is this snake? It's pretty common this time of year for young adults-adults to go off feed during breeding season. A few of my females have stopped eating for over a month. One of my females last year went off food for 6 months, tried everything and even moved her to a smaller bin. New Year's Day she randomly decided to eat! Don't stress over it too much, just keep an eye and make sure they aren't losing a lot of weight.