Banana ball not eating, not shedding

[sophiedufort]

As some of you may know from previous posts, I bought a banana ball python, male maker, a few weeks ago. He was born on April 20th, and it arrived here on March 12th or 13th, so he was only three weeks old. He has his separate enclosure, and proper heat and humidity. He is active and seems healthy, clearly not stressed, but does not want to eat. I tried with both thawed and live mice and rat fuzzies, no luck. He ignores them. I tried to feed him in his enclosure, in a feeding tub, nothing happens. I wrote to the breeder and asked how many times was the snake fed before being dispatched (I didn't believe it would have been more than once, anyway). I also asked if he shed. I received an evasive answer: "Here we feed them rat fuzzies. Have you tried that?" Yes I did. But where's the answer to my questions?
Ten-twelve days ago (approx) I took the baby snake to the reptile store. They force-fed him, and said that he looked like he never ate before. He slept for almost 24 hours after that, and was much calmer for a while, clearly content with a fully stomach. Now he's very active again, and I believe he's hungry, but he doesn't seem to know how to deal with it.
Besides, he's been with us for almost a month, and no sign of upcoming shedding. His belly skin feels dry and rough, with scales feeling as if they're poking out. Humidity is good though, so I just don't understand what is going on.
Another weird thing about him, he doesn't like hides. I placed two hides for him, sized so that he would feel comfy and protected, but he prefers to go up on a vine at the top of his enclosure, and spends most of his time exploring the heights. He sleeps almost fully stretched, never balls up. sometimes he goes down to the bottom of the enclosure to drink or for a short swim. He used to ball up when we first got him, but that changed after a while. You can see him in my avatar, picture taken a few weeks ago.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Aaron_S]

1. Stop screwing around with him
2. Be CONSISTENT. Offer the same prey item (rat fuzzy) every 5 days and just leave it over night. Live or frozen. It won't matter. Just get a rat with eyes closed if it's alive.
3. Double check all husbandry. It may be your theromometer or hygrometer malfunctioning and giving you "correct" readings.
4. No need to assist or force feed. It's only been a few weeks.
5. Don't buy such young animals if you aren't prepared for this. A 3 week old ball python has shed once and maybe has had 2 meals. I do not sell before my animals eat f/t and at least 3 consecutive meals of that.
6. Snakes have varying shed cycles. This snake not shedding when you think it should has no bearing on this. Don't sweat it. It's also a banana. A little tougher to see a shed cycle.

[sirtalis]

I do not own a snake, but from my limited amount of research, I would say to wait at least 2-3 weeks to hold or try to feed the snake, and like what Aron said, double check your husbandry, and then check again.

[Minkness]

Honestly, Aaron gave me the same info when I got my BP and after following his suggestions my guy began eating and such. Though my guy was also 9 months old when I got him, so that could be a thing.

[lady_bug87]

This is a good hard lesson every keeper learns at one time or another.

There are bad breeders out there and clearly you found one. The minute you heard this snake was only three weeks old you should have run for the hills. Not throw money at them.

Snakes instinctively know how to eat. Put it in a small tub on wet paper towels. Set it on a heat mat. Keep your hands off. Offer a live fuzzy rat every 7 days. If you choose f/t over live, make sure its hot.

[that1guy]

Usually the problem people have with baby ball pythons not eating is they are handling it too much. When you get a baby ball python, or any new snake really, you shouldn't handle it at all for awhile to give it time to adjust to its new home. Even bigger established snakes can take a few weeks to start eating in a new home. I wouldn't handle a new snake at all until it eats at least two meals. My advice would be to first and foremost leave the snake alone, don't handle it, don't stare at it, don't bother it at all, I wouldn't even approach it's enclosure except to give it fresh water and clean it's crap. Second offer it a meal every week, 5-7 days, some people say 5 days, I've always waited 7. I would offer it live until it starts eating regular then you can switch to pre-killed then to F/T over time, if you want. If you do this it should start eating within a couple of weeks, if you do this and it doesn't start eating in a month then you may have a problem and may need to consider assist feeding.

[sophiedufort]

Thank you everyone for your advice. My little guy is now confined. No coming out of the enclosure until he eats a few meals. I also covered the back and side walls. Hope this works.

[sophiedufort]

He ate! I am so happy!
He ate a rat pup that I dropped in his enclosure. It took him hours to get to it, but he did! I'm sooooooo happy!

[lady_bug87]

Still no handling right?

[sophiedufort]

Still no handling right?
Not until she eats a few times. That was the advice :)

[Albert Clark]

Not until she eats a few times. That was the advice :)

Great news! Good idea to cover the the sides of the enclosure too. Make sure to triple check the husbandry numbers as well. Again, good luck and congrats.

[sophiedufort]

Great news! Good idea to cover the the sides of the enclosure too. Make sure to triple check the husbandry numbers as well. Again, good luck and congrats.
Thank you.

[prairiepanda]

It would be a good idea to get a temperature gun to double check your temperatures, as your thermometer may be malfunctioning. It's odd that he doesn't use his hides; so you should look into that to make sure it's not a problem with husbandry. He could just be weirdo, but better safe than sorry ;)

Sounds like you're doing well, though. Keep up the good work!

[sophiedufort]

It would be a good idea to get a temperature gun to double check your temperatures, as your thermometer may be malfunctioning. It's odd that he doesn't use his hides; so you should look into that to make sure it's not a problem with husbandry. He could just be weirdo, but better safe than sorry ;)

Sounds like you're doing well, though. Keep up the good work!

I use a temp gun, as well as in-enclosure thermometer/hygrometer. Same temperature on both. Last night was the first time when he slept in one of his hides (he has two, one on the cool side, one on the warm side).