its been 3 weeks since he has eatin

[juviniles_5]

ok well its been weeks since he has eatin and im not realy that woried(i know they can go a long time with out food) but i would rather him eat and just know that hes not hungry and the place that i got him from was feeding fuzzy rats and he was taking them fine and when i went 2 get his first meal they dident have fuzzys so i got rat pups and he toke it fine so the next feeding i tryed a pup and he dident take it and then the same thing again so i tryed a fuzzy last night and he dident take it so now i dont know what i should do because i dont want 2 try the papper bag trick because hes not used 2 me yet but hes used 2 his cage so i dont know if that will efect any thing so what would u sujest i do

[Vengeance]

What are the tempatures like in the cage, whats the cool end, what the hot end?

How often have you been trying to feed him?

How many hides does he have?

How long have you had him?

Before anyone can help these questions need to be answered.

[BoidKeeper]

Step 1: stop worrying. Ball pythons are lousy eaters get used to it.
Step 2: It will eat when it's ready. As long as your cage and temps are properly set up everything will be fine.
Cheers,
Trevor

[sapphire_moon]

3wks? Thats it? My female hasn't ate in 5 months. As everyone else has said they are LOUSY eaters.

How are you MEASURING the temps? What are your temps, hot side and cool side?
How BIG is the hide(s)
how big of a cage?

Try some low, tight hides, maybe even cover up the cage with a towel for about 2wks THEN offer a prey item.

[juviniles_5]

he is in a 72 gallon(48''L,18''W,16''T)
the temps were around 85 86 on the hot side
but iam trying 2 get it up to around 90 on the hot side now that i have a dimmer switch and the cool side stays around 79-80 and the humididy is at 55

[elevation24]

In my opinion your tank is way too large if the snake is only capable of eating rat pups -- and you need to get the temperature of the hot area to more like 90-93°F.

[sapphire_moon]

hot side can be anywhere from 90-95 degrees. If you have a cage that large and a snake that small you need TONS of hides, he needs to be able to go from one side of the cage to the other without being seen.

[Vengeance]

I agree about the hot side and the hides. The cool side could be a little warmer as well, I keep my cool side between 80 - 85. For the hides, My Ball python sounds about the same size as yours when I first got him. I kept him in a 50 gallon tank right from the start, but I also gave him 4 hides, and 2 brances with fake leafs hanging off them. But the combination of not enough hides and too low temps could be a contributing factor as to why you Ball python isn't eating.

[juviniles_5]

ok i well i have lots of hides(6 of them) but he cannot get from one to another with out being seen so i will put a bunch of rocks cork wood and drift wood in and maybe some plants

and i got my temps over 90 but they went up to 94.7 is that alright or shoud i do somthing about it

because right now i am useing a 75 watt red bulb and UTH they are both on a dimmer but the dimmer is turned down all the way so if i got a 50watt bulb would that bring it down to much

[sapphire_moon]

you don't need the lamp at all, Turn it off, and keep an eye on the temps. Turn it up as needed. If you get rocks make sure none can fall and hurt him. 94.7 is good, I don't let mine go above 97 degree.

[Auskan]

PVC pipe is another good way to provide a way for them to move around without being seen. They may not "look" quite as good, but BPs like them because they can move about without being seen. And they can also double as extra hides.

[juviniles_5]

i have some pvc pipes in there alreadybut they dont spand all the way across the tank because they are realy curvy and go up and down so mine dosent really act as somthing 2 go thro 2 not be seen but i went out 2 day and i got a bunch of stuff 2 make the cage more dense so i will try this and see how it gose next feeding:)