BP Won't eat

[Wolfus_305]

Ok everybody

A few weeks ago i tried frozen. This time a dark one (all his others were light) still nothing.
tonight i tried a live mouse... still nothing.
Only time will tell.
Kenny

[Kmef07]

silly thing still hasn't eaten? i'd try at this point to adjust enviromental things. even maybe where the cage is at in you house. maybe move it to a less traffic area of the house.

[Wolfus_305]

It's a fairly large tank so i have nowhere else to put it at the moment that has electrical outlets available. I will keep that in mind though and try to think of something.
I have started lowering his temps at night a few weeks ago, and i am constantly checking the humidity. He was out and about and very active last night though...

[Aaron_S]

Move him to a smaller tank?

[Wolfus_305]

He was owned previously and he was kept in this tank for a few years at least.
He comes out at night and drinks and "explores" the whole tank

[PythonMan420]

also try heating the rat a little more

[Aaron_S]

When I first got back into ball pythons I placed my snakes in enclosures that I thought were suitable. They would "explore" and act like regular ball pythons but they wouldn't eat. Moved them to smaller enclosures and BAM! they are amazing eaters.

[citysnakes]

Kenny, try something different with your setup. it doesnt matter if he was previously housed for years that way. he'll get used to the change and it may be for the better.

[Wolfus_305]

Mkay, I'll look for something and try to get something set up for him.
Thanks
Kenny

[Will0W783]

How long is he again? I had my ball in a 55-gallon for a while, but he had shed problems and was finicky with food. I put him in a 30-breeder, and he eats anything and everything now and has great sheds. For balls, smaller is definitely better, as long as the snake can stretch out if it wants to and can turn around comfortably. Mine is 4-feet long and probably 3 inches or so thick.

[Wolfus_305]

Hi there,

My BP is 3'11". He's also pretty heavy and he's not skinny at all.
His enclosure is 4 feet long by 2 feet deep by 2 feet high.

[Will0W783]

That sounds like an OK enclosure, as long as you can keep humidity up in it.

[Wolfus_305]

I mist it with warm weather and in general (except for shedding time) the humidity never drops below 55%. Also I always measure the humidity on the "cool" side of the enclosure since that what I was told to do, please correct me if this is improper.
Kenny

[bads15]

OK so i have been skimming through all the posts on this thread so i hope i am not being redundant because there is one thing i haven't noticed anyone say. ASF ( African soft fur rats) also known as natl rats.one thing a lot of pet stores dont tell you is that the rats that a majority of them selling are actualy norwegen rats ( common north american rats.) norwegen rats are not the natural prey they eat in the wild in africa. ASF rats have actualy been known to get balls to come out of fasting.

i had a few balls that would only eat once every three weeks if i was lucky. since i learned about ASF rats they now eat every week like clockwork. also i like this better because its better to feed them smaller meals more often then larger meals less frequently. since i did this they never shy away from meals anymore. saves me money since i never need to throw meals out anymore. as for the fasting thing just keep monitoring it's weight and you should be alright. ASF rats can be ordered in frozen as well through a number of places. if you are in canada you can try the classified area on reptiles canada. you will probly notice that your ball might start feeding with a vengance so use tongs when wiggleing the rat so as not to get bit. they seem to like the movement as well as the heat. i hope this helps.

[Kmef07]

Ya that is a great suggestion. My breeder that is local around here breeds both the Norwegian and also the african soft fur. I asked him why and he said he feeds his balls that because they seem to be better eaters on them.

good advice bads.