only a week?

[Bartman]

I bought my BP from the last show and i was told to feed it everyweek so i decided to try a week fromthe show. Sunday it didnt eat, sniffed the food and went back in the hide. Yesterday i didnt even look at the food and i left it in all night and NOTHING. Im gonna try again today but am i worrying to soon or is a week nothing?

thx 4 any help...

[HetForHuman]

a week with no food is no biggie man.

my ball decided to be an *** and not eat for 2 weeks but he took a meal yesterday.

your snake could go months without food without anything wrong. Just keep trying and dont give up on him, hell eat when hes ready.

Also what works for me is to put the snake in a rubbermaid and try to feed him in that. if he doesnt strike at it just leave it in with him, and put the rubbermaid in someplace dark, like a closet or something.

Good luck, and if you do a search youll find plenty of things people have done to et their balls to eat.

[BoidKeeper]

Make sure the temps are right and you have a hide box on each end of thecage. Make sure the cage is in a low trafic area. Don't touch or anything and wait at least two more weeks and then try again at night. Also make sure the rat is warm when you offer it.
Cheers,
Trevor

[snakehunter]

what food are you presenting. i had to assisst my bp hoppers until my petshop ran out of hoppers so i bought an adult, and BAM!! been on em for a month now no problems! try stepping the food size up, bps can take an adult mouse at birth no prob.

oh and start rats as soon as possible.

[burmer]

Give it a little time. Like HetForHuman said a week is no biggie. The first BP I ever had went 8 months without food and then ate great. Just make sure your conditions are good and I'm sure it will eat for you. Good luck.

[Bartman]

im double checking on the temps now just to make sure 100 percent but im pretty sure that aint the problem. Ive presented him with fuzzies only. looks like its a perfect size though. One fuzzy what quite large. About the size of half a hockey puck. and pretty thick too. you think its to small? Hes only about 4 months so do you tihnk he can go a month or two without food?

[burmer]

That sounds like a good sized food item. He could go a month or two without food. I had one go 8 months. I was pulling my hair out by that time but they can do it. Just be patient and he'll eat.

[Bartman]

are there any really really small rats? like rat pups that would be the same size?

[snakehunter]

rat pinkies, look at rodent pro.com, they have good representation of rodent sizes

[Bartman]

thx..that was exactly what i needed

[BurmBaroness]

Just a few pointers. Ball pythons can eat small adult mice right after hatching, usually. Most snakes won't eat an item that is too small. I do not attempt to feed a new bp, especially a babyb, for 2 weeks after bringing it home. It needs time to acclimate to it's surroundings. Temps should be 90-92 warm side, 82-83 cool side. Too cool, they won't eat. Also, if you keep offering food every day, you are going to make yourself a problem feeder for sure. You can stress them out with a food item if they don't want to eat. Wait 5 days, offer again. As long as it's not visibly losing weight and isn't dehydrated, its' fine if it doesn't eat for a few weeks. If after a few weeks, it still hasn't eaten, PM me and I will tell you how to get it to eat on it's own. Assist feeding and forcefeeding are last resorts, and put more stress on the snake than it does good.


Also, I should add. If you're handling the bp, stop immediately. With a baby BP, handling increases stress. Handling is not recommended until the baby has become an established feeder, at least 3 feeds in a row.

[Bartman]

ok thanks a lot bud..im gonna do what you said and try to get some mice a little bit bigger...