Member #695938340963 in the BP won\'t eat club

[Biermag11]

Alright, ive had my ball for a little over a week now. I had decided not to take him/her out of the cage to handle because i hadent started feeding yet. The people at the pet shop said that it had been 1 week since he had eaten when i got him, so now it has been a total of 2 weeks without food for the litle guy, meybe even longer if the pet shop peeps were full of crap..... So last night, i tried to feed the little bugger. I got out a f/t mouse, let him soak in a plastic bag in hot water for a while after he was thawed so he would have some heat, put it in a small box in a dark room, then added the snake and left till morning. That little @$#%^ didn't even bother with the mouse. The room was warm, dark and quiet, and no body walked in on him. I think im gonna try the same thing again monday night but with live hoppers, 2 i think b/c hees a year old. Should i just calm down or what? any info would help out alot. Thanks!
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	Frozen/Thawed A rodent or other prey item that is frozen and then thawed to be fed to a reptile or other animal.

[Ophiophagus-hannah]

How about prekilling a live mouse before feeding it live hoppers? How big is your set up? How warm? Are there enough hides in the enclosure? Maybe just needed more time to get used to the surroundings. Also if the BP was wild caught, it'll be a little harder cuz they are very stubborn eaters. Good luck and I hope everything turns out ok. If you do end up feeding it live, "Keep a watchful eye out on the whole feeding session".
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	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

[Woapalanne]

Get some frozen guys, thaw them, and if he won't eat, refreeze - no waste [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]
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[phaedrus]

First, refreezing is not a good idea.

Secondly, check out the caresheet for BPs. Look to your left for the link. Temps and hides are important. How's his housing and what are the specs? Sometimes for stubborn feeders, you may have to pierce the base of the brain to "get the juices" flowing. Was he slightly above room temperature when you offered him?

Thirdly, welcome to RedtailBoa!

Check out the post in the feeding forum as well. Some good info there.

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[Biermag11]

The mouse was slightly warm to the touch when i offered him. The cage is a 20gal with a hide at each end, water dish in the middle. I use cypres mulch for sub. and heat is provided via a 40 watt bulb. Highs r 86 on hot side, 80 on cool. At night i turn it off and temp drops to 75-80. Im thinkin about getting a heat pad so i can keep temps up at night when im tryin to feed him. Also, he never comes out during the day. He only comes out at like 8 or 9 at night and searches around. He is very active for about 2 or 3 hours then goes back in his hide and i don't see him till next night. he is a 1 year old f.h. and looks very healthy. Im thinkin about tryin the snake in the bag trick next time for feeding.
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[XzyluM]

phaedrus: Re-freezing is not a bad idea. In facts, some snakes prefer it. F/T can be froze twice for sure and maybe one or two more times. You will notice when you are thawing if the hair is coming off it's starting to rot and it's no good.

About the question. Royals seem to be very picky eaters. And mine was recently that way. It took me a month and a half to get him feeding. There is a lot of techniques to try. The one that worked for me was leaving him in his cage and putting the prey in front of his hide box, this has worked like a charm for me. Jsut be careful to watch the substrate you use. Don't won't him to be able to get any substrate in his mouth. Try dangling the mouse in front of him with tongs to make it look like the prey is alive. You could put him in a paper bag with air holes and fold the top and stable it and leave him overnight in it. Some prefer the prey wet, you could try that also.

Welcome to RTB. Stick around and enjoy.
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[Ed_r]

I agree some BP specially like something a little Gamey smelling. Not saying let it rot then refreeze but if out for a little bit refused and refroze its not an issue. Only do it once or maybe twice though. If its a year old I wouldnt worry too much My 2 yr old BP just fed after 4 months of not eating. Unfortunately I have to feed him live he wont take prekilled or f/t I keep trying and keep wasting food. try small live prey if all else fails In pet stores all they feed is live. Very rarely do they feed F/t. Im not saying thats right but that a pet store for ya.

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Reptiles are like Pokemon... Gotta catch em all!!!

	Ball Python The Ball Python (Python regius), also known as the Royal Python, is a ground dwelling snake native to the savannahs and rain forests in western Africa, predominatly the countries of Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

	Frozen/Thawed A rodent or other prey item that is frozen and then thawed to be fed to a reptile or other animal.

[Dr.Oviparous]

In Biomedical and surcical aspects of captive reptile husbandry by Dr. Frye, he suggested that exposure to natural sunlight will help a non-feeding Ball. just somthing to try. take him outside for a while everyday. let us know how it works! -Juggalo
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[RevMojo]

In terms of culinary science, refreezing IS a bad idea. It invites food poisoning. I'm not sure if BP would even be susceptible to such a thing, but I'd rather toss the $1 mouse than find out.

Juggs...never heard that about sunlight...I'd be real interested to find out. If that's the case, full spectrum lighting should help as well, no?
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[Dr.Oviparous]

Full spectrum lights are rated on a scale that's based on sun light. pure sun is rated at CR100, depending on the FS light it's usually a CR50 to CR90. so nothing really beats real sun, but I can't really see sunlight making a huge difference over a CR90 bulb. I could see sun being a whole lot better than CR50 though. it might be worth it to try a FS light set up in the ball's cage, it's worth a shot, I think, if you have the money to do it anyway. For animals that require FS, CR80 is the minimum bulb that should be used. I use FS in all my enclosures (even BCI, even though it has been proven not required) and I've never had a problem feeding. granted I have never had a ball in my collection, and BCI arent notorious for problem feeding. -Juggalo

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"Well, it didn't look like a one horse town, but try finding a decent hair jelly!" -Eulisses E McGill

	Boa Constrictor Imperator Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor imperator). Most common is the Colombian Boa.