Ball python usually eats but now it wont.?

Question

I usually feed my ball python who is two feet one small mouse every six days. now the pet store ran out of mice so they only had small rats. my snake could have easily taken on the rat but it didnt eat it. so he didnt eat yesterday. now i have bought a small mouse to feed him as usual. it seemed like he didnt want to eat it. any solutions?

Answer 1

All I have ever had to do to switch a ball python from mice to rats is let them get hungry. A 2 foot ball python feeding every six days IS NOT getting hungry before each meal. There is nothing wrong with this but it is better to plan a food change rather that do it unprepared. If I ever couldn't get one of mine to switch I would go back to the pet store and get some bedding from their mouse cage and rub it all over the rat. Mice have a much more pungent smell. Keep the mouse bedding in a ziplock for future use. When I switch a ball python permanently to rats I always wait until it has been two weeks since it ate it's last mouse. As a more general approach to this question I would say most food refusals by ball pythons are stress related and usually the stress is caused by handling them too long and/ or too often (longer than an hour or 2, more often than every 3 to 4 days is too much - too long). The second most common cause of stress is not having a hide spot - two is even better. Ball Pythons are secretive and shy by nature, hiding on the ground, in wait of passing prey (as opposed to actively hunting) for about 23 1/2 hours per day (or more). In the absence of a jungle (and the snakes need to travel to a new location when a spot stops feeding it), it needs to be handled by it's human to prevent atrophy (weakness and loss of muscle tone) and flabbiness. But always respecting it's nature is important to long term health.



Additionally if you adhere to a low stress environment feeding frozen thawed mice (or rats) should be no problem. I always thaw it on a warm spot (there is one on top of one of my flourescent light fixtures). Then I dangle it near the hide entry with tongs while still warm. I like to duplicate a live kill for them so they will strike hard and fast (again with the atrophy and flabbiness). I guess I don't want them to lose the ability to kill, just the need. Last word on that... My first ball python spent 3 days (last 3 with previous owner) with a live rat in its cage unattended. It required surgery to close about 15 wounds- 2 were so big the spine was exposed, 2 inches of the tail were completely without flesh and had to be amputated. Being a male (storing their reproductive organs in their tails), aputation reduced his storage capacity and lead to the later amputation of his hemipenes. I was informed upon receiving him in this condition that he would not eat frozen thawed ANYTHING, he wouldn't eat mice. and he wouldn't eat white rats. 7 days post surgery I fed him 3 little frozen/ thawed white mice. And has never eaten another live meal. He has never refused a meal for me.

Answer 2

There are a lot of things to consider when feeding a snake. Most pet stores feed their snakes pre-killed (PK) mice. If you got the snake from a breeder or a friend, it may only eat live. Once a snake is "trained" to eat live food, it's extremely difficult to get it to eat PK rodents again. There are also a number of techniques you can try (on PK mice) to get your snake to eat them. This also depends on your manner of feeding the snake (i.e. do you feed the snake in a separate enclosure? Is that enclosure dark and warm?). Some tips on helping your snake eat PK mice is to warm the mouse (by putting it in a sealed plastic bag and leaving it in hot or warm water) and leave it along with the snake. You might want to put the snake and the mouse in an old pillow case. (Knotting the pillow case won't suffocate the snake if you leave it in there for only 1-2hrs.) Some of the more drastic techniques are to cut open the top of the mouse's head so brain matter is evident on the top of the skull. Some snakes take to blood better than perfectly healthy prey. There are tons more techniques you can use and help is very readily available online. As for when to feed him, I would try once every other or every few days. I did this with my second ball python. I had problems getting her to eat, but after a short while adjusting to her new surroundings, she ate fine. I haven't had a problem with her eating and it's been about 8 months, now. Having a snake adapt to a new environment might be stressing the snake right now. That may also be a reason why he's not eating. As soon as the snake gets adapted, he should be fine. Hope that helps. Good luck. :)

Answer 3

Things to consider



1. Is the snake about to shed?

2. Is the snake depressed?

3. Is the humidity at appropriate levels

4. Is it the mouse color, some snakes won't eat white mice.

5. Whens the last time the snake had a stool?



Suggestions.



1. Put the mouse in warm water to stimulate their hunger, it works

sometimes.



2. Always feed your snakes on the same days and times.



3. Don't feed it when it's about to shed.



4. The snake may not be hungry and refuses to eat.





This link will help you a lot



http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/

Answer 4

Snakes will ignore food for a lot of reasons. Like the person above me said, if he's getting ready to shed that's a cause, but also if there's a small change in the weather they will ignore food. If it goes on for a long time then there might be something deeper going on, but if its just once and a while its normal so don't worry!

Answer 5

It can be very difficult to get BPs to switch over to rats. Since you had a problem recently getting it to eat one, I would suggest trying to get it to start eating small rats now. All of the other posters' suggestions are perfect, especially if you do try to convert it over to rats. It may take a few weeks of no eating before it will take a rat, but if you can get it moved over, you will save yourself a lot of trouble in the long run.

Answer 6

Frozen or thawed?



If frozen try running it under hot water to get him interested.( the mouse not the snake lol)



Ball pythons are pretty notorious for going on feeding strikes.

Answer 7

He might be get ready to shed, some snakes don't eat as much as others do ! Maybe it's not ready to eat such a bigger meal yet.Reptiles are hard to figure out because you never know what reason why don't want to eat! I wouldn't worry if it didn't eat just this one time because snakes eat whenever they are hungry!

Answer 8

you could even try soaking it in chicken broth too, I've been told that works. but never ever microwave it. that will cook it and he won't touch it. some snakes can actually go up to six months without eating. so one or two missed meals won't hurt.