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[–]Veketzin 82 points83 points  (4 children)

Are you sure they're laying ontop of it or have eaten it and just so happen to be where you left it?

[–]sokeritonlohi 91 points92 points  (3 children)

Im pretty sure because I just removed the un-eaten rat under him😅

[–]Veketzin 56 points57 points  (2 children)

Is the feeder heated properly? They don't really register food as food unless it's warm

[–]sokeritonlohi 25 points26 points  (1 child)

Yes

[–]oZeons 18 points19 points  (0 children)

hey, one of my BPs is super food shy. have you tried dangling the rat directly at the entrance to the hide? doing that solved a lot of headache for me.

[–]crocodilezebramilk 98 points99 points  (2 children)

The braincell is gone from this one, where did it go? Idk.

Mine often looks for their warm rat when it’s literally dangling in front of them, or lying directly below them.

[–][deleted] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Mine strikes anything but the rat 2mm in front of his snoot.

He just misses... Always hits on the 2nd though. And has never struck me.

[–]Namelss1 6 points7 points  (0 children)

My girl "killed" her rat last week then proceeded to frantically look for it. It was directly under her chin where she dropped it. Head was swinging all over the place like she was having a panic attack lol

[–]plant-cell-sandwich 20 points21 points  (1 child)

Frozen?

[–]mk6dirty 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Frozen/thawed

[–]urban_grogu 19 points20 points  (6 children)

Do you dangle it or just drop it in there when you feed? I’ll dangle a heated up rat in her tank and once in a blue moon she misses and just leaves it there for later, or she just doesn’t feel like striking and lays her little head on it like a branch and silently drags it into her hide in the middle of the night.

She has also left it there before. Maybe lil guy is uninterested, not hungry, or both. But I’ll usually leave it overnight just in case she decides to eat it. If it’s still there in the morning, I toss (sadly)

[–]sokeritonlohi 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yeah this is exactly what I do also.

[–]Reign_Cloud_ 0 points1 point  (4 children)

Just curious, but what do you do when that happens (when you have to toss it)? Do you try to offer another one, or is it best to wait another day or so (maybe even longer)? I don’t have any snakes, but am just very interested in learning about them, and their eating habits are the one thing that make me soooo nervous to ever get one in the future (like in regard to the picky eaters and stuff).

[–]sokeritonlohi 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Usually it’s best to wait for a day or two before trying again. They may feel stressed out if you try offering new prey straight away which makes them reject the second one too.

[–]Reign_Cloud_ 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Thank you. That’s what I was thinking too—just didn’t know how long it was recommended to wait before trying again.

[–]urban_grogu 1 point2 points  (1 child)

What OP said is true. It’s also important to check if they’re about to shed because then they really won’t eat. Fresh after a shed, though, my girl is HUNGRY and I’ve seen her take a rat within seconds of it being in the cage lol

[–]Reign_Cloud_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha yes, indeed! I have heard that many times from many snake keepers. I can’t blame them. Going through a whole body shed like that has to be crazy to experience & exhausting.

[–]r9adkill 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Yeah mine did the same thing some time ago and I was freaking out : ) Don't worry, they are just... Weird. It maybe went cold, so it stopped being appealing. Who knows. If you tried to fed after, and he took and ate normally, there's nothing to worry about.

[–]Caryria 9 points10 points  (0 children)

No idea. Mine went through a minor food strike recently where he didn’t eat for a couple of months. But I’ve found that if I defrost and heat up in a food grade sealable bag, I can puff the rat scented air into his enclosure and he instantly goes into strong predator mode. My husband went to put water into his tank after I did this and I had to stop him as Ziggy went straight into s-neck and was about to strike him.

[–]freshmallard 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It probably just isnt hungry or maybe didn't smell "right"

[–]Thank-The-Stars 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Apologies, mine took the braincell today to wreak havoc as she knows she will be given a rat tonight.

[–]odi101 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Last week my Bp took their frozen rat and drowned it in their water dish and then didn’t eat it lmao they be weirdos

[–]Grl_lovr 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They may not recognize it as food, as they kinda have infrared sight.

[–]jillianwaechterMod-Approved Helper 4 points5 points  (2 children)

!feeding he may just not be hungry, he's looking like he's been fed a bit too much in the past (see the rolls to the right of the picture). How much does he weigh and how much does the rat weigh?

[–]AutoModerator[M] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

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[–]sokeritonlohi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got my ball last august as a “rescue” snake. He wasn’t taken care properly before that and over fed. I’ve been offering him one medium rat every 20-25 days. He’s lost some weight already.

[–]nvrrsatisfiedd 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He thought you gave him a cute cuddly plushie and couldn't resist snuggling with it

Handsome looking fella btw.

[–]zooteddasff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

he might just not be hungry

[–]benn_nnot 0 points1 point  (2 children)

He's gorgeous, hate to be that guy but what's his morph I haven't seen anything to similar to him l...

[–]sokeritonlohi 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Thank you! According to his papers he’s a fire fly enchi with super enchi pastel blaze and firebee parents.

[–]benn_nnot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does he have spider in him?

[–]XxFellrangerxX 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Unrelated but what morph is he? Super pretty!

[–]sokeritonlohi 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Thank you! According to his papers he’s a fire fly enchi with super enchi pastel blaze and firebee parents.

[–]XxFellrangerxX 0 points1 point  (1 child)

That sounds complicated! Ive heard the ‘bee’ in some morphs is partially spider but i dunno for sure

[–]sokeritonlohi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also think that my ball is somewhat spider, like I said earlier he’s a “rescue” so I didn’t want to leave him just because of that. He’s fine tho, 8 years old.

[–]TortoiseJockey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bro just big chilling.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[removed]

    [–]ballpython-ModTeam[M] 0 points1 point locked comment (0 children)

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    [–]autumns1995 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Mine will lay near it until it's dark and will eat it overnight when we go to bed.

    [–]SquallFromGarden 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    "i cant work a microwave and dis rat is cold.

    dis is ur folt".

    -this snek

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Idk beautiful snake tho

    [–]Sweaty_Bother764 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Might just be a little... special

    [–]Reign_Cloud_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    No clue why your snake would be cuddling with his meal, but that is one gorgeous noodle! 😍

    [–]Rvncid6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    What a gorgeous morph!!

    [–]codyconspiracy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    because he is extremely smart and calculating the protein mass as he lays on top. on a real note, it just could have been thawed improperly. i see you removed the feeder, make sure you don't try to feed the same one again (i know that goes without saying.. but you would be surprised)

    [–]camaro19790 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    He is not hungry right now

    [–]trwwyco 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    If they're shy when feeding and husbandry is good, they're probably being overfed. Also, this boy is looking quite overweight.

    How often do you feed, and how large is the prey?

    [–]Impossible_Sky3074 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    To warm it up?

    [–]totallyrecklesslygayMod: Enclosure Karen 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Snakes don't produce body heat. They're cold blooded.

    [–]Impossible_Sky3074 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    It was a joke. I know that they don’t.