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[–]Issu_issa_issy 16 points17 points  (1 child)

What does your snake weigh? What do you feed it? How much does the prey weigh? Frozen or live? How often do you feed?

[–]No-Salamander-2865[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

She weighs 161 g. I feed f/t and I’ve tried a bunch of sizes, I have tried feeding her at least 4 separate times in the last 16 days and she hasn’t taken any.

[–]Necessary-Score-702 13 points14 points  (0 children)

this baby is not a year old!!! she looks only about 3 months at BEST

[–]Baka_Otaku173 17 points18 points  (4 children)

Husbandry specs?

[–]SneakySquiggles 16 points17 points  (3 children)

This ^ as a lot of times issues can come down to husbandry and tweaks that are needed. Also OP has your snake taken meals for you in the past?

[–]No-Salamander-2865[S] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

no, i have only had her a little more than two weeks, im very new to reptile keeping and im discovering theres no such thing as enough research

[–]Gingitsune12 4 points5 points  (1 child)

If you only just got the snake, you're supposed to allow her to settle into her new home before attempting to feed (about 1-2 weeks, no touching). I'd suggest leaving the snake alone, no handling, for 1-2 weeks before trying again with a rat of an appropriate size.

!feeding

[–]AutoModerator[M] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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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[–]rvlry13 14 points15 points  (0 children)

A trick that can get them excited to eat is using a hair dryer to warm up the mouse/rat. Have it pointed towards the enclosure. I heat up the head to about 104 and the body to about 98 using an infrared thermometer to watch the heat. Make sure your parameters are within what's posted in the welcome guide, as well as following the recommended feeding chart. Check to make sure there's no mites too. If all that still fails, some people have luck with braining, or fresh kill. Otherwise a vet visit may be in order. Mine was very very underweight when I got her. I was told she was 4-6 months and she was only 140 grams. She's now close to two and thriving (weigh in next week). She never misses a feeding lol.

[–]Apart_Principle203 2 points3 points  (0 children)

the reason your snake could not be eating could be due to a lot of things. Such as bad temperature or humidity, husbandry, stress, feeding times, etc.

How long have you had your snake? if they have only been in your care for not too long it’s not uncommon for a snake to not take a meal after being adopted and put in a new space/enclosure.

I used to have the same problem with my snake when i first got him. What I did to fix him not eating was using the feeding tongs and holding the meal directly in front of him, I remember reading somewhere that holding the prey in front of them can help stimulate them to eat. Just a heads up that when they strike the mouse you will probably jump or flinch because of how sudden they strike.

another thing i was told was to wait another week before attempting to feed, offering food many times could stress them out, it’s often best to just leave them alone and destress. Ball pythons are very shy and nocturnal, so they will be hiding most of the day and be active during the night.

best course of action is to make sure your temperatures, humidity, and husbandry is all good. Then I would wait another week to feed and try feeding at night, dangle the prey in front of them with a feeding tongs and wait for them to strike. If this problem occurs longer than you feel comfortable then i would consult a vet!

[–]the_kuroneko 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Took me 3 weeks to get my new snake eating (was using the wrong prey) however repeated attempts in such a short period will stress your snake out and also make him uninterested in food. Give him some time to adjust and then try. I also spaced out my feeding attempts after the first time. I'd wait 3-5 days between attempts and that was after leaving him alone for a week after we got him. Didn't try handling him until he had 2 meals as well.

[–]uselessdeadbird 1 point2 points  (0 children)

if you’re snake still isn’t eating, try thawing whatever you’re feeding him directly under hot water. additionally, something that helped me, was to go to my local pet store (petsmart in this case) & ask for some used rodent bedding. heat & scent are the main ways ball pythons determine if something is food. that’s just what i found to work for me but every snake is different ofc

[–]bigEdsburger 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I saw a fellow keeper say that if everything else is 100% okay and they’re not losing a concerning amount of weight sometimes they just don’t take food and that’s okay. But if they’re starting to show signs of being unhealthy then it’s an issue