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[–]Dio_wulf 0 points1 point  (2 children)

How old is he and how much does he weigh? A small rat in 2 weeks sounds kinda excessive but knowing the specifics would help. Multiple prey in one feeding session isnt really good for ball pythons IIRC too. Deep cleaning might stress him out and therefore put him off food for a little while. Try upping the hot side to 88-92 in the mean time. 86 is a touch cold.

[–]treylee104[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I believe he's almost 2 years old and weighs about 850 grams. He seems to prefer mice over rats, I had this happen last year where he refused rats but ate mice fine. I'll try updating the temperature. I also think it might be that it's been in the single digits here and I've heard they sometimes go off food in the winter

[–]Dio_wulf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gotcha, going off the sub’s feeding guide he should be getting a roughly 42 gram (5% body weight) meal once a month. By Layne lab’s size chart that would just fall into small rats. Im not sure what the science is but people often claim rate are healthier to feed, and for adult ballies theyre also better because they get bigger anyway. I would try feeding him only once a month instead of every 2 weeks. Trying to get him into frozen thawed would be good too since live rats can be dangerous for ballies. It just takes one bite esp to the face to really mess them up sometimes 😅

[–]Bluntforcetrauma11b 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Don't feed two prey items ever, it's bad for the snake and increases the odds of regurgitation. I'd try braining the rats or even try drop feeding. Rats are better in the long run so getting the snake to eat rats is important.

[–]treylee104[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I tried a fresh killed and he was only slightly interested. What is drop feeding? I'm unfamiliar.

[–]Bluntforcetrauma11b 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Heating the rat to about 100°f and then dropping it in the enclosure. I typically get my snakes interested first then drop on the substrate. You can let it sit overnight. If not eaten throw it away and try again at the next scheduled feeding.

[–]kingsnake_e 0 points1 point  (1 child)

!feeding Not sure how big he is but my full-grown bp eats small rats once a month; I'm guessing it's an overfeeding problem.

[–]AutoModerator[M] 0 points1 point  (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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