What do you do when............

[gmherps]

you get a BP that just isn't consistent about eating, or not eating at all?

I think this is a very good topic for the BP community as everyone has gone through this situation in one way or another.

Questions:

1). Do you ever force feed? I never have.
2). What types of tricks do you use to get them eating?
3). Do you offer mice and rats?

[cagecrafters]

Thier are MANY tricks you can try, but in all honesty the best trick of all is seclusion and time. I have found that reluctant feeders just want to be left alone. If/when I have one that is giving me a problem, I put them in a smaller cage, a darker cage, raise the temp to a little over 90 degrees on the hot spot, and leave them alone for a couple of weeks. And then I only offer food every 2-3 weeks and I try a number of different food items. But you can always try the other tricks to. Let me know if you need to know what they are... I will try to list all the ones I know for you if you need them.

[JonT]

give it the option... eat or die...

[Lokismommy]

My ball python is not a consistant eater. When I moved him to a larger rubbermaid he did not eat hardly at all. I recently moved him back into a 12 qt container and he has eaten twice and it was two hoppers but then I tried giving him an adult mouse and he refused so I don't know if he is scared of larger prey or if he is just going to be one of those that wants to eat every other week. Also I have alway feed f/t and one time I put egg yolk on a mouse to get him to eat.

[gmherps]

Sam,
It would probably be benefical for others to do so if it wouldn't take much time to do so.

[KLG]

Greg, are you talking about not consistently eating frozen, or not consistently eating anything at all?

K~

[cagecrafters]

These are all tips that I have learned over the years from others. These are not my ideas but I have used many of them to some success.

1. The Paper bag- Put your ball python in an appropriete sized paper bag, drop in a dead food item, roll the paper bag down so its only few inches above the animal and tape the bag shut. Now put the bag back into the snakes cage (not directly on or under the heat source) and leave it be for a couple of hours. 7 out of 10 times they will eat.

2. Chicken Broth- Take a can of chick broth, heat it up to about 90 degrees, dip the head of a dead food item into the broth and offer to the ball python off of tongs/forceps. This has worked for me in the past.

3. Different Color Food Items- If your trying to feed your ball python the standard white rodents, it may not be interested due to the white color. Try getting some different colored food items.... black, brown, calico... anything but white. To some snakes, white prey just doesnt look natural.

4. The buried hide- If you use a hide box of some sort. Try burying it in the substrate and covering the top with the substrate. Make sure the snake has easy access to the entrance hole, but try to cover they rest of it. Ball pythons like in burrows in the wild and instinct tells them thats where they should live. Its all about comfort and security. Take your food item and pass it in front of the access hole of the hide, the snake will feel more confident about the situation from the security of its burrow.

5. Live vs. Dead- Frozen/Thawed vs. Fresh Killed- Some snakes just have a preference. Try them all.

6. Gerbils and Hamsters- ( I would only do this as a last resort) Gerbils are the most similar prey to the ball pythons in captivity, so they are more likely to take a gerbil or hamster over a rat or mouse. Their natural food source is the Jerboa which is very similar to a gerbil.

7. Force feeding and Assist feeding- Their is a difference and I dont like to use either, but if it gets to this point, this is your last resort. Assist feeding is much better then FORCE feeding. Assist feeding means, you put a dead food item into the jaws of the snake and he completes the transaction. Force feeding is accually forcing the meal down the snakes gullet. The end result for animals that have to be force fed is more often then not, just prolonging death. Assist feeding can result in a healthy animal with time. But again, I would only do either of these as your last resort.

8. Privicy and seclussion- This is the best of all methods in my opinion. Set your ball python up in its encloser, keep it small, keep it dark and keep it warm with a mid ranged humidity. Make sure it has freah clean water, but other then that, leave it alone. Only offer food every 1-2 weeks and dont taunt the snake with it. Lay the prey in the cage without disturbing anything. Do it as fast as you can but as smooth as you can. Monitor the snake from a distance as best you can. Leave the food in for a couple of hours if using a dead food item. If using live prey, besure to monitor it the entire time it is with the snake. If the snake doesnt eat it within an hour, MAX, its probably not going to, so take it out and try agian in another week or 2. Rince and repeat.

9. Braining- You can take a dead food item and split the skull exposing the brain. The scent and heat that comes from the brain of the prey can sometimes trigger a positive feeding response. This has worked for me MANY times in colubrids. I have personally never had to use this method with ball pythons.

With all of these tips listed above, I do not reccommend leaving live prey with the snake unattended at any point.

Again, I can not take credit for any of these tips, they were all taught to my by someone else, but most have worked for me at one time or another.

Hope this helps someone sometime.

[EvilMorphgod]

These are all tips that I have learned over the years from others. These are not my ideas but I have used many of them to some success.

1. The Paper bag- Put your ball python in an appropriete sized paper bag, drop in a dead food item, roll the paper bag down so its only few inches above the animal and tape the bag shut. Now put the bag back into the snakes cage (not directly on or under the heat source) and leave it be for a couple of hours. 7 out of 10 times they will eat.

2. Chicken Broth- Take a can of chick broth, heat it up to about 90 degrees, dip the head of a dead food item into the broth and offer to the ball python off of tongs/forceps. This has worked for me in the past.

3. Different Color Food Items- If your trying to feed your ball python the standard white rodents, it may not be interested due to the white color. Try getting some different colored food items.... black, brown, calico... anything but white. To some snakes, white prey just doesnt look natural.

4. The buried hide- If you use a hide box of some sort. Try burying it in the substrate and covering the top with the substrate. Make sure the snake has easy access to the entrance hole, but try to cover they rest of it. Ball pythons like in burrows in the wild and instinct tells them thats where they should live. Its all about comfort and security. Take your food item and pass it in front of the access hole of the hide, the snake will feel more confident about the situation from the security of its burrow.

5. Live vs. Dead- Frozen/Thawed vs. Fresh Killed- Some snakes just have a preference. Try them all.

6. Gerbils and Hamsters- ( I would only do this as a last resort) Gerbils are the most similar prey to the ball pythons in captivity, so they are more likely to take a gerbil or hamster over a rat or mouse. Their natural food source is the Jerboa which is very similar to a gerbil.

7. Force feeding and Assist feeding- Their is a difference and I dont like to use either, but if it gets to this point, this is your last resort. Assist feeding is much better then FORCE feeding. Assist feeding means, you put a dead food item into the jaws of the snake and he completes the transaction. Force feeding is accually forcing the meal down the snakes gullet. The end result for animals that have to be force fed is more often then not, just prolonging death. Assist feeding can result in a healthy animal with time. But again, I would only do either of these as your last resort.

8. Privicy and seclussion- This is the best of all methods in my opinion. Set your ball python up in its encloser, keep it small, keep it dark and keep it warm with a mid ranged humidity. Make sure it has freah clean water, but other then that, leave it alone. Only offer food every 1-2 weeks and dont taunt the snake with it. Lay the prey in the cage without disturbing anything. Do it as fast as you can but as smooth as you can. Monitor the snake from a distance as best you can. Leave the food in for a couple of hours if using a dead food item. If using live prey, besure to monitor it the entire time it is with the snake. If the snake doesnt eat it within an hour, MAX, its probably not going to, so take it out and try agian in another week or 2. Rince and repeat.

9. Braining- You can take a dead food item and split the skull exposing the brain. The scent and heat that comes from the brain of the prey can sometimes trigger a positive feeding response. This has worked for me MANY times in colubrids. I have personally never had to use this method with ball pythons.

With all of these tips listed above, I do not reccommend leaving live prey with the snake unattended at any point.

Again, I can not take credit for any of these tips, they were all taught to my by someone else, but most have worked for me at one time or another.

Hope this helps someone sometime.

Geez Sam!!!!

Did you just type out all of that stuff???/

Quite thorough!!! Good stuff with lots of ideas for people to use...
Thanks - Kev

[JonT]

Kev? My suggestion wasn't helpful?!? :? :? :?

[cagecrafters]

I told Greg I would list them if he wanted to see them, So I did. Just hope some of them help out.

Jon Jon, your post was MOSt Helpful :^o LOL

[JonT]

Thanks Sam! Glad I could help! Although it may sound a little harsh I have a great deal of belief in this theory... personally I think some people get too concerned about getting a snake to eat and wind up terrorizing the poor thing... taunting it with dead rodents etc. Most of the finicky eaters I have delt with sooner or later gave in and began to feed on a regular basis... although some still have little quirks when it comes to eating.... ex. will only take rats when the initial strike puts the rats snout in the snake's mouth, only eats when in a hide box, etc etc.
It helps to really know the animal and be able to draw conclusions from behavior (recoils in horror when presented a rat while out in the open...but takes rat while in a hide...)... may seem like simple things but it seems that the simple things are overlooked in many cases and the situation is complicated further...
Hope this clarification helps a bit!
Jon
PS in no way am I condoning starving an animal but sometimes a finicky eater just requires some time and some trial and error...

[gmherps]

This thread will hopefully help someone later down the road.

I personally try to wait the snake out as long as necessary.

[BPBabe448]

My BP hasnt eaten in 2 weeks. It started when he tried to eat a mouse backwards and couldn't get it down. Hasn't eaten since. I'm going to try all of these tricks. Thanks for making this thread! It is really going to help me!

A trick I know is braining, you poke a hole in the mouse/rats head and pull a bit of flesh/brain out.

[Sherry Howell]

One thing I have found that has worked, especially with a ball python that has been attacked by a rat (we've had several turned in to the shelter because they had been torn up by a rat and refusing food) is to use a live fuzzy (eyes still closed) rat, leaving it overnight in the cage. Everytime we've taken in a ball python that has been refusing food for months after being attacked by a rat left in the cage, I've always tried this method to get them eating again and it has never failed.

[damianthesnakeman]

give it the option... eat or die...




I had one die cause it wouldnt eat but that was the only one

[Hung Solo]

I never force feed. I guess I've been lucky and never had to.

One trick that I didn't see mentioned was a little bit of stink. Leave your p/k item out over night on the counter. In a plastic bag is recomended to keep the smell from killing your room. I've got a male who loves em' this way.(Wierdo)

I offer rats only. But like I said, I've been pretty lucky so far.

Hung

[ItsJustJosh]

I had a female go 22 months without a meal. after 8 months i tried force feeding, and she regurgitated. Stools were clean, temps were fine, everything was ideal, except for the snake. I had been feeding my carpets at the time, and one of the males didn't take his rat, so i figured i'd leave it with this ball python overnight just for S&G's. i opened the cage, and lowered the rat to the hidebox opening with forceps, and she grabbed it before it hit the substrate.
i've also had numerous problem feeders come in from pet stores, ignorant buyers, misinformed buyers etc, and the best thing i've found so far is to not offer them food. if they are of a decent build and tone, 4 months without offering food will not hurt them. i try to wait until march/april to offer it, depending on the snakes condition and time of year that i get it. i have never seen a healthy snake starve to death, you just have to have more patience than they are ;)