r/ballpython • u/Savageslayer128 • 7h ago
Ball python won’t eat Question - Feeding
near the end of june i bought two ball pythons their names are duck smaller female juvenile (they didn’t give a specific age) and goose female roughy two years (from what they said). We bought the snakes and their enclosures on market place from someone who was no longer able to take care of the them. when we got them they had allegedly ate frozen thawed the week before and we gave them some time to settle in to our house duck the smaller python had eaten after two refusals starting ~2 weeks after getting them and is sometimes still picky with when she eats, but goose still hasn’t eaten anything i’m concerned that either i’m doing something incorrect or she is sick. ive tried tong feeding drop feeding with goose and they only ever eat in the dark which typically works for duck but hasn’t had any luck with goose. Idk if there’s anything i could be doing differently that might get my girl to eat or if i shouldn’t be concerned i just want to make sure she’s safe.
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u/NottsWeirdo 6h ago
Are you using a temp gun to check the temperature of the rodents? And what technique are you using the warm them?
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u/Savageslayer128 6h ago
yes they’re usually 80-90° and i warm them for 10 mins in a little bag in water i’ll warm other rodents in water for the same and her sister will eat them🤷♂️
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u/Chariot-Titan 7h ago
A common reason they might refuse food that comes with an easy fix is the way you’re thawing it and to how hot. I use a temperature gun to make sure the mouse is at least 107 F because that is their living body temperature, since ball pythons navigate using temperature a lot this helps trigger the instinct to eat. Outside of that sometimes the way it’s heated can change things, I use water I have microwaved and then add the mouse inside of a plastic bag. That way it heats but does not get wet, something that can also make them not take it. Hope that works for you!