Ball Python Feeding tips

Some tips you can follow when your Ball Python is refusing to eat. Be sure to have read the feeding section of the Ball Python care guide before reading these tips.

When you feed your Ball Python pre killed food items, make sure to feed it as soon as you kill the mice or rat. You do this by leaving it for a few minutes in hot water AND NOT BY MICROWAVING THEM. When done heating, you wave it back and forth infront of the entrance of his hide using your snake tongs, NEVER use your hands when dangling food items infront of your Ball Python. That is a sure way to get bit as your hand is much more hotter and a bigger target than the mice or rat. Remember that they are nocturnal snakes, and most active at night, so feed your Ball Python at night.

If your Ball Python kills live prey, or takes pre killed and coils around them but does not eat, try closing all your lights, or cover the Ball Python Habitat with a sheet of cloth.

If all of the above fails for your Ball Python, try putting a live Gerbil in your Ball Python's habitat. If he still refuses, take your Gerbil (not with your hands) and save it for the next feeding day. You can also kill it and freeze it if you don't want to take care of Gerbils. Wait a week, heat the frozen gerbil, and repeat the steps above and feed your Ball python.

When your Ball Python starts feeding on gerbils, you can try rubbing gerbils on mice or rats to scent them and "trick" your Ball Python into feeding on mice or rats.

The day before your next feeding day, put a live gerbil, or whatever prey your Ball Python has previouly taken in the same room as him or her, to scent the room and get your Ball Python interested.

The brown paper bag trick. Put your Ball Python in a paper bag, shoe box, any small container with your mice, rat or gerbil and leave him there for a few hours. Check every so often to see if your Ball Python has eaten the food item.

If all those don't work for you, try putting crumpled balls of newspaper in your Ball Python's habitat to make him feel more secure. Skipping a few weeks of feeding is no big deal, Ball Pythons can last months with no food, as long as you provide some water.

Move the Ball Python habitat to a quiet room, if you have not already done so.

Ball Python still not eating? Then it's time for a vet check. You need fecal sample to give to your local vet. Also force feeding your Ball Python is VERY stressful to both you and your Ball Python. DO NOT FORCE FEED YOUR BALL PYTHON, get a vet to do it for you since you're reading this and probably have no experience.

Make sure your temperatures and humidity levels are all correct, see the Ball Python Care guide to make sure, do not guess.