My Ball is not eating

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Miguel

Miguel

Ole Dawg
MFK Member
Dec 28, 2006
15,870
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Very much south..
after 15, easy, relaxed days, still she won't accept dead mice or dead rat pinkies.

She doesn't even react to their smell by flicking her tongue in and out as the kingsnakes allways did...she does not recognize them as food or she simply does not give a fart about them.

I know I was told she ate. I will not debate this issue with a dealer ( I should have known better I know ).

any hints?:)
 
was she on live food before you got her?

when i had mine, all were on live before coming to me and would NOT touch pre killed, until i offered them warm by soaking them in warm water after they were thawed..after a few months they would take them warm or cold.

just something to think about if they were taking live food previously.
 
what temps,hide box,water,what are you using for heat,her entire body needs to warm up not just the belly if its a pad.I went through that too long ago.Heat zone,plenty of water,hide box,carefresh substrate and they were cool.How big is it too?please give info,dont freak out yet.Frozen or live prey?Warm prey,maybe wiggled in front of nose with tongs.not too rough,sometimes that scares them,sometimes it makes them mad enough to bite it.Let us know.
 
Yeah, first check all the temps are ok with her... a good hot end around 90-92f with a cooler end around 80f.

What have you tried so far with getting her to feed Miguel, there are lots of tricks...
Did you try the different coloured mice?
You can heat the mice up a bit in warm water or hair drier or something?
There are other things you can do too if you haven't tried heating it up.
What rodent was it on when you got it? How big is it? I'd be tempted to try and get it on rats if you could.

If not eating heated foods, you could try braining the mice/rat pinkie... stick a pin or something through it's head... increases the scent. Also try to open the mouth of the rodent a bit... might help.
 
balls are very notorius to stop eating for month at a time. It's very common and lots of people report that there snake stoped eating for more then 2 month some even up to 4 month.
 
I agree that Balls do refuse food sometimes.
Temp is important.
Try feeding at night.
Watch for signs of an upper respitory condition. Treat accordingly.
 
Hi

I'd try gerbils. They have a rather more distinct scent than mice etc. My fussy royal was only persuaded to eat when offered a gerbil. Not that uncommon I've heard. Gerbil is defrosted to room temperature then heated up with a hairdryer by the door of the room they are in so the smell can get in. Check you can see the snakes head and go in very quietly holding the gerbil in some tongs. Keep your hands clear as royals seem easily confused as to what is prey, then they scare themselves. I feed in the late evening when their lights have gone off.

It can take a while for them to feed so I wouldn't worry as long as it doesn't start to look 'ill'.

If you can't get gerbils small enough, you could defrost a mouse and gerbil together so some scent transferred. Might work.

webo
 
webo;1343937; said:
Hi

I'd try gerbils. They have a rather more distinct scent than mice etc. My fussy royal was only persuaded to eat when offered a gerbil. Not that uncommon I've heard. Gerbil is defrosted to room temperature then heated up with a hairdryer by the door of the room they are in so the smell can get in. Check you can see the snakes head and go in very quietly holding the gerbil in some tongs. Keep your hands clear as royals seem easily confused as to what is prey, then they scare themselves. I feed in the late evening when their lights have gone off.

It can take a while for them to feed so I wouldn't worry as long as it doesn't start to look 'ill'.

If you can't get gerbils small enough, you could defrost a mouse and gerbil together so some scent transferred. Might work.

webo
Click to expand...

I'd be tempted to leave this as more of a last minute thing... unless you don't mind them being stuck on gerbils. You can always try scenting another rodent onto a rat or mouse or something, but I'd try a few other things first. Nothing more annoying than having a royal that will only eat gerbils/hamsters etc.
 
how big is it dude?Are you still around,they do stop eating a bit in winter but just check all that other stuff,dude let us know whats up.
 
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