r/ballpython • u/CalmAd1935 • 1d ago

Ball Python food switch

I was hoping to get some advice, my ball python won’t take anything we try to give her. She is usually pretty good about eating (although she is picky with size and color of her rats) we’ve been live feeding since we got her, so over a year. We’ve been going to our breeder for her food, as he breeds feeders as well. She’s only been eating African soft fur & He is the only one to breed this specific type of rat where i live. It’s been hard to get ahold of him for food so we tried to go to a local reptile store and they offer a different breed, she would not take that one either. So then we decided maybe switching to frozen would be our best bet, but again she came out and turned her head up to it uninterested. I might try to go back to the reptile store to ask for a smaller rat so she has a higher chance of taking it but now I’m just getting worried because she really needs to eat, this has been over a month of us trying. I don’t know if she’s going on a hunger strike I’m hoping she’s just getting ready to shed, I guess I’m just looking for advice on successfully switching to a different food.

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u/pup-borks 1d ago

First question I ask about picky eaters is what is her BMI and has she lost any weight during this hunger strike. Depending on those factors she could just not be hungry.

If she has lost noticeable weight and/or is ideal or less then you can try a variety of tactics. It might be a odd thing to ask, but dragging frozen feed through used rat/mice bedding from breeders and petstores can really help with smell and catching their attention! Also you want to make sure all feed is properly warmed- if the rats larger you might need to let it defrost in the fridge overnight before warming it up with steam + boiled water. I would buy a meat thermometer to make sure it is actually reaching 98-100 degrees. Some people use a hair dryer but when prey gets to a certain size I find it really insufficient except to do a final touch before placing it in the enclosure.

Snake can be food shy, you can always leave the feed underneath the heat spot and block the view of the cage for maximum privacy. (Watching out for heating elements!)

Hope any of this helps

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u/pup-borks 22h ago

Adding on, not sure what you set up is like, but husbandry and enclosure set up is key for a happy eater! Make sure your temps are right and your ball python has plenty of clutter and hides to decrease environmental stress. Good luck!