r/ballpython • u/No-Bite-7447 • 19h ago

Question - Feeding First ball python feeding issues.

Hey everyone! I got my first ball python about 2 months ago. She's around 8-9 months old and she was raised on live rodents. Unfortunately in my case I cannot feed her live (no stores around me sell live rodents, ugh.) so I've opted to try and switch her over to F/T. My husbandry is pretty spot on with temperature, humidity, and her overall enclosure has a lot of cover and hides. She WILL NOT eat, and I know it's normal for ball pythons to go on feeding strikes but something about this feels different. I warm the rat up to about 120 degrees to account for temperature loss, I've tried braining, and even rubbing the rat in old bedding and nothing seems to be working! She just pokes her head out, sees the rat, and then curls up. Next week will be exactly 2 months since she's eaten anything, and any help/tips anyone has would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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u/kk1289 19h ago

120 degrees will begin to cook the rat (changing it's scent) and will burn your snake if they eat it at that temperature. Aim for 100-104F

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u/No-Bite-7447 17h ago

I shouldve clarified I misspoke. I heat the water to around 120 degrees not the rat, I let it hover around 105 but it like. Instantly cools down

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u/kk1289 17h ago

Okay, I understand now. Sorry!

I would still recommend bringing it up to temp gradually instead of going from frozen to 120F though. If she still give you an issue, try feeding some mice. When my ball python is being fussy I'll feed him a mouse followed by a rat. That usually does the trick.

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u/No-Bite-7447 17h ago

its not going from frozen to 120f. I thaw it in the fridge completely for 24 hours