feeding problem =(

[Jer723]

Hey guys, well i feed my king every 2 weeks, and this saturday i moved him from huge fuzzys to hoppers, and hes big enough to eat them, but he refuses, no matter what i do he wont go for them. any thoughts, ive been trying for 2 days and he wont budge, so please!? any ideas?

 

[Red Earth Exotics]

Well, are they live or F/T-P/K? Sometime with my stubborn ball pythons I can take the F/T and put it and the snake in a brown paper bag overnight. Usually they will eat it then.

Another thing is that even if it looks like they can eat a certain size prey item, it may be large enough to inimidate them. I tried to switch some of my balls over to med rats and they wouldn't take them. I went back to small rats and they ate them right up. They physically could have eaten the med's but for some reason I think they were intimidated or 'scared' by the larger meal. Hope this helps.

 

[Jer723]

it helps a little, i use live mice

 

[grapesofwrath]

I agree with the intimidation factor. If the snake is refusing the larger prey items, then I would simply put him back on the prey items that he is feeding on without problems. He will be better off eating two of the fuzzys, then not eating one hopper.