Ditto to everything @armiyana Christina said and only to add that except for getting him in a much smaller bin do not handle him at all, nada, for at least a week after that, including do not try to feed him again for at least a week. Give him uninterrupted solitude. 
4 Likes
This is what I learned from Robert Barraclough (Royal Balls) from YouTube, check him out.
BP feeding is 100% instinctual, they do not have to be taught to feed. There are three triggers to getting a feeding response: (rodent) smell, heat signature and movement.
The first trigger is smell. About 10-15 minutes before he wants to feed, he puts a bin of live, stinky rodents in the snake room. Within minutes the snakesā behavior changes dramatically. Without the rodents in the room the snakes are calm and sedentary. After they get a whiff of rodents, they get very lively and start poking around in anticipation of being fed, like theyāre hunting for the prey. He calls this they become āhot to trotā. Theyāre almost in a frenzy. He claims when theyāre in this state he can feed them anything and theyāll eat it, even his boot. If you donāt have access to live rodents as you are feeding F/T, he claims you can get the same response by putting a bucket of warmed F/T in the room again 10-15 minutes before you want to feed. If you only have a single F/T because you only have a single snake, I would introduce the single, warmed F/T to the snake room 10-15 minutes before you want to feed. Try to get it outside of the cage, but near the vent holes of the enclosure. The idea is to get the snake to smell the rodent for a good 10-15 minutes before you actually feed it. Do NOT thaw and warm the F/T in the snake room, do it away from that room. If the snake smells rodent for an extended period of time, it will become used to the smell and lose interest in feeding. Kind of like grandma being used to her house smelling like moth balls. She canāt smell them anymore because her nose has gotten used to the smell. But when you walk into her house you definitely smell moth balls. Once you recognize that the snakeās behavior has changed and it appears to be hunting, first step is accomplished.
The second trigger is heat signature. You have to warm the F/T up to be warmer than room temperature. That way the BP can āseeā the warm rodent body with its heat pits. It doesnāt have to be scalding hot, just warmer than room temperature. And when you offer the rodent, use some sort of tongs. That puts separation between the warm rodent and your warm hand. The snake can more clearly see the heat signature of the rodent and not get confused by the heat signature of your hand.
The third trigger is movement. When offering the dead rodent, wiggle it a little bit to make it appear alive. Do not bop the snake on the face with the rodent, often that will intimidate the snake and it will retract and lose interest. If youāre still not getting a strike, but it looks like the snake is interested, pull the rodent away, wait a few seconds and then reintroduce the rodent. You might have to do that a few times to get a strike.
I noticed in your post and video you warmed up the F/T and you used tongs, both excellent. The girl seemed REALLY interested, but I noticed you didnāt wiggle it or pull it out, wait a few seconds and reintroduce the rodent. I think if you would have done that it would have pushed her over the edge and you would have gotten a strike.
You should wait a few days and try again. Maybe try some of the stuff I outlined above.
2 Likes
Thank you! I planned to get more things to put in there (I live in a very small area and not a lot of stores to choose things from) and we looked at a smaller enclosure but couldnāt find one in our area that would give him the heat/cooling areas we were advised he needed and were told as long as we filled it up, he would do fine.
As far as the branch, he was only up there one time when he was exploring, he had left my hand and went up there for a bit then climbed back down.
I interact with him roughly 10-15 minutes a day (other than just letting him watch me do regular things through the glass) and I let him come to me when heās in his hide. He seems to really like the one thatās in there, its pretty shallow to the ground and heās able to curl up in there.
I will get more items to fill up the sparse areas to make him feel more comfortable. iām just concerned with him being so young and not eating. It is cold where I am and my house does not stay at a warm temperature so a tub habitat worries me that he wonāt be able to stay warm.
2 Likes
Thank you for that info! Iāll check out that youtube page for sure!
I clipped the video to show how he was rubbing on it, I did wiggle it in the beginning and got his attention, to which he watched it for a while. When he didnāt go for it the first time, I pulled it out and put a little more heat on it and tried again and he did the same thing. I even tried to put it closer to the ground like it was walking near him but he just watched it.
2 Likes
I would stop handling him completely until heās eating consistently, as handling can contribute to stress levels.
When you say his āhideā, do you mean singular, as in he has only one??? Give him a bunch, some on the hot side, some on the cool side, some in the middle. Fill the whole enclosure with clutter and places to hide, a hiding ball python is a happy ball python. The enclosure size will be fine as long as itās cluttered up and thereās not too much open space
Iād make sure the prey is body temp as well, they often wonāt strike if itās not warm enough
6 Likes
The number one top priority for a ball python is security. As you know and others have posted above, they do not feel secure in wide open spaces like in a large enclosure. Thatās why you need many tight hides and lots of clutter. I definitely like the idea of crumpled up paper until you can get your permanent clutter. A large enclosure can work with lots of clutter.
After acquiring a new BP, you should definitely not handle them for a good week or two. They need the time to settle in and acclimate without the stress of handling. And I wouldnāt even try to feed until after a week of settling in.
As much as you want to handle your BP, as much as you think they like to be handled, handling causes stress. Stress leads to feeding issues. They really donāt want to be handled, period. Donāt believe me? Take your ball out, put her on your flat hand, put your hand flat on the ground. Once she stops freaking out and uncurls from a ball, sheās going to take off and explore. They will always prefer free roaming to a holding session. So many pet keepers canāt come to terms with the fact that itās in the snakes best interest to NOT be handled. These are not dogs. They are not cats. They are not mammals. You canāt treat them like a mammal pet. I donāt mean to bash anyone about the whole handling thing, I just think if keepers really thought about what the snake wants more and what they want less, they might come to the conclusion that handling is not in the snakes best interest as I have. Sometimes is just takes lots of experience and reflection to come to terms with it. Robert Barraclough (Royal Balls) from YouTube has a video talking about less handling to keep the stress down. I REALLY like his videos. Heās very knowledgeable and spot on for many topics.
2 Likes
Hang in there and post here often. Youāre doing many things correctly and itās apparent youāve done lots of research. Lots of folks here love to help out and not judge like on other platforms.
2 Likes
@kaymalar If you have a Dollar Store or a hobby store near you, you can pick up some fake greenery to clutter up your tank. And as @chesterhf Hilary said, lots of small snug hides.
And btw welcome to the community! We are so happy you are here! You will love this place! No judgement here!
What is your beautiful boyās name? He is really very pretty! Sorry your welcome aboard came so late! 
3 Likes
Hmmmm. So I have to respectfully disagree with you here. And of course this is just my humble opinion due to experience with my snakes.
When I do my weekly cleaning I handle each one of my 22 snakes individually. I check them out for any health issues. They get some out of the enclosure exercise and some one on one social interaction with me.
I have 15 ball pythons. Their personalities vary. Some are super curious and some not so much. None of them seem to mind handling. I think itās because I interact them on a regular basis. I donāt believe this weekly interaction stresses them out because they all eat consistently, including the rest my 22 snakes. Sometimes even in the middle of a shed.
Again this is just my humble opinion due to my experience with my own snakes, that if a snake feels safe enough to eat consistently in itās surrounding environment, it will feel safe enough and even enjoy occasional short handling periods with its keeper. 
2 Likes
Ah, I think youāre confusing physical contact with handling. Certainly when you clean once a week and inspect their health youāll have to make physical contact with the snakes. I donāt consider that by itself handling, just physical contact. When you say they get exercise, is that via free roaming or are you actually handling them? I suspect they are free roaming (supervised, of course) while you tend the enclosure. Or are you actually holding and handling them for an extended period of time like you would a Rubikās Cube?
Iām talking about actively handling for 10+ minutes just for the sake of handling. Thatās what I have an issue with. Thatās what I think the snakes tolerate, but do not necessarily want.
When I plop down on the couch my cat comes up to me. She rubs on me. I rub her ears and she purrs and kneads on me. Clearly she likes it, not merely tolerates it. If she didnāt enjoy it, she would leave. Snakes are not the same. You open their enclosure and if they come out on their own itās to free roam, itās not to come see you. They may even come over and tong flick you, but thatās just because youāre standing right there and you smell familiar. And if you extend your hand they may even climb onto you, but I bet they donāt stay with you. I bet as soon as they climb onto you they climb off to free roam. They donāt actually want to be handled. And if youāre forcing them to do something they donāt really want to do, itās got to be causing them some level of stress.
I feel this is more than merely my opinion. I feel itās fact. Maybe Iām way off, but I donāt believe I am.
If youāre not having feeding issues, then youāre probably not significantly stressing your BPs. I believe many of the chronic feeding issues keepers have with BPs are due to stress, whatever may be the cause.
Feel free to disagree, of course, but maybe ponder and reflect on my thoughts and see if thereās any truth there.
2 Likes
This is what I am talking about so I see where we are not talking about the same thing. I keep all my snakes in my bedroom, so when I clean their tubs I will hold them for a minute or two and then let them stretch out on my bed while I clean the tub, fluff substrate and clean the water bowl. Then I may hold them for a few seconds more before I return them to their clean tubs. They are not out long enough to be stressed but at least they get a little human interaction. Of course it is more for me than them! 
Yes I totally agree with this. When you hold a ball python long enough and it starts to move straight as an arrow quickly in any direction to get away, itās time out, snake is stressed and needs to be returned to its enclosure yesterday. And yes they will slither away as soon as you put them down as opposed to sitting cozily on your lap in front of the television. They are definitely not in the same category as a cat or a dog! Totally agree!
Great discussion @kavoll!
3 Likes
Thank you! A breeder actually recommended this website and iām so grateful they did!
While I am waiting to get to the store this weekend, I remembered I had some strings of fall leaves in a tub. I grabbed those last night and placed them all around his enclosure yesterday evening to give him some more coverage and to clutter it up some more. He came out of his hide shortly to check things out but never fully emerged. Iām hoping tonight he will come out more and explore. I made sure not to remove him from his hide when I put the leaves in there, I simply moved slowly and watched his body language so ensure he didnāt feel as though I was a threat. He had his head out almost the entire time and was just resting. If I can get the video to upload, I have a short clip of him curiously checking out the leaves.
I did notice that when I get home from work and turn on the room light and begin moving around (yesterday I was just cleaning) he does poke his head out a bit and watches, I believe he is pretty curious as some snakes are, but he does not retreat when I move upto the enclosure to say hello. (My son is a little jealous because he doesnāt come out of his hide when he arrives home from school lol) iām sure itās just coincidence as snakes donāt really recognize sounds or things but I like to believe otherwise 
2 Likes
Poking out of the hide can be a good sign!
BPs are ambush hunters and thatās ideally when and where you would want to try feeding them. When theyāre doing those little peeks in a dim room in the evening. They donāt usually come out looking for food, they like it to come up to the house, doordash style.
As a heads up, itās also when you want to be careful about getting a little too close to the hide because you may get a quick nip too before they realize you arenāt food. Little ones can get excited
4 Likes
Thank you for the heads up on that! I tried to make sure when I got near his hide I kept at the side and really kept my focus on him and his movements! Iām really hoping the filler will help him feel more relaxed and able to explore more!
2 Likes
@kavoll Weeeeelllll I might have lied a bit! Here is Izzolena, produced by @banereptiles Nathan, hanging out with me while I am sitting here catching up on the news for awhile!
She just kinda settles on me!
6 Likes
Why thank you Jennifer! Thatās exactly what Nathan said! I upgraded her enclosure this afternoon and she was like āIāll just hang out with you for awhile!ā When she unwound herself she just laid on my chest until I had to put her up! She is the most laid back BP!
3 Likes
Your getting some great advice but I will drop this here as a last resort: New owner with non feeding hatchling, troubleshooting 101
5 Likes
i just saw this topic and decided to read through it, and oh boy. Yup, had that one happen to me! Thankfully it feels like a paper cut at most :)) Iāve now developed the habit of lifting their hides up with a drumstick (who knew being a percussonist had its perks in snakes, too!) to prevent this, LOL. Theyāre, like you said, ambush hunters. They see a quick movement of warmth infront of their hide, and they go for itā¦ made the mistake of not washing my hands after sticking my f/t rats in the freezer, and i got a nip. Bleeds like crazy but feels like nothing, in my experience. But the teeth marks made a smiley face, so iām taking that as an apology, lol.
4 Likes
as horrible as it sounds, ball pythons are very very picky eaters and will only eat live, or thawed. if your beautiful baby isnāt eating thawed Iād suggest trying live feeding. live feeding is riskier and it is more disturbing (in my opinion) but thatās the reality of owning a ball python. if you decide to try live feeding here are some tips/ doās and dontās:
-
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS supervise live feeding: the risk with live feeding is the prey fighting back. when the prey is younger it is less of a problem but once you upgrade to rats, there is a chance they wonāt go down without a fight.
-
if your BP doesnāt take an interest, donāt leave the prey in the cage.
there are so many more tips but I recommend visiting this site for more tips on feeding:Ball Python Feeding Tips | ReptiFiles' Ball Python Care Guide
or look at more post on this website!