My snake is addicted to mice

[Wykyd]

So, I have a 2 1/2 year old Ball Python. She was eating f/t small rats for a while (3-4 months). Suddenly she began to refuse eating followed by roughly a 9 month hibernation (she would not come out of her hide). All temps/humidity have been solid. After around a year since her last meal, she shed twice in quick succession, roughly a month apart. Since she has returned to being very active, however, she will no longer eat rats. I have gone through roughly 5 r/t small rats and 2 live that I also tried euthanizing and feeding to her shortly after. So far the only thing I can get her to eat is mice, she will snag them up almost instantly, every time. Currently I am feeding her 3-4 adult mice every 2 weeks. My main concern is once she gets to full size, I will be feeding her around 10 mice to equate the same value of a large rat. I have tried scenting the rats with mice bedding, pinky blood/brains and yet she just ignores the rat. I have even tried rat pups... I'm starting to think I'm stuck feeding her mice. Can anyone shed some light or have another route I could possibly take to get her eating rats again?

[bigsnakegirl785]

I would stick to mice until she's back to weight. If she went a year without food (if I read your thread right), she will need to recover before you try to switch her.

I'm currently in the same boat, feeding my 1380 gram male 2-3 mice every 2 weeks. I tried to switch him to rats, which resulted in a 3 month fast where he rapidly lost weight. He is only just now almost back up to weight after 6-8 months, however long it's been, I'd have to look.

Have you tried feeding half-sized mice, and then a much smaller than usual rat behind it? That's how I switched my bp once, I'd give him the smallest live mouse I could find, and fed him a weanling or small rat right behind it as he was swallowing the mouse. He's stubborn, so sometimes he'd pull it out of his throat if I managed to get him to swallow some of it. I would keep both mouse and rat very small, to avoid overfeeding your snake, but if they eat it a few times sometimes they get used to it.

Ball pythons don't need large rats, so don't worry about trying to feed the equivalent to a large rat. Most ball pythons do perfectly well on a small rat at most. I've even seen successful breeders feeding bps 2,000-3,000 grams only a small rat every 2 weeks, the most they might do is feed weekly instead of biweekly or give them medium rats when building follicles.

[Albert Clark]

Everything that bsg said! I would consider switching the substrate to 100% cypress mulch as well. There is convincing literature that supports switching non feeding ball pythons to 100% cypress mulch and feeding them on their next scheduled day.

[Wykyd]

That's really interesting and I'll keep the bedding in mind. She's a very shy eater as it is and would probably refuse if I tried doing anything while she's eating. I'm going to continue trying to build her weight back up over the next few months... I'm mainly just happy she's eating again at least.

[Andy_G]

Keep in mind that some suppliers and vendors may be phasing out/no longer carrying cypress mulch due to environmental impact of harvesting cypress trees. There are more sustainable alternatives becoming available on the market that are very close to the same product.

[Albert Clark]

That's really interesting and I'll keep the bedding in mind. She's a very shy eater as it is and would probably refuse if I tried doing anything while she's eating. I'm going to continue trying to build her weight back up over the next few months... I'm mainly just happy she's eating again at least.

Well, just make sure not to buy the cheap cypress mulch blend from Home Depot or Lowes. That cypress mulch blend is garbage. Then you might as well not even buy it unless you get the 100% . Zoo Med makes a nice product. The article in case you want to read it is called " The Enigmatic Ball Python Appetite" by Colin Weaver of East Coast Reptile Breeders. It's up on his website as a unit in a series of topics concerning ball pythons. :Wow: I think some of the newer "blends " of cypress mulch may contain pine and cedar which can be bad or unhealthy for snakes.

[macandchz]

has anyone found some kind of small black bug in their aspen substrate bought from Petco? this has happened to me twice. it gave me a heart attack the first time because i thought it was a mite. i usually find one or two the day after i change the bedding. any ideas what these could be?

[Wykyd]

has anyone found some kind of small black bug in their aspen substrate bought from Petco? this has happened to me twice. it gave me a heart attack the first time because i thought it was a mite. i usually find one or two the day after i change the bedding. any ideas what these could be?

I'm not sure about bugs in Petco's substrate, I do know that Petco is one of the WORST places to buy pets and/or shop for them. I got my BP from Petco and she was underfed. They were feeding her fuzzies when she should have been on hoppers or large mice. She also had mites that originated from Petco (they quarantined their reptile section shortly after I purchased my snake). My advice is, find a new pet store.

[riddick07]

They could be mites. I buy my aspen from tractor supply since they don't sell animals. And I buy my coco husk from a gardening supply store for the same reason.

[Albert Clark]

You will rarely find snake mites in 100% cypress mulch as they really don't like the cypress oils that is naturally occurring in the 100% cypress mulch. I have been using it for years w/o any problems. I stay away from the cheap "blended" cypress mulch.

[Wykyd]

http://puu.sh/ogz6q/720134a057.jpg

She's 3 for 3 on mice... so again, for now I will work on building her back up. She is remaining very active which I highly enjoy. She pokes her head out around 8pm and by 8:30pm she's out and about. I'll get another picture of her this evening. Going to weigh her and get her length for the month.

[macandchz]

dear al, if they aren't mites and i don't think they are,because they are too big, could it be some kind of weevil like you get in flour? where else besides a pet store can i get aspen bedding? i don't think we have any gardening stores around here that sell it. would some place like agway have it? our gardening stores just sell plants.

[Wykyd]

Well, we're at week 4. So far she has eaten 7 live mice and shed once. Tonight I am attempting to feed her a f/t small rat that has been thawing in mouse bedding for a few hours. Bringing up the rat to temp a few times as she so far has not shown any interest. Making one more attempt before I put her back into her viv and leave the rat in there with her over night. At this point I'm thinking of my next step being braining/gutting a pinky onto a f/t small rat. I'm hoping to get her back on f/t and really don't want to go the live route unless she forces me to. My last resort will be to try a live small rat again before going back to mice. Any other input is greatly appreciated.

[Albert Clark]

dear al, if they aren't mites and i don't think they are,because they are too big, could it be some kind of weevil like you get in flour? where else besides a pet store can i get aspen bedding? i don't think we have any gardening stores around here that sell it. would some place like agway have it? our gardening stores just sell plants.

mac, try your local lumber yard. They may have a bunch of it stored in the side room . You may have to byobb bc they may not package it for you. Try WALMART as well.

[macandchz]

found a local pet shop in salem ohio and went in to check it out. bought a bag of aspen substrate there and haven't seen one bug since i used it. looks like i'll be taking a long ride every time mac needs cleaned!

[Albert Clark]

found a local pet shop in salem ohio and went in to check it out. bought a bag of aspen substrate there and haven't seen one bug since i used it. looks like i'll be taking a long ride every time mac needs cleaned!

Fantastic! Good job.