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reptilez
08-02-03, 10:42 PM
I have a female ball python that is 3.5 feet long and about a year old. She is in a 4'x20"x2' wooden enclosure. The Ambiant temp is 87F. The hot side is about 90F and the cool side is about 85F. I have hides on both sides.
She used to take f/t rats all the time and just recently she went off for about 2 weeks. Today i dropped in a live rat and she caught it faster then you could say super-cala-fragil-istick-expi-ala-doshis:D
Why is this??
Thanks,
-Reptilez
BoidKeeper
08-02-03, 10:45 PM
Hard to say, that's a tuff one considering she was eating F/T. Now that she's eating again try F/T again for her next meal, just make sure it's warm.
Good luck,
Trevor
reptilez
08-04-03, 02:31 PM
I leave it under a heat lamp till both sides of the rat are equally warm(every 15min i flip them).
How do i stun them so there not fully dead and here not fully alive?
-Reptilez
snakedude_03
08-04-03, 02:42 PM
hey.. u could place the rat in bag.. and whach it against a hard surface like a table...
Solid Snake
08-06-03, 12:02 AM
dip the rat in wark water, i like to have my rats warm and wet before i feed it to my BP.
snakedude_03
08-06-03, 07:42 AM
i think he means warm not wark;)..lol
TheRedDragon
08-06-03, 08:57 AM
Originally posted by snakedude_03
hey.. u could place the rat in bag.. and whach it against a hard surface like a table...

I agree, but, be sure not to whack it TOO hard as Invictus found out the hard way what happens in that event. When I stun a mouse, I put it in a Ziploc (in the case of a rat, a BIG one), and push the rodent to a corner in the bag, making sure that there's no air pockets in it. Then I whack it on the table making sure that it's only hard enough to stun the creature. It will twitch quite a bit still, so, a snake will still get the idea that the prey is still alive and should hopefully take it with no problem.
mikemcguire
08-07-03, 12:08 AM
The ole' bag trick isnt to bad, i use a paper bag doubled up (because thats what i get my rats in) and give him one good wack, which usuallly stuns the rat pretty well and leave it twitching a little. I am pretty sure you can tell the difference between a good wack and a smack that would splatter his guts. That would take quit a wack.

My first was a little tough but after that, no problem.