JKS
07-17-02, 12:06 AM
My girlfriends captive hatched female Ball Python finally took a frozen thawed medium rat tonight, instead of the usual live. She is barely 13 months, and this is only the second time she's taken f/t. The only other time was at a few months of age. I tried everything to get her changed over but nothing has worked. Maybe she knew I was out of live, so it was this or nothing? heh
This picture of her was taken at about 8 months. She weighed about 345 grams, and had been off feed for 3 months. For the first 5 months she ate every 5-7 days without problem, then just started refusing everything.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/60jksball3.gif
She started eating again about a week after this picture was taken, and is packin' on the weight. She is still small but has easily doubled in size the past few months.
Since this is my girlfriends snake, it is kept in a tank with the works for show. Different size hides, climbing branches, etc. etc. Not the usual rubbermaid like the rest. Since day 1 because of the setup she has been moved to a rubbermaid to make feeding easier. With all the tank "furniture" there was just too many places for a mouse/rat to run. I've noticed the past while her feeding behaviour has changed so that she knows it's feeding time when she is moved. There is definately an association there now. I put her in the rubbermaid, close it and get the rat and when I open it again she is ready and takes the rat in seconds. She was never like that before, which made me think of trying f/t again and it worked like a charm. Hopefully it'll become the norm. But with the way some Ball Pythons can be, I won't get my hopes up.
This picture of her was taken at about 8 months. She weighed about 345 grams, and had been off feed for 3 months. For the first 5 months she ate every 5-7 days without problem, then just started refusing everything.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/60jksball3.gif
She started eating again about a week after this picture was taken, and is packin' on the weight. She is still small but has easily doubled in size the past few months.
Since this is my girlfriends snake, it is kept in a tank with the works for show. Different size hides, climbing branches, etc. etc. Not the usual rubbermaid like the rest. Since day 1 because of the setup she has been moved to a rubbermaid to make feeding easier. With all the tank "furniture" there was just too many places for a mouse/rat to run. I've noticed the past while her feeding behaviour has changed so that she knows it's feeding time when she is moved. There is definately an association there now. I put her in the rubbermaid, close it and get the rat and when I open it again she is ready and takes the rat in seconds. She was never like that before, which made me think of trying f/t again and it worked like a charm. Hopefully it'll become the norm. But with the way some Ball Pythons can be, I won't get my hopes up.