ok, I know Ball Pythons are not always good eaters, but...

[Bristen]

how can we keep the feeder cost low? I've been throwing out quite a few rodents.. I try to feed once a week, and try to get them to eat around 100g to 150g of rats per meal (opting for two smaller rats that are in the 50g to 90g range when possible)... the weight of my snakes range between 900g to 1600g...

I have found so far, that they normally won't eat more than 100 to 120g per meal, but will not necessarily eat once a week (at least this is the pattern so far)...

Sooo.. I was thinking of taking food out for half of my snakes once a week, and if some of that half doesn't eat, I can offer it to the other animals that were not scheduled to eat until the following week. That way, I could possibly end up throwing away less rats?

Just wondering how the big guys do it.. probably have enough snakes that if one doesn't eat it, just feed it to another one??

Thanks,
Bristen.

[Invictus]

Yup.... always make sure you have a hungry "garbage disposal" snake ready to go in such an event. :)

If it's rats though, I will re-freeze them ONCE. Hasn't caused any problems yet.

[corr]

Originally posted by Invictus
Yup.... always make sure you have a hungry "garbage disposal" snake ready to go in such an event. :)


Ditto. Now that I have seven snakes, I hardly EVER throw any out. The Ball gets offered first then on down the line. :)

[Tim_Cranwill]

I have 15 ball pythons that will eat small-medium rats. I thaw 2-3 rats every few days and usually have no leftovers. When I do, my big male carpet pythyon will always help me out. ;)

This way, I don't throw many or any feeders away. The bp's that are on a hunger strike can just keep on striking but the ones who are wanting to feed like mad, have that chance every 3 or 4 days.

[sapphire_moon]

Or breed on a VERY small scale :) lol

[lostwithin]

When I feed I take out food for everything but my large female boa. Then when everybody is done i through in all the leftover little like for a ball, or young snake. She’s cleans them up no problem. if everybody eats or if I think she could use some more I thaw out a nice jumbo for her the next day she never refuses. She will eat anything any time. Got to love those "garbage disposal snakes" I don’t refreeze because she cleans everything up. and if a snake has refused for too long I leave the item in the cage over night, then through it out.
Devon

[Bristen]

ok, so you guys are telling me I should get another snake?? Man I love you guys.. :D now to convince my wife! ha! ;)

Seriously, I only have Ball Pythons, and will most likely only have these for a while.. I currently have only 6 snakes. So was my plan to try and feed once a week, but only try to feed half of the animals a reasonable plan of attack? I don't mind paying for rodents when they are eaten, but I just hate to pay 3 to 4 bucks a piece just to thaw them out and throw them out into the garbage... :(

Thanks for the replies so far!
Bristen.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Breed Boas as well and you'll NEVER have left over rodents.

[Derrick]

I havent had to toss a feeder since I got my Hog ils boa. Shes always got room for one more.

[mykee]

I have 19 balls and I always end up throwing something out. It's part of the game.

[VooDooMafia]

Get your self a african house snake lol they seem to eat anything and everything you offer.

I can't remember the last time I had to toss food away but then again with the house snake, corns and snapper I have alot of garbage cans lol

[lostwithin]

hmm . With 6 ball pythons, I’d defrost 2 a week, (if they tend too be picky, but you know your snakes better then me, if 2 out of the six give you problems but the other 4 normally eat fine then defrost 4 offer the pickiest one a rat first and move down the line. But it would be much easier if you had a nice sized boa, you could easily give her 4 of the rats you’d feed a ball python. You mind if I ask where in NB, you’re located, and where you pick up your rats?? I’m living just outside Moncton and running low. But 4 bucks apiece seems very pricey. Pm me with it if you’d prefer not post it.
Thanks,
Devon

[Bristen]

Originally posted by lostwithin
[...] You mind if I ask where in NB, you’re located, and where you pick up your rats?? I’m living just outside Moncton and running low [...]

Devon,

the 3 to 4 bucks was just a rough estimate, which was actually way off what I actually paid for it.. I still hate to throw them out :( I ordered 170 frozen rats (mail order), of which 120 were for me. I ended up paying about $2.25/ea (20 med and 100 small rats).

I ordered them from Corey Woods... they appear to be good quality rodents that arrived frozen like a rock!! I've done mail orders before just to get a bunch of thawed rats that I had to re-freeze and got all super mushy.. yuk!!

My mother bred rats for a while for me, but she's now down-scaling and as far as I know, she doesn't have anything left on hand.. if you're really stuck, you can try Pets Unlimited (as much as I hate to give them any money).. they will sell feeder rats I believe..

Good luck!
Bristen.

[Bristen]

Originally posted by lostwithin
[...] You mind if I ask where in NB, you’re located [...]

oups, forgot to answer this one.. I'm actually in Scoudouc... it is about 20 minutes from Moncton and about 10 minutes from Shediac (sort of in between both)...

[Bristen]

Originally posted by mykee
I have 19 balls and I always end up throwing something out. It's part of the game.

well, I guess I'll start working with that then.. if it's part of the game, I can live with that.. just trying to minimize I guess.. I will start attempting to feed smarter and see if I can have a better record. Thanks for the replies everyone, was very helpful!

Thanks,
Bristen.

[Cruciform]

Taking food from one cage and putting it into another could transmit disease, so don't do it with any of your new/quarantined animals :)

Enjoy the new snake :)

[BoidKeeper]

Ah it's nice to have a boa! But really like I said on the phone last night. I just thaw out the rodents I need for my picky eaters on one night. If they refuse I given them to my good eaters. If they take it then I either thaw out more for my good eaters of feed them the next night.
Cheers,
Trevor

[nita]

I'm the same way I thaw out what I know my garbage disposal snakes will eat and off to my picky eaters first and then if I have to I thaw out more!! Of course Whiplash who will pull back 2 small rats a week didnt' eat for me last night because he is just starting to shed!! Eyes weren't clouded too much but a nice pinkish belly and totally head shy, wouldn't even look a food, LOL, oh well soon as he sheds he'll make up for lost time. Bout time he shed he wieghed 1140g when I got him May 4th and he is now 1530g! Bout time for a shed!

[mykee]

Nita, I think you might be overfeeding your ball. 400 grams in one month is a little overboard IMO.

[sapphire_moon]

ya but some of that might come out with the shed to mykee, lol :)

[mykee]

For the snakes' sake, I hope 3/4 of it comes out with the shed...

[justinO]

my system is the savannah monitor, he LOVES when the bp's don't eat, he gets all the leftovers.....

but since you don't have another animal to eat the refused ones, I think your original idea might work out well, OR, only thaw one rat, if the first one refuses, try the second, if the second refuses, throw it out or create a bag of refused ones the have been re-freezed & give them to a lizard owner!
:P

but, i'd suggest only thawing one at a time, at least that way you only ever waste one.

[Linds]

Originally posted by Cruciform
Taking food from one cage and putting it into another could transmit disease, so don't do it with any of your new/quarantined animals :)


Exactly. I also do not do share food between established snakes either. It's fine if the food that has been refused has never touched the snake or its enclosure, to try it with someone else, but I never do once it's hit the floor. If you have several snakes that aren't reliable feeders, I would go with Justin's suggestion of thawing one at a time instead. Also, as snakes mature they do not need as much food. Your snakes may simply be telling you they do not want to be fed as often.

[Bristen]

Originally posted by Cruciform
Taking food from one cage and putting it into another could transmit disease, so don't do it with any of your new/quarantined animals :)

Enjoy the new snake :)

in my case I tease-feed all my animals, so if a rodent is refused, it wasn't in contact with anything so risks of transmitting something to another snake is close to zero. As far as enjoying my new snake, this has been the worst torture I've had to put up with since I've been keeping snakes.. this really nice pastel that I can barely look at.. argh!!! I'm trying really hard to leave him alone.. in two weeks, he's been out of his box 3 times for no more than 5 minutes a shot.. trying to reduce that for a little while now so he can start eating :-)

Thanks for all the replies folks, I'll keep you all posted how feeding goes this week.

Later,
Bristen.

[Bristen]

as promised, here's the update how feeding went this week... I only took 3 small rats out (all 82g, 86g, 87g), and it was a good thing, because I could of only probably fed one more anyways..

I started with the picky eater first... the male pastel might not be a picky eater later, but for now he has not eaten anything. He did not want to eat this week yet, so I left him alone after trying once or twice. I always tease feed my snakes, but maybe this guy picks the up off the floor when they are not moving, I may try this approach for next feeding and see if that helps.

Then I went to the he female het albino (not a good eater so far unfortunately) ... she refused also. She just shed, and I would of expected her to eat, but not this time. She goes in splashes. Doesn't eat, but when she eats, she wants to eat the whole house.. strange beast.

The male het albino also refused (what a surprise!). He's been a very bad eater since I got him. He eats enough to keep alive and healthy, but I doubt I'll see much weight gain with this little guy. Doesn't matter though, he appears to be healthy and he only has one female to take care of next year anyways.

I then tried the female reduced-pattern-black-back-granite-blushing female (ok, aka a pretty, normal female for now until proven otherwise.. I still like her just the same heh). She was a great eater last year, but hasn't been too good this year yet. However, she did eat this week. In total, she ate two rats (about 165g worth of rats). I think this was a good sized meal for her (she's a little over 900g now).

And last, I fed one rat (82g) to my normal female that I received lately.. she eats anything any time and never refuses a meal.. she's over 1700g now so this was a small meal for her.. she'll eat next feeding also though I'm sure... I doubt I'll have a problem getting her to eat again. She should be in good shape this coming season for the Pastel project.. hopefully the reduced pattern female will be ready also.

I think I had offered one of the small rats to the normal male (pet), but he refused.. I later offered this rat to my female reduced pattern (this would of been her second rat).

Sooooo.. the "moral of the story" is that I did not throw away any rats.. will try to feed again tomorrow night and see how that goes.

Thanks everybody,
Bristen.

[BoidKeeper]

but maybe this guy picks the up off the floor when they are not moving,
I have one female liek this right now and I've had a male that would eat that way too. Personally I prefer this type of feeder. I don't have to stand there all night doing the rat dance. Drop it outside the hide box and move on to the next cage.
Cheers,
Trevor

[Bristen]

Originally posted by BoidKeeper
I have one female liek this right now and I've had a male that would eat that way too. Personally I prefer this type of feeder. I don't have to stand there all night doing the rat dance. Drop it outside the hide box and move on to the next cage.
Cheers,
Trevor

LOL!! Trevor.. stop it! I'm having ugly images of Trevor doing the "rat dance" in my head! :p

This type of feeder is the best with regards to time yes.. maybe it's not very scientific, but I read somewheres that an important part of a captive snake's exercise is killing their prey.. I've always felt that if I got them to strike, coil etc it would provide them with a little exercise.. Anyways, not very important I guess.. as long as they eat!!

Later,
Bristen.