rats

[ricorice]

every 1 says that getting BP's on rats can b a pain i must b a lucky 1 then when i 1st got him he was just abpout fresh out of the egg so for the 1st few feeds i had him on thawed mice pinkies (heard there easyest to assist feed with) took me 4-5 feeds t get him strike feeding but he will only eat if i hold it and touch him on the nose with any thing so i used that and did it with a fuzzy rat and wam he had it still scares me half to death every time but that was like 6 months ago now hes eating every 5 days and hasnt missed a meal :D but my best m8 got 1 coz he fell in love with mine and he wont eat rats so hes giveing his to me for a while to get him on rats but dunno if its gonna work i think i was just lucky with mine that he will eat any thing i put in front of him lol

[Jeff_Favelle]

every 1 says that getting BP's on rats can b a pain i must b a lucky 1

Wrong. They are actually quite easy to switch. Especially CB babies. If you keep them properly, its INSANE how their feeding response is.

[ricorice]

oh ok then i must of miss read so i shouldnt have any probs switching my m8s 1 then will i

[arkuden]

when you get ready to feed him rats, keep the rat with the mice to scent him like a mouse then attempt to feed and you could trick the snake into thinking its a mouse. the next time you feed him a rat have the rat with the mice a little less each time untill you dont need to scent it at all.

[cjice]

I didnt have to scent or anything. I just offered it and it was gone..I considered myself lucky too as I have heard the same thing...Oh well, as long as they are eating.

[Jeff_Favelle]

When I get my DV camera, I'll make an .avi on how to feed babies. When I open the Rubbermaid lids to 99% of my babies, they are literally coming out of the cage like cobras. It is insane.

One mistake I always use to make, simply because I also breed boas, is to tease feed. Tease feeding and baby Ball Pythons is 90% condusive to failure. At least in my experience.

[RB420]

what do you mean by tease feeding?

[Jeff_Favelle]

Teasing the baby with the rat. Touching its back, its head, its neck, etc etc with the rodent. Works great for boas, bad for BP's.

[Phrasty]

Jeff could you go on as to why its so bad, and what would be the best way...

With mine i just show her the rat and if she doesnt strike right away i just leave it in there with her for a while (havent missed a feed yet)

Phrasty

[Jeff_Favelle]

There is no best way. Do what works for your snake, because they are all individuals.

Tease feeding tends to not worj with BP's because they are extremely HEAD SHY. So swapping them on the head doesn't seem to help the situation.

[Phrasty]

lol point taken

Phrasty