It's about time!!!

[stlphotogal]

We got our Ball on 3/27 and, being our first snake, had a learning curve with his husbandry (temps/hides/etc). We sorted that out quickly so by mid-April we thought he would take food...no dice. We tried every 10 days with minimal handling and then we found mites on him. We treated for the mites - three more weeks passed and still he hadn't eaten. He had a complete shed with no issues so we thought it was time for him to eat...again, nothing. Last night I tried again, this time pre-scenting the room with the rat on top of his cage and then hairdrying the poor dead thing until it was piping hot. I used the tongs to gently touch the mouses nose to my snakes and about peed my pants when he struck - WAHOO! I was thrilled that he'd finally eaten. I left him undisturbed for the night and he was snoozing happily buried in his aspen this morning. Thanks for all of the past threads on this issue...it helped me figure out what techniques were best for getting my guy to eat. :)

[Lankyrob]

COngrats - glad to hear a happy ending!! Its great when snakes feed for us for the first time isnt it?:yes::)

[dragunov.762]

glad you snake finally ate for you. BP are notoriously picky eaters (as you found out) i would go with rats though as mice are not a healthy (too much fat) and it is harder to switch from mice to rats than to just start on small sized rats.

[infernalis]

congrats on the feeding! well done.

[shaunyboy]

great news pal.long may it continue
cheers shaun

[Nafun]

My ball was a ridiculously picky eater for the first 4 months I had him. Now he's the most aggressive eater of all my snakes. I also recommend switching to rats as soon as possible. You're going to have to eventually, and sooner is better than later.

[stlphotogal]

We are planning on switching to rats for his next feeding but were more concerned about him eating at all! Thanks for the well wishes and kudos...I couldn't have done it without all the helpful info from you guys! :)

[Evra0914]

that's great he finally ate! :)

[stlphotogal]

Our guy ate his first rat on Thursday 6/24 - he struck and chowed down like it was nothing - I'm so glad that the transition from f/t mice to f/t rats wasn't tough.