Ball wont eat

[Jasper2687]

I have a BEL that just wont eat. I have had her for about 9 weeks and I believe she has eaten 3 times. She was being fed live but i switched her to frozen. She didnt eat for 3 weeks then ate two weeks in a row. She didn't eat the next week but ate the week after. Now she has not eaten for about a month and I am unsure of what to do. I don't want her to get too skinny and she isn't growing at all. She was born 9/2012.

[mykee]

Simple! Feed her what she wants; live.

[Mark Taylor]

Why live if she will take F/T?

[Aaron_S]

Originally Posted by Mark Taylor

Why live if she will take F/T?

Obviously it's not working too well so feed it what it wants for now.

I don't get why our preference of feeding somehow takes over the health of the animal. Eventually it will be compromised by the lack of eating.

I will feed snakes live if that's what they want and I find they all switch eventually with time.

[Hannibalcanibal]

I have a ball that was the same way... When she was still small, i fed live, as she would not take frozen. Now, i have no problem with lifelong feeding of live if that is what the snake wants, but make sure to do it safely- no unattended rodents, put a pencil in the rodents mouth to keep it from biting if it looks like it could bite, etc.

Now, as for switching to frozen- what i did was, soak the rat in hot water for a looong time, replacing the water to keep it hot, and then leave the head under a heat lamp or blow dryer to get a nice warm target, then just drop it in the cage and let the snake do it's business.

I'd just give it what it wants though, the only reason i switched to frozen is the fact that the mice and rats at my only source started to look sickly...



In the end, it is your call, live or frozen. there are many ways to get it to switch, you just have to find the method that works for you.

[Mark Taylor]

I don't agree your talking about health when the snake could get injured by live.

The op has stated that the ball will take F/T so I don't see how the snakes health is at risk. I don't think we need another debate about F/T-Live.

That's all.

[Jasper2687]

I wouldn't mind feeding live but the closest place to me that has them is about 1 1/2 hours away from where I live. Is there a place online that sells live?

[mykee]

I have fed thousands upon thousands of live rodents to my snakes. NEVER ONCE have I had an incident. I toss the rat in, and move on to the next bin. If in 20 minutes it's not been eaten out he comes.
The snakes eaten by rat issue has been GREATLY blown out of proportion. Because why? There are two pictures that continuously circulate around the net every three months for the past 15 years of an eaten ball python.
Two snakes in fifteen years after tens of millions of live feedings? I'll take those odds any day Sir.

[Aaron_S]

As Mykee stated it isn't as bad as it's made out to be.

Don't be a dumbass and it's fine. Lots of breeders feed strictly live.

[Adam165]

I feed my little ball F/T mice but I wiggle them a little with feeding tongs and he likes that I guess. He doesn't eat unless I make the mouse do the eat me dance lol

[bcr229]

Originally Posted by Jasper2687

I wouldn't mind feeding live but the closest place to me that has them is about 1 1/2 hours away from where I live. Is there a place online that sells live?

If you're on facebook see if there's a reptile or herp group for your state or local area. You can ask there if there's a source for live feeders near to you. Some also advertise on CraigsList.

[MikeM77]

I've had my ball for 8 years I've fed her live untill about six months ago. As long as the rat is moving (being wiggled around) she takes them. I also buy live and kill right before feeding. That way there Is still a heat signature.

[rocknhorse76]

My adult BP has never had an issue with eating f/t because he's a living garbage disposal. Only catch is that I have to dangle and wiggle the rat in front of him or he won't touch it.