ok, I know Ball Pythons are not always good eaters, but... - Page 2

Cruciform · 06-05-04, 10:27 PM

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 · 06-06-04, 09:59 AM

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 · 06-06-04, 10:30 AM

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 · 06-06-04, 05:49 PM

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

sapphire_moon · 06-06-04, 08:10 PM

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

mykee · 06-06-04, 10:07 PM

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

justinO · 06-07-04, 12:47 PM

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 · 06-07-04, 02:08 PM

Quote:

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 · 06-07-04, 07:10 PM

Quote:

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 · 06-11-04, 01:51 PM

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 · 06-11-04, 07:28 PM

Quote:

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 · 06-12-04, 05:52 AM

Quote:

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!

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.