Everything sucks and i can prove it

Freakonaleash · 06-17-04, 12:28 AM

sup all. well my male BP just ate for the second consecutive time. Although it is the third time i have tried feeding him, the first time i was really clueless, and tried feeding him the first day i got him. Then i read about the two week acclimation period. So two weeks later, tried feeding him a fresh killed gerbil... and he ate it with the quickness. So, a week later (tonight) i just tried feeding him again, a fresh killed gerbil. he ate it fast, im telling ya... hes eating these gerbils like big mac's. so im going to stick with the gerbils, because honestly the price thing is not a big deal. and its not like the gerbil is doing any kind of physical harm to the snake , and i can pamper my baby if i so desire =) . im sure rats are an excellent food source to those of you who need lots of prey to feed your.... lots of snakes.... ? but i think gerbils are fine too. i probably will start trying to feed him two fresh killed gerbils in a row in one weeks time. i hope i dont get flamed here =x .... cause honestly, ive folled every piece of advice that has been given to me since i joined the site... other than putting him on rats... and sticking him in a rubbermaid. HOWEVER, over the summer i am going to be building him a nice enclosure to get him out of the aquarium, because yes im just having too much problems with temps, humidity and airflow in the aquarium. i got off subject... my bad... take it easy all.

elevation24 · 06-17-04, 02:13 AM

Geez, what's up with your wacky thread titles?

Well, anyway, good luck to you and it's great to see that you make fairly decent money wherein you can afford to feed your ball gerbils. Hell I can't even get them without driving 2 hours out of my way since they are illegal here in California

Lucky for me, the one time I needed them (to get 6 WC's eating), when I drove up to Reno I just so happened to unknowingly stumble across a sale -- all of the gerbils (babies & adults) were I believe $2.99 each, so I bought all of them since I was expecting to spend $7.00+ each. I still have 2 of the damn things and I can't get rid of them, so I guess they are pets now.

Anyway, I hope you never have to switch him from gerbils to rats or mice

Because you'll be pulling your hair out.

sapphire_moon · 06-17-04, 05:29 AM

Gerbils suck.
If you want to take care of your snake properly get it on rats.

If you can't get his temps stable then you really didn't take any advice besides the 2 wk acclimation period. And maybe (not sure) getting a digitial thermometer.
So the snake has to suffer because you can't get the temps right because you refuse to put him in a rubbermaid, and refuse to feed him right.

And here's a little info to, when he goes off feed (and he will, be it tomorrow or 5 yrs down the road) and you are spending anywhere from 12-24$ a WEEK (thats anywhere from 2-4 gerbils)on gerbils, and he's not eating them, You might as well be throwing your money out the window!
You must got money. Because even the big breeders on here that make $5,000 dollars off one snake don't use gerbils!

And god I hope your not using live, because gerbils are freakin viscious!

Just my opinions

marisa · 06-17-04, 01:12 PM

Sapphire Moon what do you mean by this>

"If you want to take care of your snake properly get it on rats"

People advising against gerbils is because of cost factor. Not snake health. In the wild balls feed on gerbil type rodents among other things...... Gerbils also get quite large, much larger than mice. I personally would get it rats, but it will NOT harm his snake to eat gerbils his entire life and it doesn't mean he is not caring for it properly.

Marisa

Matt_K · 06-17-04, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sapphire_moon
Gerbils suck.
If you want to take care of your snake properly get it on rats.

I'm not sure how feeding strictly gerbils is not taking care of your snake properly.. Is there any study that shows that rats are more nutritious then Gerbils? What about all the people that start their snakes on Rats and then get them on Rabbits? (yes, people do it with BPs too) are they mistreating their animals too??

Quote:

Originally posted by sapphire_moon
And here's a little info to, when he goes off feed (and he will, be it tomorrow or 5 yrs down the road) and you are spending anywhere from 12-24$ a WEEK (thats anywhere from 2-4 gerbils)on gerbils, and he's not eating them, You might as well be throwing your money out the window!

Are you saying that ALL Ball Pythons go off feed?? Cause if you are, you should tell some of my snakes that.. I know many people who have kept balls for years, that have had some go off feed, but a lot that never have... Rather then discouraging 'Freakonaleash' and putting down his husbandry maybe you could give him some help, let him know what has worked for you..

Freakonaleash · 06-17-04, 01:23 PM

THANK YOU MARISSA =) /hugs , the cost factor is not a big deal, now i dont know how much gerbils cost in ottawa kansas... or hell... anywhere else in the world. but here in collinsville illinois (15 minutes from st louis mo) , i can get a nice fat gerbil for 2.99 .... granted, they ARE smaller than rats and are not a huge meal... which is exactly why we are going to try feeding it two gerbils next week. so we decided to pamper our snake a little... i mean thats ok right? just so you know sapphire, i did TRY to give him a fresh killed rat... he showed absolutely no interest. and you already know im not gonna rub no dead bodies together, i dont even touch the gerbils, i use roach clips (or hemostets) it is not my fault that the snake is already a few years old, but that i just got it, and the previous owner fed it fresh killed gerbils. this is just what THIS particular snake eats.

Freakonaleash · 06-17-04, 01:25 PM

Elevation, my wacky thread titles reflect how im feeling at that particular moment. i am a huge music/movie buff. Everything sucks and i can prove it is a lyric from slipknots song "i am hated" which is exactly how i felt as i was typing it because i had been snapped on by several of the "higher ups" of the forum if you know what i mean =)~ . my names pit...... think samuel L jackson

Freakonaleash · 06-17-04, 01:30 PM

thank you Matt K . i mean i really am doing everything i can for the snake, and im being pissed on by all these people and it IS discouraging. i took him to the vet (i have a vet appointment for him once a MONTH), im going to be building him a new enclosure to get him out of the aquarium ( im just not willing to use a rubbermaid), i handle him as often as i was told to.... i mean i think im doing good. and sapphire is over here telling me im "slowly murdering" my snake... COME ON!!!! thats bs. just cause im not doing it "your way". is there a way to ignore peeps? cause i would really rather prefer you and mykee just cant read my inquiries / replies anymore. cause frankly im tired of being put down for doing everything in my power to give the snake a happy life !!!! ARGHHHH, im gonna go play some vice city

Freakonaleash · 06-17-04, 01:38 PM

i keep feeling the need to retort... sapphire, i have two, count em two, one two , uno dos, I, II, digi thermometers in my snake aquarium... each one measures inside/outside temp (outside being the probe) and humidity. I have both digi's on the inside of the aquarium up on the wall, with the probes going underneath the newspaper under the cool side hide box, and the hot side hide box. during the two week acclimation period, i had the thermo's moved higher up in the aquarium, so i could clearly see the readings through the screen top. for two weeks, i DID NOT open or mess with the aquarium AT ALL, other than to change out the water. and allthough the temps are for sure NOT stable, they are atleast in the safety range (hot side 90-97 , cool side 80-85) with a humidity of ATLEAST 65 percent. i feel like im doing a fairly good job. and for how much you guys get on me for feeding gerbils... remember... this is my ONLY snake, i dont breed, or collect or anything like that. so to throw 6 bucks a week down on gerbils (two gerbils, 2.99 a piece), is really not that big a deal ok? i could probably find 6 bucks a week in my washer/dryer. so quit trying to save me $$ and start trying to give constructive replies. not just to me either.

marisa · 06-17-04, 01:43 PM

The whole point is this.

If you are housing your ball with stable heat and humidity. The ball is eating FT gerbils...then fine. Keep feeding it gerbils. The reason people bring it up is because for some, gerbils are expensive and balls can get HOOKED on them. But you have only one snake, so it should be quite easy for you to continue with FT gerbils. Don't mess around with live gerbils PERIOD. Gerbils are nasty and can give a nasty injury. Another tip....buy some live gerbils and feed em. Gerbils can become QUITE large with time. Not as big as rats, but two giant gerbils makes a good meal for any size ball. I have had some very large gerbils in my house. It just takes time for the to reach that size. I'd grab a few live ones and feed 'em up, then whack them and freeze for future use. I'd also like to add, if you DO want to get it on rats, do so now. Because it will be harder later.

As for my reply to Sapphire Moon....you are a very negative person. You always point out faults that are not even faults in all cases. We are all learning, YOU included. You do not know everything and telling someone he is not keeping it properly because he decides on gerbils is just silly. It was immature and non-factual. People do not feed gerbils becaues of the cost and time it takes to get them to proper size, as well as ball pythons getting hooked on them. NOT health reasons the way your post suggested. If he has one snake and wants to commit to feeding FT gerbils.....so what? Get over yourself.

Good luck with your snake. I hope you continue proper care.

Marisa

Vengeance · 06-17-04, 01:43 PM

I think Saphire and Mikey are getting frustrated because besides the fact that you decided not to listen to their good advice, which is your choice and personnaly I couldn't care what you do, but your making it out like you've made every effort to either switch to rats when you haven't even had the python for more then a month.

Now is there anything wrong with feeding gerbils, hell if I know, I've heard they can be more fatty and the cost isn't my idea of a cost effective food item but hey if you wanna spend the money go ahead. But to say that you've tried pre killed rats and it just won't work is a lie. Reading through all your posts your on your 3rd feeding meaning that it's been aprox 5 weeks and you only attempt at feeding a rat was on the first day you got you python which was not a good day to try due to the fact your python was most likely very stressed. But you made the decision that when after a appropriate amount of ajustment time to try and feed, you went with gerbils. Mabye if instead of trying a gerbil you had of tried rats your ball python would be on rats and this whole thread would be mute. But you made your choice and again you choice to make, but understand rats are a much better source of food for other reasons besides nutrition. Being able to feed one large prey item instead of multiple prey items is supposed to be better, rats are more cost effective, and also much more readlity avilable.

But again do what you want, it's your Ball python and at the end of the day we can also only suggest what has worked for us and worked for other people in our experiance, but you'll still do what you want to do.

elevation24 · 06-17-04, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Freakonaleash
i could probably find 6 bucks a week in my washer/dryer.

Wouldn't that most likely have come out of your pocket anyway?

marisa · 06-17-04, 01:46 PM

Well this is true:

"making it out like you've made every effort to either switch to rats when you haven't even had the python for more then a month. "

Regardless of that though, I stick by my posts. He is not "not keeping it properly" if he decideds never to introduce another rat. And that's how her post came off. There is NO need for that.

Marisa

Vengeance · 06-17-04, 01:58 PM

I never said that he wasn't not keeping it properly, all I said was that by stateing that he has made every attempt to switch over to rats isn't true. I have no idea if gerbils are better or rats are better. But like I said rats are a much more avilable food source, and in the long run freak would have a much easier time finding adult rats then he will finding adult gerbils. But again that's his choice, and I'm not saying he is doing anything wrong, but in my personal opinion rats would be the better choice in the long run because of avaliablity.

marisa · 06-17-04, 02:14 PM

Venegeance- I know you didn't say that. I was refering to Sapphire Moons end all be all advice in her first reply to him, it was non-factual and pointless.

I agree with you that rats would be better, but for who? Us who have 15 snakes or more? lol. It's easy and cheap to feed ONE snake whatever you wish as long as its a rodent. There are no tests that show what nutritional needs snakes have so even comments about gerbils being this that and the other don't work.

In the end, my point was why say "gerbils suck" and "you arent keeping him properly unless he eats rats" when those comments are not factual, and pointless.

Marisa