how long is too long?

[lostwithin]

At times the water bothers my ball as well, if she's being fussy i place the prey ment for her in a ziplock bag then in the water with the rest.

As for jiggling the prey it's almost an art lol. You have too do it just right too catch the snakes attention without scaring it. Here are a few tips I find help, drop your prey in front of the hide (about an inch out), keep your tongs on its tail. Then slowly pull it away a tiny bit at a time. When your "teasing ", the rat shouldn’t be moving much at all just pull on the tail enough too cause a bit of movement too catch the snake’s attention. (Picture a rat sitting there chewing on something, I try too mimic what a rat would be doing if it were alive and un aware that it was about too be eaten. That’s how snakes hunt) . NEVER move the rat toward the snake, balls are VERY head shy, as soon as you move it toward the snake it will pull back in fear and never touch the snake with the rat , again its response would be too try and escape, if the rat were alive it would be chewing on the snake, so that’s what the snake ready for if you “poke it” with a rats head. Just be patient, SLOWLY move it AWAY from the snake, the snake may not seem too be noticing but they are ambush animals, it will slowly follow,(and some time they are very very slow) while forming the classic "S" pattern too strike.

Good luck, it can take some practice, basically anything you do that cause the snake too move away, don’t do it any more, once you get it right once its just repetition.

Devon

[latazyo]

well, he just rejected FK, I whacked the poor bugger for nothing...I'll leave it in there overnight and see if he takes it

thanks for the suggestions so far

[Stockwell]

Originally posted by latazyo


Stockwell: how do I properly restrain live prey?

I don't!! Snakes have been killing their own food for milleniums, and people worry far too much about this. For what it's worth, I've always used mostly live food for snakes and I still do, when I have it, especially for some Erycines(sand boas) what just wont feed of non moving prey.
I've had the odd scratch and bite through the years but nothing that has resulted in any serious injury and certainly not death..
I don't think twice about tossing live appropriately sized prey into healthy animals, as thats the way I've been doing if for 25 years.
However, with that said, I must stress that I never feed adult rats, and hamsters and gerbils,can be extremely nasty must be watched and never left overnight. I'd avoid those altogether.
In my case I had to use gerbils and hamsters for a period, because that is all older WC balls will take.
You guys live in a new world where CB Regius are widely available. They feed well and you wont be needing any gerbils for them. So young weaning mice should be the job safely

The horror stories often invovle adult rats left for prolonged periods with snakes that are sick, at improper temps or recent transplants that are not acclimatized, and in no condition to feed.
I suggest you observe live feedings until you have confidence your snake will strike, but when it does, don't worry about a bit of a tussle.Thats how it happens every day all over the world.
It can be tough to watch, but snakes know what they are doing or they'd be extinct along time ago.
Pretty much all Ball Python breeders start baby balls on live food, generally small immature mice or hopper rats. Such food never fights back, and is harmless.
Once your snake is eating regularily, for convenience start switching it to F/t simply because its more convenient to stock pile frozen feed.

[latazyo]

alright,I got him to eat a ft mouse today, I'll try a live rat later this week