Best way to feed a new BP?

[GotBalls?]

Hey all,

Just curious, but HOW exactly do you feed your BP's? Do you just put the pre killed feeder in the enclosure at night and hope for the best or?

My guy is very active at night and I'm sure he is hungry as it has been a week since he last fed, i put an adult mouse in for him yesterday, he was interested but didn't touch it. I thought I would try again tonight, with a different one of course... but I wanted to know if there was a better way to do it?

Thanks

Nicole

[elevation24]

Some of mine will eat if I just leave it in the enclosure, some won't. The ones that won't I use tongs and dangle it in front of them or the hide they are in and usually they go right for it.

[Weather1]

My ball eats anytime of the day. I feed her out of her enclosure. I put her into a smaller rubbermaid. Then I add the rat with foreceps. She usually strikes it and eats.

Try feeding her in another enclosure.

[eyespy]

How new is new? If you've had the snake less than a month, it's not a bad idea to go slowly with the feedings. High stress hormone levels means they don't metabolize their food very well so waiting a week after they refuse food isn't a bad idea as long as the snake is in good condition.

[jfmoore]

Hi Nicole –

If I just thawed a rodent and left it in one of my ball python’s cages, whether the snake was 20 years old or 2 months old, I would be willing to bet you a hundred dollars that the food would still be on the cage floor in the morning. Your mileage may vary.

Most experienced herpers who feed frozen-thawed food offer it to the reptile on long tweezers or hemostats. Kitchen tongs will work just about as well. Thaw the rodent however you choose. Heat it up (or at least heat its head up). I do so under an old lamp with a circular reflector. Some people put the rodent in a zip lock bag and then into warm water. Pick up the warm rodent with your tongs and bring it near your python’s heat pits. Bam! Sometimes their initial reaction is to jump away or hide their heads until they get a sniff of what that warm object is. Then, bam! I saw the photo you posted of your new snake – it is definitely used to feeding! Just remember, tongs, warm rodent, make warm rodent move a little bit. Sometimes warmth isn’t necessary; sometimes rodent movement isn’t necessary; but some sort of long holder like tweezers or tongs should always be used.

-Joan

[GotBalls?]

Thanks Joan,

he was feeding very regularly before I bought him, eating adult mice and baby rats. I got mice just cause rats from the local pet store are $$$ and I dn't want to support them in any way, but until I can get some from the local mouse guy I was hoping they would do.

I waited a week, and he is very active in his enclosure at night, constantly looking for a way out LOL.

I tried dangling it in front of him and he was far more interested in just climbing up it and out of there. Doesn't seem to really appeal to him at all, he is much more interested in climbing up my arm. So should I just quit for now and try again in a few days?

Nicole

[morph]

I'm not sure if you did but heat the rodent up esp. around the head and he will probably strike it. Doesn't sound like it was warm enough


scott

[morph]

ooops I just read Joans reply man I should really read all posts before I reply

Scott

[GotBalls?]

I thawed it in warm water then tried to warm it up near a light bulb... not sure if it was warm enough...how warm should it be?

[morph]

use your hair dryer and just make it hot too the touch around the head and offer it head first. This is my best results getter.

Good luck
Scott

[GotBalls?]

hehe I don't have a hair dryer

[jfmoore]

See, this is why buying from a local breeder is such a good thing. You should immediately telephone the breeder (no, wait until, oh 3:00 A.M) and pick his brain for lots of tips. Like, maybe he was only feeding black hooded rats on Tuesdays between midnight and dawn. It’s possible. Maybe the snake is now imprinted on a male food supplier. Maybe the little guy misses the smell of his clutchmates Or maybe not.

Okay, so seriously? Well, you sure aren’t going to hurt him by waiting and trying again later. One of the few generalities I feel safe in making about feeding ball pythons is that once I’ve tried for a few minutes and the snake shows absolutely no interest in taking the dead food I’m offering, then it’s usually a lost cause for me to keep trying right then. Try again tomorrow, maybe under subdued lighting. Meanwhile, why not describe for us how you have him set up, your temperatures, and how exactly you’ve tried to feed him thus far?

[morph]

Hey JF why don't you post your # for us too call when we have a problem


Scott

[Tim_Cranwill]

Give Jeff a call... I'm sure he'd be more than happy to help.

[GotBalls?]

well fortunately for Jeff I won't call him at 3 am LOL.. I emailed him some questions though and hopefully will find out exactly what he was doing with him feeding wise so i can recreate the situation.

I know for a fact that he has been eating both fuzzy rats and adult mice.. Jeff gave me his feeding schedual when I got him. He was eating once or twice a week, so he wasn't a problem before thats for sure.

I have him in a 26L rubbermaid, warm side is 94, cooler end is around 80. He has two hides, one on each end, the rubbermaid is being heated by a human heat pad. He gets natural light in my room from about 8am to 4pm, he is in my room so there isn't alot of activity in there to disturb him.

I tried yesterday to feed him a mouse, but I know how that it probably wasn't warm enough. I just put in the enclosure and he totally ignored it.

Today I actually got to try feeding him while he was out and about in his enclosure, and at first the mouse probably still wasn't warm enough.. I tried wiggling is around in front of him and stuff,, and if I moved it subtly along the ground he would slowly follow it, but he would lose interest pretty fast and just try and climb up my arm. He did one time open his mouth and adjust his jaw while he was looking at the mouse.. not sure if that means anything...