ugh... ball python prob...

[DeesBalls]

ok so i was cleaning my snakes cages today and i started with my sand boa. well as i was cleaning her cage i fed her. she eats a frozen mouse every other week and today when i was dethawing the mouse my ball python was going absolutly crazy in her tank!!! i mean like seriously crawling around, toung flickering, and she was in her strike mode.

did she smell the mouse?
did she see my other snake and sees it as a threat?

please help i want to clean her cage to day but if shes going to be like this im not going to...

also need help check out:
"ugh... sand boa prob... "

thanks!

[Chu'Wuti]

You were freezing the mouse? [teasing!]

Seriously--yes, your BP was smelling the mouse as you were thawing it. She's clearly hungry--how much does she weigh? What are you feeding her? Sounds like she might be ready for an increase.

I have found it helpful to do my thorough cleaning a few days after feeding and before my snakes are ready for their next feeding. This way they have had the peace & quiet they need for good digestion but are less apt to be striking because they're hungry.

If you have the two tanks right next to each other, the two snakes can see each other. You might cover the facing sides (or at least one of them) with brown paper to reduce their stress.

Good luck! I'll check on your other thread now.

[DeesBalls]

i feed her a mouse every week ( live ) and im not sure how much she weighs but she stretches from on corner diagonally to the other corner of her 10 Gal tank. maybe its time i step up in feeding? what would i go up to? 2 mice? small rat?

thanks!

[Will0W783]

I would say an increase in feeding is a good idea. Try feeding her a small mouse every week, instead of every other week. And if you can, try to get her on frozen/thawed. Much safer, cheaper, and easier. Just for a comparison, my 4-foot, 4 year old male BP eats a medium f/t rat every week.

[DeesBalls]

i do feed her a mouse every week.. i tried frozen but she didnt even look at it...

[Chu'Wuti]

How much does she weigh? How big around is she? How old is she? She is probably ready for rats. One mouse is only about 45-50 gm, and if your BP weighs more than 500 grams, she needs more than one mouse a week. You should aim for feeding about 10% of your BP's weight per week.

Here's what WingedWolf posted a couple of years ago about switching from live to F/T:

What's worked for me:
First, keep in mind that pythons are stimulated to feed by 3 things. Scent, heat, and motion. Some individuals will take anything remotely edible that you offer them, but others are exceptionally picky. Here's what has worked for me to get them eating what you want them to:

First, put them on a regular, consistant feeding schedule, in a consistant environment. It's important that they be eating regularly before you try to switch them to something new.

Next, offer it's preferred prey in f/t form on tongs. If it's refused, give them live again.
The next time, wait 2 days beyond their usual feeding time, and offer f/t on tongs again. If refused, give them live.

Next feeding, offer them a stunned prey animal--one that is alive, but unconscious. I have never had this refused by an animal that regularly eats, but if it is, leave it there for an hour, then remove it it and offer live again. Repeat this each feeding until the animal accepts the stunned prey item. Feed stunned prey successfully at least twice in a row, if it was not accepted on the first try.

Next, offer a pre-killed prey item. If it is refused, offer stunned again. If that is refused (backsliding is possible), give live, and try pre-killed again the next time. As with the previous 'step', if the item was refused at first, wait until it is accepted twice in a row before moving on.

After your snake is eating pre-killed, offer f/t again. Make sure it is warm. If it's refused, give it pre-killed and wait til next feeding. This time, offer f/t that has been rubbed with soiled bedding from that animal. As with the previous steps, keep trying, offering the food from a previous step if there is a refusal, until the animal eats.

Now, assuming you have the world's most stubborn gerbil eating python, you now have a python eating frozen gerbils. Make sure it is eating them for at least 3 consecutive feeding sessions, then offer the f/t animal you WANT it to eat (say, a rat).
If it is refused, offer it rubbed with bedding of its preferred prey.
With a bit of persistance, this is your final step, and eventually the snake will switch to eating the f/t rat.


Scenting is a very important step in all of this, and with scenting alone I have converted w/c garter snakes from live earthworms over to f/t mice on the first try.

You can convert a snake from gerbils to mice or rats using scenting by rubbing the mouse/rat with soiled gerbil bedding, if you are persisant, and some people may wish to do that before converting them over to f/t, if they're eating something expensive like gerbils.
I have found that mouse smell tends to stimulate ball pythons better than rat smell, and have gotten some stubborn pythons eating by scenting a rat with mouse bedding.

Be sure to heat the head of the F/T prey item more than the body. If you try this a couple of times without success, another trick is, after heating the head, slit the top of the skull open with a sharp razor blade or very sharp knife to expose the brain and then offer.

Good luck!

[DeesBalls]

ok, i will try that and see what happends. i will keep everyone informed