Reptile & Amphibian Forums

do they display certain signs when they are hungry? I fed him 2 mice a few days ago(wednesday) because he see seemed restless. and he ate them no problem. He was acting like that again. could he be hungry still/again? the woman I got him from said he usually ate 3 mice about once a week and had not eaten in about 2 weeks. Should I try feeding him more? Also the breeder had been feeding him live mice so that is what I fed him, is he to old to switch to F/T? Do I have a chance. i don't want to risk him getting bit. He is a good hunter I dropped the mice in one at a time and he killed the first one in less than a minute I gave him the 2nd one about 10 mins after he swallowed the first one and it took him about three minutes to catch it he struck and missed 2-3 times. I am just wanting some opinions on which is better and what I should do. I think I would rather him be onF/T mice, buut I wonder of he is too old. anyones opinions or experiences are greatly appreciated. also should I feed him again already if he seems hungry, maybe I didn't fill him up the first time?
Thanks in advance for replies.
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Human boys 2&7
Ball python 1 male
American pit bull terriers 3 (2male,1 fem)
Ferret 1 male
Fish ????

Try it. If he's not hungy he won't eat. This would also be a good time to try out prekilled-frozen/thawed. You know he has eaten so if he doesn't, it's no big deal. It's never too old to try to switch to prekilled. It may take a little longer for older snakes to switch. Just read on here for different techniques. I would start with tongs or hemastats and make the mouse look alive.

Personally, I just switched my two smallest balls over to rats. That has always been a lot harder for me. They don't seem to recognize the smell. These guys killed it on the first shot. Acted like they hadn't eaten all winter.

Good luck,

Jason
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That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.

Like Jason said, they're never too old to switch to F/T. Definately try bumping up to rats - I switched my smallest ball over to them and it was much easier than trying to keep her full on mice.
If the snake seems hungry, offer more food, but if it doesn't eat in under 15 minutes then just wait a week before you try again.

Go ahead and try the F/T, it's waaaaaay easier than live. Just be prepared to feel the mouse/rat to make sure it's warm all the way through and then wiggle it the first few times to make it seem alive. It's usually easier to get them to eat that way.

~jenny
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1.2.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, Periscope, and dah bebbies)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard (Freckles)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

Jenny...what do you say that feeding F/T is waaaaaaaaaaay easier than live. It has been my expierence that F/T was a pain in the a$$. Just asking to see if you have a better method than I tried
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Nick

I just set the frozen critter to thaw in a plastic bag in a bowl of hot water, and usually I run a little bit of hot water out of the faucet over it to make it thaw faster. My big female takes them without any wiggling whatsoever and my male takes them when I dangle them by the tail in the feeding tub. My littlest girl doesn't eat F/T yet.
Essentially, thaw and toss.

Feeding live, however, means I have to go down to the store (usually the reptile store cause they're cheaper) and get the rodents, thunk the rodents on the head so that when the snakes get 'em they don't bite, and if the snakes don't eat then I have a neurotic feeder animal to feed and water for a week when hopefully one of the snakes eats it.

Plus frozen is considerably cheaper than live

~jenny
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1.2.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, Periscope, and dah bebbies)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard (Freckles)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

I agree with the last post ,I think balls definetly respond more agressively to live prey, my ball have fed on both frozen and live prey , I prefer live prey its just my personal preference their is nothing more fresher my oppinion my snakes always go for it immediatly and to me they seem more healtheir.

I used to think that too. I went on vacation and left my 4ft female with some friends. They dropped in a live rat and went to the kitchen to change the water. No more than 2 min. and they came back to the rat chewing a 4 inch hole in her. I'm back into snakes and trying to get the guys on F/T. I can't stand to kill them myself or I'd just to the Fresh killed thing. I have to sit and watch every feeding and once had to reach in and kill a samll rat. One of the girls grabbed it about mid section and wrapped toward the tail end. The rat was still breathing fine and just getting ticked. I had to reach in with my Kryo-gloves and kill the thing.

But, Like I always say, What ever works for you and yours. If they are eating and healthy keep doing what you're doing. But keep a close eye on those live ones.
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That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.

Agreed! When I was a lot younger (think ten years ago) I used to just toss the rats (live) in at night and when I woke up in the morning they'd be gone. One morning, though, I woke up and the rat had eaten off her tail to about an inch from the vent (this is a 5 foot snake) along with numerous chunks in the last third of her body that were down to her spine.
We did save her (neosporin works miracles) but I knock out the larger live rodents now.

You can never be too careful!

~jenny
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1.2.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, Periscope, and dah bebbies)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
0.0.1 Mountain Horned Lizard (Freckles)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org