Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i will be trying to feed my balls who have been of feed for a while dead prey. i heard that leaving a dead prey in with a pin hole in the skull to intensify the smell is worth a shot? i have left them a dead prey item before with no luck but i want to keep trying this every two weeks. any suggestions??

I'm just gonna state a couple obvious things, just in case there's any confusion:
By dead, I assume you mean either prekilled or frozen/thawed, not an animal in your breeding colony that died and you figured you might as well toss it in. Using the word "dead" to describe a prey item makes me think stuff that's starting to decay, lol.

Your best bet is to start off with prekilled, as in, you killed it two seconds before offering it to the snake and it's still warm. Then move to frozen/thawed food, which is the stuff that's been in the freezer, then thawed out - you just gotta make sure this is really warm. I usually thaw mine out in warm water, then hold them under my water dragons' heat lamp for a lil bit to make sure their heads are nice and toasty.

You can also leave the prey in the tub overnight, and with that I've had the most success if I leave it on the heat pad, which keeps it warm.

Good luck!

~jenny
-----
"The python has, and I fib no fibs,
318 pairs of ribs.
In stating this I place reliance
On a seance with one who died for science
This figure is sworn to and attested,
He counted them while being digested."
~Ogden Nash

jenny.thegreenes.org

"If you're happy and you know it,
Bomb Iraq!
If you cannot find Osama,
Bomb Iraq!
If the terrorists are frisky,
Pakistan is looking shifty,
North Korea is too risky,
Bomb Iraq!

With Balls it's better to feed warmed up prey off tongs with some movement...amount of movement depends on individual, you'll have to experiment. If you want to try just leaving it in there...make sure you leave it on the warm end. Which means it rots quicker...better off to go with tongs.
-----
Dale....dgoins222@yahoo.com
www.LibertyReptiles.com

It sucks when they do not eat.. The smell is horrible.. But some like it that way. I have a male that will only eat dead and it has to sit in there awhile.. they are all different..

You might also want to try feeding it in a sack. I've saved snake sacks from when I get a snake in and will sometimes get a difficult feeder to eat by putting it and the warmed up prey item in the sack, tie it off and put it back in on the warm side. Leave it in over night. By morning it should be gone. Worth a try.

Quig
-----
Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself