Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is there a easier way of doing this?! I have a freezer full of rats from pups to XXL, and not any of my ball pythons will take them. I thaw out in cool water, then let sit in warm water to warm up the rat.

Oh and before anyone asks, I have them in a IrisCB-70 (12 tub rack) made by AP. Hot side is 91, cool spot is around 82. Humidity at 60

What I do is that I thaw the rats/mice at room temps this allow you to pre-scent the room and entice your BP to eat. Once thawed I warm them up with a hair dryer just a few sec concentrating on the head. Then I dangle the prey often I don’t have the time to even do that.

Not all BP will switch and some take longer to switch then others
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Deborah

I always heard doing it at room temp allows bacteria and stuff to get on the rat.

You do not want to leave 'meat' out at room temperature for more than 4 hours. That is when bacteria starts to grow.
I personally thaw them in cool running water (in a bowl), dry them, and feed.
Whole process takes about 20 minutes or so.
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Brian Oakley
Phoenix, Arizona
BrianOakley@qwest.net

I notice it too, when I have them (the rats) warming up in the same room w/the snakes, the hungry animals become active and begin to roam.

However, I think you will agree, if ya got a picky eater, your success using F/T will vary with the nature of the snake you are dealing with. I can tell you right now, if I went to feed them, which ones will be pain in the butts and which ones I step back from when I slide out the tub because they are psycho and will eat my arm if I let them.

~Alan

I set them out for about 5 hr . then heat them up with hot water strait from the faucet to get there temp up to 101 f. Then dry it to keep it wormer longer ,Then presented to the snake with feeding tongs and with movements that mimic a live mouse or rat . At first you may have to reheat the mouse or rat in the water and redrie .in order to get them to take it ,as they get more use to them it will take less prison but at first every thing needs to be right on the money . David of DS Reptile Rescue

Yes like Zefdin said, there are some that are just crazy when I pull their tub for feeding, but others just dont look at it at all unless its actually alive and staring them down. My Normal Females eat fine except for one. Mojave is a good one on F/T, but all the other morphs dont. Is it because the breeders i got them from only fed live?

More than likely it is but I have found that if the rodent is at the correct temp it is just a process of trial and error to find how they prefer it to be presented , some even like them to be left at the opening of there hide . I have yet to find a Ball Python that I could not get to eat F/T . David of DS Reptile Rescue

I defrost them in them fridge - pull them out of the freezer the night before stick them in the fridge. About an hour before feeding time I'll pull them out of the fridge and stick them in the snake room to warm to room temp. At feeding time I stick them under a heat lamp for about 5 minutes (until they reach about 98*) and feed.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

(CJBianco explaining the origins of the BP market.)
"In the beginning Bob created the Ball Python market. And the market was without morph, and wild traits were upon the industry. And Bob said, Let there be morph, and there was morph. And Bob saw the morph, that it was good; and Bob divided the morph from the wild trait. And Bob called the morph Albino, and the wild trait Normal. And the Albino and the Heterozygous Albino were the first investment.
-- Christopher 1:1-1:5"

I did that to when I had a hole lot less to thaw out , now it is just not possible plus my wife would kill me LOL. David

If you are having trouble getting them eat f/t, try feeding them a really undersized live meal, so that they will still be hungry when they are done eating it. When i did this with my problem feeders they were more likely to eat a f/t right afterwards because they were in feeding mode. Eventually they get used to eating f/t and the live meal wont be necessary. Other than that i just thaw them out in hot water and if the snakes dont seem interested at first i reheat the rats under a heat lamp and then offer them to the snakes again.
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0.1 Normal Cornsnake
1.0 Sumatran Short Tail Python
2.2 Ball Pythons (2 normals, 2 pastel)

Something I forgot to tell you to try is feed P/K with feed tongs for a wile to transition them . Some times it is the only way to get them switched . David