Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After bringing my 2 month old BP home from the pet store, I tried unsuccessfully to feed F/T 3 weekends in a row. After the 3rd try I took it to the pet store where it ate a live hopper no problemo. I tried F/T again today - no luck. What should my plan be for converting to F/T?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My little guy isn't as big as its clutchmates that are still in the store. I don't know what to do.

Thank you in advance.

I have a young Ball right now that voratiously takes frozen mice. All of the Balls I have had as rehabs took them also. I start them out on live prey, then to freshly killed prey, then to frozen. Thaw the food completely and warm it to about 104 degrees (pretty warm). I use hot tap water. If it's too warm, the snake won't take it. Dry it off. It should feel like a live one to the touch. Move the vittles through your snakes sight path (about 3 or 4" straight in front of it's nose, I hold the mice by the tail, about an inch or two above the substrate. Don't go too slow, if you do, it may not envoke a strike response. It will take some practice, but soon you will learn what is most attractive to your snake. Try not to jump and pull the food out of your snakes mouth when it strikes, it may take a while to get him to strike again. My snake eats two mice per feeding this way. As soon as she has the first one in her stomach, she is tracking me (looks like she is begging) for the next. I fed her six frozen pinkies in about ten minutes one day using this method. Some think that if you feed your snake like this that they will get aggressive and bite you accidentally. My ball has never bitten me accidentally, and has never shown any aggression with my daughter, who handles her almost daily. I have used this method with more aggressive species also. the trick is to feed them only in a "feeding box". An enclosure only used when you are feeding the snake. Take the snake out by hand, place it in the enclosure, then feed. It seems if you do this, the snake learns not to associate the opening of it's enclosure to feeding time, and the box with "time to eat".
-----
How to get your wife to like toads; 1.Get a male toad. 2.Get him to hug your wifes wrist (amplexus). 3. Tickle him so he chirps in protest. 4.Say "Awww, he likes you". Note; Make sure he pees first or you may receive bodily harm during this procedure.

How do you measure the temperature? I've tried soaking in hot tap water and also feeding in a separate container as well as in it's main tank. Maybe it needs a couple more feedings of live, then a couple freshly killed and then try frozen again?

Thanks!

one of the easiest ways to switch any snake to frozen is to act on its natural feeding response. it couldnt be easier, start with a smaller prey item of its prefered presentation, aka live or fresh killed. feed it something smaller than you usually would, so theres enough room left in the snake (who am i kidding theres usually room left over!) for a second item, as soon as the live animal is down, and while the animal is in super feed mode, slip in a nice warm defrosted rodent...after a few feedings many snakes easily switch to exclusively frozen diets.
good luck

J
-----
Jaymz
"got a bowlin ball in my stomache, got a desert in my mouth. figures that my courage would choose to sell out now..."

So if I want to feed F/T hoppers the next size down would be a pinkie?

Thanks for the idea.

forget about hoppers, fuzzies and pinks! i know its been said hundreds of times in this forum alone, but aside from the smallest runt hatchlings baby ball pythons should be getting either small mice, yes its a size, or full adult mice. and ive seen some runt hatchling balls that will chow on full adult mice! having said that, forget about the hoppers or fuzzies! they shouldnt even be a passing thought. these are not corn snake hatchlings these are pythons, most pythons dont like small meals! so, to answer your question, offer a live hopper and follow it with a thawed hopper, once the snake is taking frozen a little more readily try a thawed mouse, adult at that. or you could give it a run with just a thawed adult mouse...maybe hes not taking the frozen because its too small...sounds impossible doesnt it, but honestly, having been in this hobby for a long time, and having worked with hundreds of ball pythons, a lot of snakes, not just pythons, will refuse food if it is too small, some will eat food thats too small as long as its alive. and yes, i currently keep one ball python, i keep other pythons, just much less common in some cases than a ball python, none of them have ever eatten a pinky, i think i gave my newest blood python, also a hatchling, a hopper for his first meal. a very large hopper at that...almost a small mouse. for his second feeding, a much more appropriate small mouse was on the menu. so maybe it wasnt so much your presentation of the food, but, more the size of the food. snakes are very "smart" when it comes to the things they need to make it in their lives...and no, im not saying snakes are highly intelligent, im saying they know what they need, its the keepers that often mess up. give that little guy (or grrl) a thawed small mouse and see if that works, good luck

J
-----
Jaymz
"got a bowlin ball in my stomache, got a desert in my mouth. figures that my courage would choose to sell out now..."

Thanks a lot! I will try your suggestion. Wish me luck!

As far as temp goes, it shoud be warm, not hot to the touch. As far as pinkies go, mine will eat anything I put in front of her (she normally eats small rats). Alot of people just drop the thawed rodent in the tank and wait for the snake to eat it. Sometimes the snake will not track it right away and by the time he finds it, it has cooled to much to be attractive. The key is to exite his feeding response with a little movement. Not too close to his face or it will frighten him. Remember, Balls are nocturnal. You may have better luck feeding him late at night when he is out and about "hunting".
-----
How to get your wife to like toads; 1.Get a male toad. 2.Get him to hug your wifes wrist (amplexus). 3. Tickle him so he chirps in protest. 4.Say "Awww, he likes you". Note; Make sure he pees first or you may receive bodily harm during this procedure.

Thanks, I do think I need to try feeding a little later at night. I've also wondered if the hopper has cooled too much by the time I get it to the cage. Thanks!