Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi...i've had my ball python for about 8 months now. Hez been eating well on live small rats, but just last week he was bitten by a rat...GRRRRR. Left a lil small pink mark on his back. He still ended up eatin that rat, but now i want to switch to frozen rats. I think it would be much safter and i don't want my ball to get injured again in the future. This week i purchased a frozen small rat for my ball. I thawed the rat in warm water for about 15 mins. Then i let it dry up and dropped it in, but my ball didn't react. I was wondering if you guys have n e suggestions that would make him eat thawed rats.

N e suggestion would be GREAT...thanks

The best place I have seen for info on this is www.proexotics.com. Go to their animal page and then to the FAQ section. It rocks Robyn spent a lot of time writing up those articles and he did an awesome job. Follow it sometimes his methods works in a snap other times it takes a little while for the snake to accept the ft rodent you could also use fresh killed first then try the frozen thawed.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/

check out the feeding section...they have some great pointers!
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*Amy*
0.1 Green Iguana (yes, I have a lizard in my bathroom)-iggy
2.1 Ball Pythons (normal)-cosi, jake, and frosty mcfry
0.1 B.smithi (mexican redknee tarantula)-athena
0.0.1 midland painted turtle-nemo
1.1 dogs-rocky and skippy
1.0 normal grey cockatiel-opie
0.0.30 betta, guppies, rosy reds, fantail goldfish, clown pleco,...

There's a good chance the rat wasn't warm enough...and possibly not even completely thawed out. 15 minutes in "warm" water doesn't sound like enough time to me. You need to be sure the rat is completely thawed out. Frozen innards can make your snake really sick. It also needs to be warm enough to "look good" to the snake's heat sensors.

To keep it dry during the thawing, try putting it in a ziplock baggie and then putting in into the water. Hot tap water works best. You don't want anything hotter because you don't want the rodent to cook.

Because I'm never 100% sure if the insides are thawed before it's been in the water too long, I've taken to thawing them out overnight in the fridge and then warming the bodies in hot water (in the baggie as stated above).

Of course, a perfectly thawed and heated rat doesn't mean he'll eat it. But the others posting gave excellent links for tips on switching to frozen prey. I just wanted to add my little side note.

Good luck!
Judy