Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I received this young Ball CB'03 about two months ago and it has only eaten twice, and that was live rodents. I don't like dealing with live rodents and all my other animals eat prekilled. Any suggestions on how to make this switch?

What "tricks have you tried"
Here are some:
Heat prey up
Make prey move with tongs/chopsticks
Brain the prey
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You may let him get a bit hungry and then put the prekilled mouse in with him. If he is cued into eating live, then movement may help as well. Also the other "tricks" that were suggested.
Justin J

I had problems too and then I discovered the problem was that even though I got it thawed my BP wanted it a lot warmer. so after thawing in a ziploc bag sitting in water, I put the mouse on top of his light fixture and heat the mouse. My BP is so picky, he won't eat FT unless I've heated it to at least 108 degrees. I then dangle it it an inch or 2 above his head to get his attention. Then once I've got his attention I drop the mouse in front of him. When the mouse hits the ground he strikes - provided I haven't let the mouse cool below 108 degrees.

Don't know if this will help or not, but might give you some ideas.

Here's a link with suggestions:
www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/index.html#FEEDING

The Ball Python Manual also has many suggestions in it.
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that is your most important quality when raising a baby ball python. I have found that it typically takes 3-5 feedings of live mice to switch them to dead prey. I have one holdout right now but I know that soon enough, he will be taking dead prey as well. Here are a few things, though, that could help:

1) Try offering a warmed, dead mouse at night when the lights go off...ideally, wait until you see just the nose sticking out of the hide area; this is a classic ambush position and shows a readiness to feed. Then offer the rodent via forceps.

2) If the snake doesn't take it, just leave it right at the entrance of the hide area overnight; check in the morning

3) If that doesn't work, try fasting the baby for two weeks; this will not harm it in the least. If this fails, feed a live mouse and start over. In time, your snake will be pounding dead prey.

Good luck, Rob Carmichael

This advice is spot on. Mine is an inconsistent feeder who sometimes responds to an F/T mouse dangled with forceps and sometimes just ignores it. This week I put the snake in a rubbermaid with a hide, put a UTH under the far end (the end without the hide) and left the mouse over the UTH (snake definitely prefers them warm), then slid the whole caboodle under the sofa and left it overnight. In the morning, no mouse

I think I was getting more stressed than the snake by its inconsistent feeding responses, so I will use this method in future and let her do the rest in his/her own sweet time!

Simon
Simon's Snake Stuff

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