Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well i tryed feeding my 27in ball python a medium rat.He was just smelling it and thats about it.the rat was just still and he was just sniffing on it.It almost look like he wanted to make friends with it LOL.Does anybody have any suggestions?

Juan M.

Its your job as a keeper to find out why.

How do i make him reconize it as food.maybe scent the rat with a mice.If so how do i scent the rat with the mice?

Scenting and super-heating are the first options...

What is super heat?And how do i scent the rat with the mouse?

At least he's asking questions and not just letting it go without eating and die. I've got some wild caught girls that will only eat live gerbil scented prey...and what I do is get some gerbil bedding when it is about to be cleaned....so it is at its dirtiest, and put it in a bag with the rat and do a little shake and they usually go for that. I'm not exactly sure what Jeff was talking about super heating but I believe he was talking about feeding frozen/thawed and heating it much more than normal...but he'd be the one to ask if that is accurate. Also....if you still have the rat in the tank...take it out...

Luke

thanks for understanding.yes the rat is out of the cage I wont dare leave it in there,I understand it could hurt the snake real bad.thanks though i really appreciate.

Juan M

Juan, a med rat is pretty big for a 27 inch BP. Try a small or even a weaned rat. Be patient and Good Luck

By superheating it, I believe Jeff means a dead frozen rat and heating it to be very warm. I always try prekilled before live so as not to hook the snake on live, but that doesn't always work.

Did the snake eat before? Rats, mice, live or dead? Maybe he simply wasn't hungry? Happens. Try again in a week?

To scent a prey item, you basically rub the mouse on it. On my big female, I scented rats with mice and made sure if I could to rub some of it's blood on the rat (I know, icky-- but it worked.)

Patience is number one in feeding balls. Make sure his temps, humidity, etc are all right. Make sure he has good places to hide. Don't go freaking him out by trying to feed him every other day. Maybe offer prey once a week to ten days. It will eat when it's hungry and feels absolutely safe. They can go for a long time without eating. As long as it is healthy and not losing lots of weight, no worries.

one thing you might also try ... which I am surpruised noone else mentioned ...is to not feed in it's own tank.
Put the rat or mouse in a seperate rubbermaid container , or like myself use the bath tub. that way the snake won't associate your hand going into his tank as a food response...could get painful when snake gets bigger. Besides some snakes just won't eat in their own tank for some reason... don't know why. hope I could help....good luck.

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Be as good to me as I am to my animals
1.0 ball python(normal)Maximus/ and 1 unknown sex normal
0.1 golden retriever Amber
0.1 dalmation/lab mix nikita
0.2 bettas