Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So this person that my husband works with is putting her 4 1/2 foot BP up for adoption. She wants to get rid of it cause it struck at her Maltese puppy. Of course she has been feeding it large, LIVE, rats every 10-14 days. Any puppy, especially one of a small dog like a maltese, is going to look appetising.

I am interested in this snake but refuse to feed live food, so I was wondering how hard it would be to switch to F/T. I am sure warming it in water and shaking it on tongs would help, but can they be switched?

Thanks,
Diate
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The Zoo
1.0 Amel Cornsnake Pulcher
1.0 Russian Tort McCarthy
0.0.1 Crested Gecko Kruschev
0.0.1 Nile Monitor Scipio
0.0.1 Savannah Monitor Mandela
0.0.1 Forest Hingback Tort Mineta
3.0 Cats Ragnar, Pluto, and Nyord
To be added
0.0.2 Beardies
0.1 Cornsnake morph to be determined

I don't have a ball python, but I've heard that they can be very finicky, so switching from live to f/t may be very hard or impossible.

I would say that if you are interested, see if you could do a trial run with it. See if you can get it to switch, and if you can't, ask her to take it back. It make require a lot of hard work to get it to switch, involving you to even let it go hungry for a while before it may take it. I've heard that they can be stubborn though and go up to 6 months or more without food if they don't like what they are being offered.
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alstiver@hotmail.com

1.0 2001 Coral snow cornsnake
0.1 2002 Pastel Ghost poss Het Amelanistic cornsnake
1.1 2002 Bloodred cornsnakes
0.1 1998 Het Hypo, Het Caramel cornsnake
1.0 2000 Hypo Het Caramel cornsnake
0.0.13 2004 Eggs (potentially normals, hypos, caramels, and ambers)

I have 2 yearling corns and a baby ball python. The corns started off on f/t and never skip a meal. The bp was on live when I got it. He was kind of hard to switch to f/t but I refuse to feed live. I can imagine that an older python would be more set in his ways and harder to switch. I say give it a shot though. So far I love my bp. Very different from corns though. Things to try would be, make the rat very warm(w/ hot water) and try feeding when it is dark. My bp will show absolutely NO interest in a mouse that has gone even slightly cold.

>>So this person that my husband works with is putting her 4 1/2 foot BP up for adoption. She wants to get rid of it cause it struck at her Maltese puppy. Of course she has been feeding it large, LIVE, rats every 10-14 days. Any puppy, especially one of a small dog like a maltese, is going to look appetising.
>>
>>I am interested in this snake but refuse to feed live food, so I was wondering how hard it would be to switch to F/T. I am sure warming it in water and shaking it on tongs would help, but can they be switched?

I keep hearing that BPs are hard to switch but all of the ones I have tried do it fine. So, maybe that is just my limited experience. I think if you want the snake then try it. I would not suddenly switch from live to frozen thawed though. You could just try the jump and leave it with a frozen thawed rat outside it's hide at nighttime. Or, if it is stubborn I go from live on tongs, to prekilled and still twitching from tongs. To prekilled and 'stone cold' dead on tongs and then try the Frozen thawed.
Oddly I have never had luck with dancing a thawed prey on tongs. Either the prey is hot enough and taken or it is ignored. Best thing that happens with the dance for me is the snake takes it and hides it for me to find rotten the next day in his hide because as soon as he got it it didn't feel right.
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

I have ball pythons as well. Yes, they can be switched to f/t. However, ball pythons are notiously difficult feeders. If you are willing to put up with some frustration, and have the patience to try all the tricks, by all means, go ahead and take the snake. That's one thing I love about my corn snakes. You give them food, and then they eat it! However, all my ball pythons are now on f/t. None of them were when I got them. It is just a chore to get them to eat sometimes. Fussy little buggers.........
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GratefulFred

Ive had ball pythons on and off for over 20 years.You need to try fresh killed first.Just stun the rat and toss it in.If that doesnt work break out the bbq tongs and dangle the rat in front of the ball.To make it even easier wait 4 weeks before you try to even feed.Ive had wc balls go over a year without feeding and then they will eat anything live or dead.Once again start with fresh killed.Once that works try f/t...Paul

Yes, ball pythons can be difficult feeders. There are some that may prefer live to pre-killed or frozen thawed, or even prefer a particular color prey item (couldn't get mine to eat anything but white mice/rats for the longest time). Sometimes they will go on fasts for months on end...making their owners slightly crazed with worry. It's our hangup, not theirs. My ball python has fasted for six months at a stretch or more. The first time he did this sent me in a panic. I just knew he was gonna die. I consulted my herp vet and learned that it's a pretty common occurance. The solution to non-feeders is to keep offering prey until they accept it. As long as the snake isn't losing weight, don't worry.

All that said, my guy wasn't difficult at all to switch to frozen prey. As someone else mentioned, it needs to be pretty warm (soaked in hot tap water works for me). They seem to depend on heat much more than most of my other snakes, with the exception of my albino burmese python who also likes very warm prey. I don't typically do the rat dance so many people talk of. My guy was neglected and mistreated when I rescued him some twelve years ago and can be a shy snake. I offer the rat on long hemastats, but hold it relatively still near his head. If he doesn't strike immeditately, I will slowly move it away and then back, not touching the snake at all. Patience and perserverance are all that I find that are needed. My ball is a great snake, very different than the corns or even my boas and other pythons. I'd personally say 'go for it'.

Raven

Ball Pythons can be very picky eatters. Some times they will fast for weeks without no reason. If it's eatting rats thats a good sign even if they are live. Ball's are known problem feeders and a lot will not accept mice/rats from the start. Seems like this Ball is a pretty good eatter. What I might suggest is starting off slow.

There are a few options that you can try here step by step.

1. Stun the rat. A stunned rat is usually not going to get the upper hand on a 4 1/2 foot hungry ball python.

2. Prekilled rat. Put the rat into a bag and thump him into a hard object. Use some tongs to told the rat and move it around the pythons cage. Most snakes will take a rat that has just been killed. Still warm and has a good scent.

3. Try frozen/thawed. What I would do is have one prekilled rat and one frozen thawed rat. Stimulate the snake with the prekilled rat.Once you have the snakes attention with the prekilled rat make a quick switch with the frozen thawed.

These methods usually work. Just down try to switch him/her to frozen thawed right away or the snake will fast and could change his feeding patterns.

I know you asked about pre-killed but in responce to the other posts I would like to say that all 8 of my c/b two year old balls eat almost every meal I offer them all year long. I may be lucky , but mine have never been picky eaters. I would like to get them on f/t but I'm just happy they are eating live great.With all due respect, If you don't want them if they will not eat f/t don't get them just in case.

the owner sold the bp to someone else. I held off on showing my interest until some responses, my mistake. I am really kind of worried cause the person who took the snake doesn't have much experience expect for when he was a kid and would keep wc snakes for a couple of weeks then release. Also, he wants this snake as a pet for his kids, one they can handle but they are only 6 and 8. I tried to steer him towards a corn but guess he decided to go for the BP. I have offered my assistance (with you guys as backup, lol)if he has any problems.

Thanks again,
Diate
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The Zoo
1.0 Amel Cornsnake Pulcher
1.0 Russian Tort McCarthy
0.0.1 Crested Gecko Kruschev
0.0.1 Nile Monitor Scipio
0.0.1 Savannah Monitor Mandela
0.0.1 Forest Hingback Tort Mineta
3.0 Cats Ragnar, Pluto, and Nyord
To be added
0.0.2 Beardies
0.1 Cornsnake morph to be determined