Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have tried with my BPs and BCIs and they just won't change over? Do you need to dry the rodents off? will this help or should I heat them up more or???????

Please help!

Paul

some never will....some will only when THEY want to...some will ,but only on occasion.......

yes you can dry it off a little..I use towels.....

yes it needs to be warm.......

I use hot water from tap.....it comes out at ? what 105 degrees?....maybe a little more.......this is hotas or hotter than the normal mouse/rat temp.......

they want warm...even overly warm prey...

at times...mine won't eat item..I know it wants to ,,it watches it for an hour even.....so..I take it out....hold it up to the ceramic heater for a minute......put it in their face quickly.yet don't touch them to startle them..and alot of times..BAM..they take it fast......

at times...they run away and call me nuts.....

but they do this with live prey too......

animals love live stuff...............especially balls.......

have fun.....JY
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.....wow....you people....really.....you are exactly like I thought.........

............right?

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I put my F/T's in hot water to thaw them, and change it out a few times to keep it hot. I find the hotter the better (and I pat mine dry with paper towels - just enough that they're not soaked). Not buring hot, but very warm to the touch. Then if they don't take it relatively quickly I'll put it back in hot water to heat it up again and try to feed one more time. If they refuse again, I just move on to the next snake. Then again, they may just decide not to eat it no matter how warm it is or how well you make it dance in front of them. Nothing is a guarantee.
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Astronomy Picture of the Day

My bps sometimes will not take f/t no matter what I try. When they refuse f/t, I wiggle a fresh p/k by the tail and they hit it with in seconds. How can they tell the difference?

I believe it has to do with the "freshness" (smell) with some Balls, rather than how warm they are, but out of 35, I only have about 4 that are picky enough to only accept a live or f/k food item (knock on wood). Most times a hot thawed food item is all thats needed for me though. I thaw in hot water, and offer it dripping wet right out of the water, cuz it eliviates some of the domestic rodent smell that way.

Just some things I have noticed, and it doesn't work on all of them, but I have been very fortunate so far using this method.
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Chad Bachman