Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my 4 ball pythons have yet to eat (well the male ate once but the females, never) and I know they were on live previously. i dont have the set up to raise my own rats or mice so im wondering how i can get them to eat f/t. i have tried wiggling it, leaving it with them overnight and "teasing" (holding the snake and wiggling the mouse in front of their face) and nothing is working. had them a month now

any ideas?

Are you defrosting then heating them back up again - a lot of snakes (at least to begin with) will not take f/t if they are wet and/or below normal body temperature - make sure they are heated up to about 98* and then wiggle them using hemostats. Depending on their age they may take to it fairly easily - if they are older sometimes it takes work.

Usually when I get one that is stubborn to switch - I'll start by feeding them live off of the hemostats - when they take that readily - I switch to prekilled when they are on those readily I move on to f/t warmed up.

Some will not, no matter what you do, switch over to f/t - in which case you're stuck with a live feeder.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

another trick is to buy a hamster kill it and rub it on the f/t to cent it. The hamster can be used again and agian as long as you keep it properly frozen. Good luck

they have been room temp

could it also be size? the only ones i had on hand were for my corn, so they were fuzzies and rather small. should i be trying something bigger to catch their interest? adults? i can get live, but its a pain to have the guy deliver, and costs extra so not a long term solution. ill try live adults just to get a meal in them (cuz im getting worried about their weight), and then get f/t adults and warm them properly. thanks for the advice

How big are the snakes - are you trying to feed them rat or mouse fuzzies?
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

150-400 grams, they vary

these are mouse fuzzies *bad i know* thats all i have right now