Ball python problem

[Dirkthejerk41]

My new spider bp will not eat f/t. Ive had him nearly 3 weeks, and he shows no interest. First 2 times i tried in a seperate bin with no luck, now i tried in his enclosure. Still nothing. He was previously feeding live before i got him. Any advice?

 

[bfb345]

i would feed live if he eats it then wean him into frozen thawed spiders are notorious for odd genes and being crazy

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

Yea he is really a handful. REAL skittish..... Polar opposite of my normal bp

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Three techniques I have found help in getting fussy snakes to eat include the jiggle method, the sit in the dark method, and the braining method. The first involves jiggling the mouse in front of the snake to make it think the prey is alive (use tongs); the second involves placing the snake in an enclosed, dark space and leaving it alone with the prey for a few hours to see if it eats; and the third involves piercing the skull and exposing the brains, which act as a snake attractant.

 

[kim86]

I bought a 2012 female Bumble Bee BP a few months ago, who was feeding on live rats. At first, she didn't want anything, but after a couple weeks I decided to force feed her a f/t pinky mouse. I just opened her mouth and pushed the mouse in and rubbed her throat until she started to swallow. Since then, she takes frozen mice and frozen rats every week. Just gotta be careful. Once they realize it's food, they usually come around and eat it. You can also try putting it under a heat lamp for a minute or two to get the outside nice and hot, after thawing it of course. Making sure the prey is at least warm is important.

 

[BatGirl1]

We have a pastel ball who refuses f/t. I had been assist feeding for awhile then it just became ridiculous. We gave her small live mice and she snatched them right up. Problem is, one got her pretty good. What we plan to try is to give her a live, then dangle a f/t right after, maybe even get the live scent on the f/t first, and make sure it is very warm before dangling. Worth a try maybe with yours too?

 

[bfb345]

yeah usually what i do is if the snake wont eat i just dont feed it snakes can go for years without food and survive a friend of mine had one that didint eat for 6 yrs and it kept its weight its really amaizing if the snake is hungry it will eat

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

I think i'll try a live for now... then maybe after he gets into the swing of eating with me, he will take the f/t

 

[tjohnson722]

Ball pythons are notoriously picky. It took me one year to convert my normal from live to f/t. My pastel, will eat a live one week and a f/t the next. You could do live for a while then do a prekilled for a while then a f/t. its what I did.

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[Dirkthejerk41]

how do you kill them though... lol

 

[tjohnson722]

How do I kill them, or what's humane?? Lol. You can use a cheap made co2 chamber (humane). Use your imagination for the other as I don't want to make anyone upset.

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[Dirkthejerk41]

lolol yeah idk if I can do that, freaks me out.

 

[tjohnson722]

I hate rats and mice. I have no issue doing that. If it helps the co2 chamber just puts them to sleep. Just take them out immediately after wards and feed while body temp is still up. Or use blow dryer to warm it up.

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[Dirkthejerk41]

I might just end up sticking to live and just keeping an eye on him when he eats....... if I have a live mouse that he ends up not eating, what should i do with it?

 

[tjohnson722]

Do you have other snakes? If so, I always give it to another. If not, set up like a 10 gallon aquarium, lid (no heat needed) with a dripper, food and save it for later. Just set it up with a good smelling bedding, or in a room you don't enter often.

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[Dirkthejerk41]

I do have another snake but she has never eatin live

 

[tjohnson722]

I would just keep it then.

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[Bubblz Calhoun]

Find out what the previous owner was feeding and go from there. Also how are you warming the f/t? Sometimes if it's not warm enough they won't take it. On another note they vary just like any other animal and some need time to settle in, during that time they don't eat.

I have one who started to feed on his own again when I moved back in sept barely misses a meal now unless in shed. But before that (I got him as a hatchling around 0ct 2011) he was off feed for more often than not and easily stressed. He's still smaller than the two other snakes he came with as well as a male I got after him... but slowly catching up. I had to black out his bin so that he couldn't see anything sight or heat wise. That helped quite a bit but I noticed that he didn't start eating consistently until after I moved. When I did I packed all my bps together in one bag. Don't know what happened or changed from packing to unpacking them but he barely misses a meal now.
I think he must have met a girl he liked and couldn't do anything about it at the time. I still keep his bin blacked out though.

 

[Dirkthejerk41]

I got him from a breeder at lone star expo about 3 weeks ago.... he said he was feeding live. I warm them by thawing in warm water, then sits under a heat lamp. My other BP eats EVERY time..... I'm gonna pick up a live mouse today.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

More than likely by the time the mouse thaws, the water's cold and so is the mouse. Depending on how long it sits under a heat lamp and at what temps, determines how warm the mouse is when you offer it, even that is mainly a surface temp. But if you think about how bps see with heat, they catch more than surface temps.
Sometimes I thaw with water too but before feeding, they're placed on a heating pad (lowest setting) folded in half to bring the temp back up. It's a process but it works, I have some thawing in the fridge from last night. When I get home they go into the pad for a couple of hours, how long depends on how many I'm feeding. With a timer just in case you get distracted, forget and end up warming them too long.