#ball python feeding

[omg-snakes]

Hi! So joining in on the snake questions- I have a female ball python that I’ve had for about 2 years now, and recently after her winter fasting I’m having a hard time getting her to eat properly again. She was eating small to medium rats, but now she ignores them, and will only occasionally eat a full grown mouse that I offer her. She eats live and won’t eat frozen-thawed, I feed her once a week. She acts perfectly fine but is still refusing her meals. Any ideas on what I should do?

Hi there! I’m sorry to hear that your beep is being a boop.I’ll admit that I am not big on ball pythons and I don’t know all of the tips and tricks to keep them happy and doing the things that keep them alive. Instead, I’ll refer you to this very excellent and well-written post by a beeper keeper, WhereMyScalesSlither, which you may find helpful.

I hope that your snake gets back on a feeding schedule very soon!

[oriandico]

20 days

4 feedings. That's how long it took cid to go from never seeing a f/t before and sneaking his meal late at night to completely snatching one from the feeding tongs as soon as he caught a sniff of it entering his tank. He strikes with a lot more force than Ori does! I am so proud. Actually. Scratch that. I am relieved as hell. I feel like I had spent the entire 3 months before I got him reading hunger strike and live feeder horror stories. Having a nice reliable eater just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

[omg-snakes]

Do you have any advice for teaching a ball python to accept frozen after having been fed ONLY live for 8 years before I got her? I've tried everything Google and I can think of and we're on month four of trying to wait her out and she's still refusing frozen. I'm getting close to giving in because I'm worried.

Whoof, this is a rough one and four months is way too long to go without eating. Poor snakey-o.I’m assuming you’ve already tried scenting with fresh mouse (not rat!) litter, boiling, braining, zombie food dance, and brown-bagging or dark-tub feeding. If you haven’t tried all of these, that’s a good place to start.You can also try frozen/thaw African Soft Fur rats (which are spendy but they might make the transition easier. Reptilinks offers them currently), fresh kill (which will involve either finding someone to teach you cervical dislocation or purchasing a CO2 chamber), scenting with bird (quail seems to work quite well), or train-feeding which is where you offer a smaller-than-usual live prey item and while the snake is swallowing the live prey item you put a nice fresh thawed prey right behind it and they keep on eating. Eventually they’ll come to understand that thawed food is the same as live food.Transitioning prey can be a lengthy process and in some cases a snake will just refuse to switch over. I have danced this dance with Ponyboy for years before he finally started accepting frozen/thaw without a fuss.In these cases, do what’s best for your pet and just be vigilant during feeding to prevent injury.

[oriandico]

Ahhhhhh!

Sooo... I went to feed Cid just now; Put pup on the plate Put the plate in the viv Turn around to walk away Hear a soft *thump* behind me Look back to see tangled mess of snek + food He struck! Right away! His 3rd meal at home and 3rd f/t ever, the past two meals he waited until super late at night to eat so it is kinda joyous to see a real feeding response! Ahhhhh. He is perfect. I am so happy!

[drupp1973]

[the-long-dog]

Ball pythons are so silly. I might have to order Felix specifically black and brown r.ats. This isn't the first time he’s refused a few meals until I offer him a dark one.

[python-prince]

Feeding day my girl feeds without fail! ✨🐍

[noodle-the-noodle]

Noodle ate his first r.at today I’m so proud! It took a lot of coaxing, and he didn’t strike at it, but he kind of gingerly took it after I harassed him with it enough. Hopefully he’ll be more keen to strike next time now that he knows r.at means food just like m.ouse does.