New bp parent!!...pumped but almost as nervous as I was with my newborn daughter!!..

[angllady2]

Inside hon. Always inside. There is a persistent myth out there that feeding in the home enclosure causes aggression. With ball pythons that's just baloney. If anything, you are MORE likely to get bitten moving a recently fed snake who is still in hunt mode back into it's home enclosure, than you ever will be by feeding in the home enclosure. I have a total of 37 ball pythons, counting babies. And every last one get's fed right in it's tub. I've never been bitten as a result. I've had a few close calls as a result of being too slow with dinner, but that's not aggression. If you take too long with my food when I'm hungry, I'm liable to try and bite too.

There is a trick to feeding f/t. First you must make sure the prey is totally and completely thawed all the way through. I had a bad experience with thinking the food was thawed when it wasn't and it caused me a few sleepless nights when someone got sick as a result. Once the prey is totally thawed out, remove the hide or hides from the tank so the baby knows something its up. Make sure you DO NOT handle the prey just before reaching into the tank! Bring the prey next to the tank and lay it down. Get a hairdryer and a set of tongs, because an excited ball has lousy aim sometimes and accidents do happen. Use the hairdryer to gently warm the prey all over, being sure to blow the warm rattie/mousie breezes in the direction of the tank. Once the prey is nicely warm all over, grip it by the loose skin on the nape of the neck, and hit just the head with the hair dryer for 15-30 seconds. You want that head super hot. Ball pythons see in heat, and you want dinner giving off a massive heat signature when you offer it to minimize the chance of baby mistaking your warm hand for dinner. Offer the prey close to the baby, but not right in front of. Off to one side is best. Don't move it about wildly, just a gentle little giggle and if things go well, baby will have it off those tongs before you even know what happened. If baby is reluctant, do a slow and gentle wiggle back and forth an inch or two, make it seem like dinner is moving around on it's own. This is called the "zombie dance". The idea is not to imitate the Rockettes, but just to entice baby with this tasty, wiggly morsel. If baby still hesitates, gently remove the prey and rewarm the head before offering again. It's ok the second time to do a little more of a zombie dance. If baby still refuses. Gently lay the prey down, cover the tank, dim the lights and leave the room for 30 minutes. When you return, most likely dinner will be gone. If not, time to remove dinner and wait at least 5 days before trying again.

I wish you guys all the best.

Gale