Finally, tagged the FT but didn't swallow *sigh*

[theartofsolitude]

my bee, he's really testing my patience, he finally tagged an FT after feeding it a pre-killed 5 days ago! buuut, he just didnt swallow it.. he's like "not too fast man! i'm not falling for this!"

so i tried again and re-heated the mice in warm water, this time, he looked scared at the mice, backs off and wouldnt even strike.

so tried again for the 3rd time, he keeps smelling it but just passes it and as if not seeing it and shows little to no interest.

so heating it again 4th time and fed to my other bp (which is really eating f/t for a while) tagged it in less than 10 seconds then swallows it after..

am i doing something wrong converting from live to f/t? that was really close! a bit frustrating!

[iCandiBallPythons]

I had a hachling do this for a couple weeks as I was converting him. He would strike like a machine gun but never hold onto the prey, but then eventually he learned.

[theartofsolitude]

how long did it take you?

[iCandiBallPythons]

3rd week of attempting f/t if I remember correctly. I feed hatclinngs every 5 days, so every 2nd feeding for the week I offered f/t

[mozbink]

my bee, he's really testing my patience, he finally tagged an FT after feeding it a pre-killed 5 days ago! buuut, he just didnt swallow it.. he's like "not too fast man! i'm not falling for this!"

so i tried again and re-heated the mice in warm water, this time, he looked scared at the mice, backs off and wouldnt even strike.

so tried again for the 3rd time, he keeps smelling it but just passes it and as if not seeing it and shows little to no interest.

so heating it again 4th time and fed to my other bp (which is really eating f/t for a while) tagged it in less than 10 seconds then swallows it after..

am i doing something wrong converting from live to f/t? that was really close! a bit frustrating!

I have tried three different ways of heating up and serving an F/T prey to my ball.

1) Prey warmed in water. The response was so so and the snake lazily took it.

2) Thawed in water but heated prey up using a heating pad. The snake started roaming his cage and had an aggressive strike.

3) Prey thawed in water but heated up using blow dryer. 20 seconds each side of prey. Snake was insane. When I opened the tub I had to be careful to keep her from going after the prey before I could offer it to her. Her strike was very aggressive.

Over the course of a month I repeated each type of offering. I have concluded that the pre-scenting that the blow dryer gives puts my snakes into almost a ferocious predatory mode. You would think they were starving by the way they start smelling and trying to get at the prey through the tub. I scent it right next to the tub and so far every week she responds the same.

Even my baby Dumeril who will not even look at a F/T or a live for that matter when I am in the room is driven to roam and smell when I am scenting....

So you may want to try using the blow dryer approach. I think it is superior to any of the other methods I have tried.

[wax32]

I may just have to try the blow dryer scenting approach. Good idea.

[AkHerps]

I agree, pre scenting is amazing sometimes. I do it just for fun sometimes. I stick the frozen mouse on top of my BP's enclosure and let it thaw out, by the time it is thawed out he's stretching straight up to get it.