NEWBIE - Advice on feeding?

[Jennifer M. Black]

I am about to inherit a ball python from a friend who is moving and cannot take her snake with her. We are uncertain of the snake's age, but he's at least five years old. (We also do not know the sex, but generally refer to him as a "he".)

She's giving me his tank (30 gallon), two hides, some kind of plastic leaf decoration, the mesh lid to his tank, a bungee cord to keep it shut, two heat lamps (one for day, one for night, apparently), and the timer that switches one lamp off and the other on.

She's been keeping him on paper towels, but I went ahead and bought some aspen for reptiles for him.

My main issue is the feeding. She feeds him live mice because he simply has zero interest in pre-killed. He also refuses white mice and will only eat brown or spotted or other non-white mice. Now I have no problem with buying him a live, brown mouse once a week, but it would be more convenient for me if I could just buy a pack of frozen mice and thaw one for him once a week.

How can I switch him from live mice to pre-killed? And can he really distinguish between a white mouse and a non-white mouse? Not that I think she's making it up, but maybe she just tried giving him white mice when he wasn't in a mood to eat.

Also... he's about to shed. Should we wait until he's done shedding to transport him from her house to my apartment (like a five minute drive) or is it OK to move him while he's shedding?

And one last thing. I do know of a vet the specializes in exotics nearby. Do I need to take the snake to the vet for a check-up, as I would with a dog or cat, or do I only need to take him to the vet if something's off with him (the snake, not the vet )?

Thanks in advance!

Jennifer

[AkHerps]

If he's a good weight, and has a good appetite and good poops, I would say he doesn't need a check up. But I doubt he is a great weight because one mouse a week is not enough for an adult Ball.

I think it would be okay to move him while he is in shed, because you aren't changing his set up a lot.

Aspen can be problematic, because if they go to the bathroom the pee gets into the bedding and can get pretty nasty, so keep an eye on that.

I have known snakes that imprint on only one color and one sex of prey item, like white female mice. If he's been eating live for 5 years or so, it will probably be hard to switch him over, especially if he doesn't even like pre-killed.

Your best bet is to just try frozen thawed, heat it up really good, like under a blow dryer, and twitch it with some tongs to see if he will eat it, and try to get him on rats, mice are too small, you'll have to be feeding a bunch of mice at one time, not just one mouse, whereas you would only need to feed one rat.

Live is really expensive here, and I wanted to get my BP on frozen, but he hated it. So I had to go kind of a long route. First I started feeding him a live mouse(he was a baby and we don't have frozen rat pups or anything here) in a feeding tub. Once he recognized the feeding tub as anything in it is food, I started feeding him f/t which he took immediately because he was so used to the feeding routine. Then I switched from f/t mice to f/t small rats by scenting a rat with mouse bedding once he was big enough for rats.

Kind of complicated, but it worked for my picky snake.

Sometimes with adults you can also let them get a little hungry and then try f/t.

[wendhend]

It's fine to move your python when it is in shed, but I doubt it would eat for you very well when it is in shed. You might want to wait until the shed is over and let the snake settle in and get a chance to become more hungry before feeding it. For a snake that is big enough to eat multiple rodents, a trick I have found to work for switching them to prekilled or frozen / thawed is to give them the first one live and then right after that one has been swallowed, offer a second dead one on tongs, while they are still in feeding mode. Pretty soon it should get the idea and be more willing to accept food off of feeding tongs. From my experience, most ball pythons will eat prekilled or frozen / thawed way better if dangled from feeding tongs than if you just lay down a dead rodent for them. A lot of them will also accept the dead rodents better in their cage and if you dangle it at the opening of their hide while they are in there than if you try to expose them first or move them to a feeding box. It will probably just take some experiementing to see what works for your snake. If he looks and acts healthy, I wouldn't think he would necessarily need a vet check-up. Also I would ditch the heat lamps and opt for an under tank heater on one side of the tank. I use aspen for substrate with all of my snakes and have never had any problems with it. Good luck with your new pet!

[Crazy4Herps]

Hi, Jennifer! As others have said, I would not worry about moving him while he is in shed, but once you bring him home let him be, as they tend to be grumpy when they're in shed. Aspen bedding is a suitable substrate as long as you change it every month or so and spot clean as necessary.

That's great that you have a reptile vet nearby, it's wonderful to know that you have someone you can trust if anything ever goes wrong, but the truth is reptile medicine is not as advanced as dog and cat medicine, and often times there is not a whole lot vets can do in terms of check-ups. A vet would check inside his mouth for excess saliva, bubbles, abscesses, and signs of stomatitis, his scales for mold and scale rot, his vent for swelling and redness, and could sex him for you. But other than that (most of which you could do yourself), there is not much else vets can do without running blood and fecal tests. It's really up to you, but unless you have reason to believe he is sick, a vet check-up is not really necessary. However, snakes can get internal parasites from eating live rodents, and with new snakes I like to bring in a fecal sample to the vet just to check. It's easier and cheaper than an actual appointment and is usually more conclusive.

As for switching to frozen/thawed food, it absolutely can be done, but ball pythons are notorious for being picky eaters, and switching is a long process. For now, it's probably in his best interest to keep him on his preference of live mice (and yes, having a gender/color/size preference in food, strange as it sounds, is not uncommon in ball pythons) for a month or two, so that you can be sure he is comfortable and settled into his new home, and so that he has some food in him. Switching him to frozen/thawed food is mostly a matter of holding out on him. If you want to convert him, thaw a dark-colored mouse (it's easiest to start out with what he is most familiar with), leave it out for a few hours so that it is completely thawed, warm it up with either warm water, a hair dryer, or both (never heat a rodent in the microwave or oven!!!), then use a pair of tongs to offer it to him. Wiggle it around so that it seems to be moving. You'll have the best luck if you try at night, leaving the room dark and quiet for several hours beforehand. If he doesn't take it, you can leave it in the cage overnight. If he doesn't eat it overnight, throw it out in the morning and wait a week to try again. It can take a long time, but as long as you don't offer him live food, he'll start taking frozen eventually.

Good luck! When you bring him home, we'd love to see pictures!