Feeding Schedule and Feeding Question

[BHReptiles]

I have several baby ball pythons (220g, 200g, and 130g). Right now, they are all being fed 10-15% of their body weight every 4 days with the exception of the 130ger. She's a mouser and eats an adult mouse (roughly 20g-25g). The other two get fed 2 rat fuzzies (the one who only eats live is scared of anything that moves more than fuzzy rats). I'm trying to use up the frozen fuzzies that I have before moving onto my bag of rat pups (I've got roughly 8 more fuzzies left). When do I need to change their feeding schedule to a 5 or more day schedule. Both eat like clockwork. The 220g is a female that I would LIKE to breed next fall so I'm trying to get her up to weight at a fast but healthy pace. She was a rescue and was born late 2011 but when I got her in July, she was only 44g...so she's a lot older than she appears. The 200ger is a male who will have a date with a pastel as soon as he's over 500g...so I want him to grow at a fast but healthy pace as well. What's a good feeding schedule? I've been roughly basing my feeding on this: http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...ging_chart.jpg

For my feeding question, the male is currently eating live rat fuzzies. Like I said above, he's scared of the rats that have their eyes open and really move around. Is there a way I can break that? Ideally, I'd LOVE him to be on F/T but he never has any interest in F/T that I offer him. However, I'll toss in a couple of live rat pinkies or live rat fuzzies and he gobbles them up no problem.

[BHReptiles]

No one has any opinions? None?

[keyan_ado]

for the one that wont tuch the frozzen/thawed a weird trick that worked for me was to rub it agaisnt a gerbial or its used substerate thisactivates there hunting senses cuz thats what they hunt in the wild.

hope it helps

[BHReptiles]

for the one that wont tuch the frozzen/thawed a weird trick that worked for me was to rub it agaisnt a gerbial or its used substerate thisactivates there hunting senses cuz thats what they hunt in the wild.

hope it helps

I'll have to try it out. Since I don't keep rodents, do you think mouse bedding might work? I can probably bum some off the place I buy feeders from if I ask nicely.

[CuddleMunkie]

You could try. I've heard that refreezing and thawing a second time after you've thawed the dinner of choice the first time helps since it breaks down the proteins more and makes it smell better to the snake.

[hitman3303]

How warm are your f/t when you give them? I put mine in real hot water (inside a plastic sandwich bag) before I give them so they pick up on the heat signature. Some don't care, if it smells like a rat, they're eating. Others have to have the rats a certain temp. Some it has to be a certain color. And some just won't take f/t. For some reason I have never had a pastel that has eaten frozen thawed, they just won't take it and I have no idea why.

Also have you tried just leaving the rat in the tank/tub with him and leave him alone? My Fire and Bumble Bee won't take from the tongs, you have to drop it in the bin and leave them alone with it. You could also try the chicken broth trick or the brain exposure trick to see if that works.

[Annageckos]

When I want to switch a snake from live to F/T I find it helps to go from live, to pre-killed to f/t. Some snakes don't need this process, but it really helps some. When you feed f/t make sure the rat is hot, but don't cook it. I hit it with a hair dryer.

[BHReptiles]

In order to answer everyone's questions (I hope I don't forget any), I'll go through what I normally do for him:

- for all my other snakes, I boil water and make a 50/50 boiled to room temp water and then place the rodents in ziploc baggies and then into the water. I thaw them until they are warm and I can no longer feel cold spots (it varies...usually 30-60 min)

- I have tried placing the rodent in a ziploc in the boiled water to get it extra hot (either from completely frozen or after being thawed for a few minutes to get it extra warm)

- I've tried using the blow dryer trick

- I've left rats with him (one white, one black) overnight

- I always use the zombie dance (both dangling from the scruff and the tail - all my others will eat if you dangle from the tail)

- I have tried a re-frozen/re-thawed rat (it was also one of the rats I left overnight)

Here's what I have not tried:

- braining

- getting a pre-killed rodent

I am just getting concerned because I've tried to give him live rat pups/almost weanlings since he's big enough and he's scared to strike them. I'm not sure what his problem is. However, if I throw in something (or several somethings) with their eyes closed, he has no problem striking, coiling, then chowing down.

[CuddleMunkie]

Wow. You sure do have a picky eater. And you've listed all the ideas I've ever heard of. Is he scared of the mice, too?

As for the schedule question that I think we might have all forgotten about, I'm not really sure when you should switch. It sounds to me like you've got a good system going. I admit I was a real noob when it came to my feeding schedule. I fed our big boy Charlie a medium-sized rat once a month, and little Penny started off on two regular-sized mice every two weeks and gradually moved to one mouse every 7 to 10 days. The schedule wasn't very strict. If I saw them hunting their cage a couple days early, I'd go ahead and feed them.