Does anyone know how to hand feed a bp!!!

[BP_freak]

My Guy wont eat from tongs/ my hand. I wiggle it in front of him and he wont even strike!! Can you PLEASE TELL ME SOMe WAYS!!!!!

[led4urhead]

How old is your bp? How long have you had him? Has he eaten for you? Is this the first time you have tried to feed pre-killed or f/t? Not all bp's will strike and constrict while you are wiggling it in front of them. I know my bp wont eat unless he feels like no one else is around. I just drop the dead rat into the feeding tank with him, cover the tank 3/4ths of the way with a towel, and let him eat on his own. Eventually he gets the idea and hits the rat. Your bp might not like all attention or he may see you as a threat.

[Marla]

Also, the movement of the prey should mimic the natural movement it would have when alive. That doesn't mean it has to match exactly, but do you see a lot of live mice spinning in midair? I don't, so neither should your snake. When I was in the process of converting mine and still had to move the mice around for them, it sometimes helped to lightly touch a paw or something to the snake or drag it along its side to get its attention. You might also try just leaving the prey in a dark container with it for a period of hours, because mine stopped wanting the dance and just wanted to be left alone with their prey after a while.

[gozetec02]

Its funny that you mention Marla that the prey should mimic the natural movment. Jojo must have seen flying rodents before becuase all i have to do is dangle it and he takes it with no problems. He even comes out of his hide to get it. The key is to get him interested. Ball pythons are inquisitive by nature and they usually investigate everything that enters thier house. But should come out with their tounges sizing up the prey. But always use tongs so you dont get mistaken for the prey.

[First_time_herp]

You also could try rubbingthe dead F/T mouse agaisnt a live gerbil. That is suposed to work. And all the thing mentioned above are good also.

[Marla]

Perhaps Jojo thinks he's eating bats?

[First_time_herp]

Perhaps Jojo thinks he's eating bats?

Or maybe birds! LOL!

[Smulkin]

Good advice there. And welcome to the site.

Patience glasshopper - you'll often need to wait more then three minutes for an answer before starting a new thread and repeating the same question - a tad spammy.

[BP_freak]

He is about 6 months old and i have had him 3 months. Right now he is eating in his cage but i heard that isnt the best thing to do.

[Smulkin]

Some prefer feeding outside - most logically from concerns over loose/fine substrates. Some may argue from an angle of classical conditioning but unless you ONLY open/reach in the cage when you feed I doubt you're going to set up a given response like that. If you use substrate that could be ingested along with the prey then you might want to either feed outside or lay a paer towel or something down underneath the item so it can be downed more easily.