So it seems that with each ball python I get I step up in difficulty of getting them eating. Allure ate three days after he arrived and has never refused a meal in the nine months I've had him.
Dahlia the leo girl refused when I offered her food the day after she arrived (I expected that but didn't hurt to try). I had to do a really good zombie dance to get her to take her mouse the following week. Seriously took me about 15 minutes until she got it. She struck, got it, then all of a sudden got startled and let go and I had to do it all over again. She still is a really weird eater and often cracks me up. One time she didn't even strike she just opened her mouth and started swallowing it off the tongs.Well I got her to switch to rat fuzzies last week after her staring it down a good long while. She took her second one today and struck, didn't coil, and just sat there like a dog with a toy in it's mouth until she started swallowing. Weird little girl.
Then we have the Pandora the clown female who I was told eats everything and eats both F/T and live rats. When she first got here I didn't have rats of her size (had to wait about a week and half before they shipped and arrived) so I offered her mice on two different occasions. She wouldn't come out of her hide like the other two at the scent of them so I had to take the hide off of her. I'd do a complete zombie dance including the mouse walking around. She'd flick her tongue, get into striking position, and check it out all over and never struck. I left the mice in there overnight both times. When my rat fuzzies came she did the same thing. Today was my second time offering her a rat fuzzy and she got super excited by the scent when I used the hair dryer to get it back up to temp (which she never has before), but same thing, act super interested and stared it down face to face and never strike. I got frustrated after trying for 15/20 min, left the rat by the hide I took off of her and walked away. I check about 10 minutes later expecting to see it sitting there still and it was gone and I can see the bulge in her belly. So apparently she's just a shy eater and only likes rats. I hope this means I cracked the code.
I decided to mist real quick when she was in her hide after eating and she came out all ready to strike at the water bottle. I guess she's finally realized she's hungry and what I've been offering is food.
And snake #4 will be level four in snake eating stubbornness as I wait on the axanthic girl. Wish the little brat would hurrry up and eat because I have an empty cage that needs to be filled.
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Originally Posted by Marrissa
