Switching live raised adults to F/T

[cheosamad]

Hey guys. I picked up two adult ball pythons at a reptile show this past weekend. A Bumblebee female and a Super Pastel Lesser male. Got a sweet deal on the pair. The breeder said it was their weekly feeding day but they had been raised on live food. I brought them home and offered them a F/T meal just in case they would take so they woulf stay on their schedule. Both of them had 0 interest which I expected, I'm sure it's been a long stressful day for them. I plan to leave them alone for this week, no handling ot anything, and try for a meal next weekend.

Now I would love to get them on F/T but I'm much more concerned about just getting them eating in their new home. Should I offer them F/T again next weekend or should I offer them what they're used to just to get them feeding and try again at a different time. Also with live feeding obviously I need to watch them to make sure they don't get hurt. Should I be worried about anything else?

edit-also right after making this post I went to check on them and my gemale already perd and pooped for me. Awesome.

[cchardwick]

Personally I'd wait a week, then try live. If they miss on the first strike I'd take out the rodent and gas him with CO2, then try a fresh killed. Usually if they miss the first time they get all fired up and will take a fresh killed, and at that point it's easier to get them over to frozen thawed.

You can also try being a bit more aggressive in your feeding. I've never really touched the frozen thawed rodent to the snake this much but it seems to work good for this guy, he makes it look easy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDNLD63_ndQ

The guy in the video also uses bigger rats than I'd ever use for that size snake. I usually try to use a rat or mouse that is about the same width as the biggest part of the snake.

[cheosamad]

First I'd like to apologize for spelling peed and female wrong. My phone screen is cracked so I can't see. I will be trying bumping them with the frozen rat as well as putting it in some chicken broth. I will be waiting a week either way. First I'll offer the F/T and if that doesn't work I'll give them the rest of that day off and the next offer them what they're used to. I'm just super nervous about their first meal at home. (Can you tell I'm just getting into ball pythons haha?)