Any tips switching from live to FT?

[Derteufel]

hes about 5 months old now, breeder fed him live. For the last month or longer ive been feeding him live and aside from the time he had a short lived RI, he takes it right away.

Ive tried to wain him into FT but he just isnt interested. Obviously not going to force it, he has his preferences, but I want to make sure I try everything reasonable before I just keep him on a live diet.

[D4rkWr4th]

Did you try leaving the FT in his cage overnight?

[Neal]

How are you thawing it out, how long, are you heating it up in warm water or letting it sit out, are you sure its completely thawed out and warm? Are you feeding him in his tank, or in a seperate enclosure.

We need the details on what you've tried and how you've tried it, as if you tried from tongs, just left it sit in there and so on.

[Bleepr]

In general, you'll want to switch them using the same prey item they're used too. IE, if they are getting live mice, give them f/t mice.

I feed f/t by putting the item (in the case mouse) in a baggy, in some tepid (luke-warm) water, and place it in the cage, with the baggy open wide. Leave it in there for an hour or 2 and that should get them interested (The scent of thier usual item should be enough to get them interested) After an hour or so, check the mouse, if its squishy, then remove it, and place it in the absolute hotest water you can get from the tap, leave it there for 5 secs, and try to feed.

As usual, keep the room dark, and thier hid on them, or atleast near by so they can drag it in and consume

If they don't take it however, don't be discouraged, and keep trying every week at thier usual feeding time. Snakes can go weeks without food, so a week without food isnt a big deal, eventually, they'll tag a f/t like a freight train.

[Derteufel]

D4rkWr4th - Yes

Neal - He eats Saturday nights. I take it out the night before. I am quite sure its completely thawed. I leave it in hot waterfor about 15 minutes, then dump that water and refil (tea mug) for a few minutes in the cage, same enclosure, same as with live, Ive used chopsticks and just let it sit over night. He is not interested one bit not during any of those steps. Put a live on in and 5 minutes later he picks his head and goes to get it.

Bleepr - same. Just FT not live. He prefers to eat in the dark so I continue that, Ive removed the mouse and reheated in tap water. Hes got good weight, he could go for more than a few weeks without eating but hes still really young. dont know if im ready to starve him until hes got no choice but to go for it, unless others have done it or from what we (people) know its not detrimental to the snake.

[BJJPython]

Okay so I just recently switched my new Super Pastel male over to F/T. I was a bit down when I first tried, but from my experience, a few things helped me. Patience, just keep trying! Don't get down and keep trying. Second, I tried right after he dropped a sock-of-snake-skin and was extremely hungry, and right after, he snatched it right up. I might try after the shed, because my guy really was hungry, and while he wouldn't even look at it before, he even tried to resist the F/T this past time, but in the end, he was much to hungry to resist it, and finally struck. Just my 2cents. Hope it helps

[Derteufel]

BJ, thanks for the story. Hes about to start shedding, I can see it. Ill skip this week since its now Monday and he eats saturday. By next Satuday he should be all shed and hungry. ill try it out. This is the kind of thing I was looking for, simple and not in the books. Not easy figuring animals out sometimes.

[Neal]

There's a few different things you can try, like when you try this week and he doesn't take it then get a large brown paper bag, and put it in the bag with your bp and fold the top over and give him about 20 mins. Also you can thaw the mouse out in the same room as your bp, the scent will usually trigger a better feeding response(some of the people do it).

[Derteufel]

^ Like leave the mouse in over night to thaw, take it out to heat him in some water and put him back? I like the paperbag idea hahaha hotbox the snake.

thats not a bad idea i think.

[Neal]

Wait, i'm not sure if you mis-read I said. Let the mouse thaw out in the same room that you keep your bp in, to scent the air. Then do your warming thing and all. Then once hes heated up, put the mouse in a brown paper bag, and then put your bp in the brown paper bag, and fold it over, and let it sit for a bit. Make sure its a relatively big paper bag though so its not making him stay coiled. If your bp is about the same size im assuming, you can use a brown paper bag a bit smaller then the size of a grocery bag.