Ball Python picky with pre-killed mice

Hello,
So Vincent is a regular ball somewhere around 2 years old? Not exactly sure how old he was when I got him but he was tiny so i'm estimating.....
When I first got him I fed him live mice and he went at them like they were the most delicious food he'd ever had. Never a hesitation or a doubt of whether to eat..... no matter time of year, etc.
I switched him over to pre-killed like 6 months ago and ever since then he's been the most finicky eater i've ever seen. I thaw the mice correctly and even warm them using a hair dryer because sometimes that's the only way he'll go for them. But it's really hit or miss.... sometimes he won't go for them at all and it takes half an hour of dangling it around and taking it out and trying again.... making sure he doesn't get stressed. Sometimes he "kills" it and then wont eat it. Today, after a long time of dangling.... he finally killed it and then he dragged it in his water dish and went back in his hide and didn't eat it.

Why is this so stressful? So many people convinced me to switch him over to pre-killed and frankly its become way more trouble than it's worth for me and for him. I hate seeing those poor little fuzzies die but seriously it's getting ridiculous and i'm seriously considering switching back because I don't know if he's getting enough food and nutrition due to his dislike of this way of feeding.


Any advice would be appreciated :) Thanks!

Best,

Laura & Vincent

I'd stick with live f/t is too much of a hassle. Just watch the head and make sure the rodent doesn't bite the snake.

I feed live, so I don't have a problem telling you to go back to live feeding and see if that improves his appetite. If it's still touch and go once you switched back to live, then the state of the rat is not the issue. It could be just the age he is in, or the season (sometimes they go off feed during breeding season even when there's no mate around).

Hope this helps.

Yeah honestly even though everyone who feeds F/T claims that feeding live is extremely dangerous and can kill your snake, i have had no issues with it.

Thawing out rodents and making sure they are the right temperature is just a pain. Just throw the rat in there and let your snake do what they were INSTINCTIVELY taught to do, hunt and kill prey...

Also a consider pre killed and frozen/thawed to be 2 different things. Chances are if you were feeding your snake pre killed prey which is killed or stunned right before feeding, he would eat them like candy. But feeding F/T is a lot more difficult for a snake that has been eating live it's whole life for over 2 years.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Laura&Vincent

Hello,
So Vincent is a regular ball somewhere around 2 years old? Not exactly sure how old he was when I got him but he was tiny so i'm estimating.....
When I first got him I fed him live mice and he went at them like they were the most delicious food he'd ever had. Never a hesitation or a doubt of whether to eat..... no matter time of year, etc.
I switched him over to pre-killed like 6 months ago and ever since then he's been the most finicky eater i've ever seen. I thaw the mice correctly and even warm them using a hair dryer because sometimes that's the only way he'll go for them. But it's really hit or miss.... sometimes he won't go for them at all and it takes half an hour of dangling it around and taking it out and trying again.... making sure he doesn't get stressed. Sometimes he "kills" it and then wont eat it. Today, after a long time of dangling.... he finally killed it and then he dragged it in his water dish and went back in his hide and didn't eat it.

Why is this so stressful? So many people convinced me to switch him over to pre-killed and frankly its become way more trouble than it's worth for me and for him. I hate seeing those poor little fuzzies die but seriously it's getting ridiculous and i'm seriously considering switching back because I don't know if he's getting enough food and nutrition due to his dislike of this way of feeding.


Any advice would be appreciated :) Thanks!

Best,

Laura & Vincent

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Are you offering him fuzzy mice or adult mice?

Sometimes they just prefer live. I would just switch back if he's giving you this much trouble. But if I read that right, you're feeding a 2 year old Ball Python fuzzy mice? If so, that is way too small and at that age he should be eating small rats.

Thanks a lot for the comments, guys. I should try to post a picture of Vincent cuz he's still pretty small... at least his head is. I'll try a small rat I guess but it looks so huge for him! I was beginning to wonder if he was a runt until his body started getting thicker.... but maybe it takes years and years for them to get to full size?
:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Laura&Vincent

Thanks a lot for the comments, guys. I should try to post a picture of Vincent cuz he's still pretty small... at least his head is. I'll try a small rat I guess but it looks so huge for him! I was beginning to wonder if he was a runt until his body started getting thicker.... but maybe it takes years and years for them to get to full size?
:)

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Seriously, if you're feeding fuzzy mice to a 2 year old snake, then they will NOT be anywhere close to reaching their mature size. And may never reach it if that sort of feeding regime continues.

It's pretty easy to freak out about the correct size of prey item when you look at how tiny their heads are....but they were MADE to eat prey larger than their heads. They can do it, I promise!!

I can't recommend a specific size animal because I have no idea how big your snake actually is....but I can, with confidence, suggest that at the very least, he should be eating large adult mice...maybe two per meal once he gets used to that size prey.

As for the live vs pk debate....feeding live is FINE so long as you do it responsibly. Don't put a hungry, thirsty, freaked out rodent in there....and never leave one alone with your snake for an extended period of time. If they don't eat within the first 20 minutes or so...then remove the rodent.

i feed mine f/t cuz i can never find the right sizes for them but if they wont take the f/t i can always get a live to do them if they keep refusing the f/t.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Laura&Vincent

Hello,
So Vincent is a regular ball somewhere around 2 years old? Not exactly sure how old he was when I got him but he was tiny so i'm estimating.....
When I first got him I fed him live mice and he went at them like they were the most delicious food he'd ever had. Never a hesitation or a doubt of whether to eat..... no matter time of year, etc.
I switched him over to pre-killed like 6 months ago and ever since then he's been the most finicky eater i've ever seen. I thaw the mice correctly and even warm them using a hair dryer because sometimes that's the only way he'll go for them. But it's really hit or miss.... sometimes he won't go for them at all and it takes half an hour of dangling it around and taking it out and trying again.... making sure he doesn't get stressed. Sometimes he "kills" it and then wont eat it. Today, after a long time of dangling.... he finally killed it and then he dragged it in his water dish and went back in his hide and didn't eat it.

Why is this so stressful? So many people convinced me to switch him over to pre-killed and frankly its become way more trouble than it's worth for me and for him. I hate seeing those poor little fuzzies die but seriously it's getting ridiculous and i'm seriously considering switching back because I don't know if he's getting enough food and nutrition due to his dislike of this way of feeding.


Any advice would be appreciated :) Thanks!

Best,

Laura & Vincent

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Well I have one for ya, my normal ball female went a whole 1 1/2 months without eating. fresh killed, live, african soft fur, nothing. Gerbil, success!!! African soft fur tossed around in shavings from gerbil tank, success!!!. A little thump on the head because gerbils are rather nasty and take nasty bites and you are good to go. I don't like thump'n them either, but I gotta do what I gotta do. Good luck!!!