Frozen prey questions?

I am new to the forum. I currently don't own any snakes although i did keep corn snakes when i was younger. I want to start keeping ball pythons. I have some questions about feeding.

First, How difficult is it to get balls to eat f/t? My general understanding is that up 70-80% of balls will take f/t. Is this accurate? I ask because i simply don't have the heart to feed live prey. I know how that sounds givin im interested in reptiles, but im an animal lover and that includes mammals. Second, its my understanding that it is much cheaper to buy frozen thawed in bulk, so if i buy some hatchlings how many feedings before i have to increase prey size? If you know of a timelime/prey size to snake scale please let me know where i can find it. Finally, People often say that balls don't always take food on a regular basis. If i am feeding frozen thawed and the snake doesn't take the prey, do i throw it away or can i re-freeze it for future feeding?

Any imput would help a ton.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFB3Pa1SDhs&feature=plcp i quess if your getting hatchings just feed them f/t they're going to take it. the video is about rat sizes

Thanks for the link! So if you start them on f/t when they're young the tend to take them for life?

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Originally Posted by Webley

First, How difficult is it to get balls to eat f/t? My general understanding is that up 70-80% of balls will take f/t. Is this accurate? I ask because i simply don't have the heart to feed live prey. I know how that sounds givin im interested in reptiles, but im an animal lover and that includes mammals.

Second, its my understanding that it is much cheaper to buy frozen thawed in bulk, so if i buy some hatchlings how many feedings before i have to increase prey size? If you know of a timelime/prey size to snake scale please let me know where i can find it.

Finally, People often say that balls don't always take food on a regular basis. If i am feeding frozen thawed and the snake doesn't take the prey, do i throw it away or can i re-freeze it for future feeding?

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1) It depends on the snake. Some will take f/t no problems, some need time (and tricks) to transition, and some flat out refuse to take f/t. I don't know the percentage, my advice if live isn't an option is to ask the previous owner/seller what they are feeding the snake beforehand. But do be prepared to need to feed live if you have a snake that just won't take f/t and starts to loose an unhealthy amount of weight (gotta do what's best for the snake).

2) I buy frozen in bulk for my 15+ snakes and it's a lot cheaper than getting f/t feeders from a petstore. In my experience with my snakes is that when neonates they step up prey sizes pretty quickly (depending on the species of course), so I'd get feeders in the next size up too.

3) I always throw away uneaten food. Just preference. You can always leave the feeder in with the snake overnight to see if it will take f/t that way, but definitely toss it in the morning if it doesn't eat as it would be hours into the decay process.

Thanks for the info. Im starting to get a bigger picture on ball python feeding. I think learning what the breeder is feeding the snake is one of the most important parts of buying a snake. Thanks for the help, its greatly appreciated.

My personal preference is to offer a feeder for 15 minutes. If I don't get a feeding response I will refreeze ONCE. I thaw using warm water so it doesn't take long. If you thaw by leaving out I would not refreeze. Anytime a feeder is thawed for over an hour to an hour and a half I won't refreeze and just toss it.

The above info answered everything else well.

i feed mine ft, shes a year old now and hasnt ever refused a meal! knock on wood.:gj: