new owner wants to get on the right feeding track, hopefully with frozen
First feeding time is here for my sons 10 month old BP. We've had him for 5 days and the breeder last feed him a live rat about 6 days ago so I don't want to wait much longer. Breeder say he was always a voracious eater and would be a good candidate for switching to frozen, which would be my preference. I tried a frozen mouse yesterday with no interest, so today I've tracked down a rat source. I'm not sure if they have frozen or not. My question is do I stick with live for the first few feedings just to get the BP to become comfortable in his new home or just go cold turkey and try for frozen/pre-killed? The breeder suggested not using mice and now I agree. I just want to get on the right track and schedule and I fear I may have started down the wrong path with the frozen mouse.
Re: new owner wants to get on the right feeding track, hopefully with frozen
You didn't do any harm by offering a mouse, nothing to worry about.
Since he's new and hsan't had f/t before, it might be a good idea to do live a few times before trying to switch over to f/t.
Good luck!
Re: new owner wants to get on the right feeding track, hopefully with frozen
Relax. It is very common for bps to refuse food (even live) after a move. Sometimes for months.
Let's start by reviewing your husbandry. Why don't you post pics/describe your setup for your son's bp? Review the bp caresheet & make sure you have your setup optimized. It's here:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet
You haven't started off on the wrong foot by offering a frozen (and then thawed, right?) mouse. Just give him time to get adjusted. Feeding him won't help him become comfortable with his new surroundings; once he's comfortable with his new surroundings he'll feed - maybe.
Many prefer offering rats, but that's because of costs. It will be a lot less money offering 1 small rat once a week vs. several mice later on.
Don't offer food again for another 5 days. And no holding him until 24 hours after he's eaten.
And good for you for seeking advice! Welcome!
Re: new owner wants to get on the right feeding track, hopefully with frozen
What time of day did you try feeding? You might try leaving food in the tank late and night and turn out the lights (if it's f/t).
You know better than to leave live in the tank unmonitored hehe.
Seems like he's just scared to come out...still have that mouse? If so, try leaving it in the tank with him alone at night and see if it's gone in the morning. I've done that before and he took it, but he made sure he was alone first (I was hiding lol). :)
Re: new owner wants to get on the right feeding track, hopefully with frozen
The interior wood (maple) is already prefinished. It's a product I use throughout the cabinets I build, all zero formaldehyde. Exterior is also maple but that I had my painter laquer with another job. The entire thing is somewhat of a compromise. Practicality would seem to call for tubs, but for an 8 year olds pet snake that wasn't going to fly. A fish tank without a stand and enclosure of some kind to house all the heaters and controls seemed strange to me as well so I just built what I wanted, using the criteria found here and elsewhere. I'll say this: it wasn't cheap! But there also wasn't anything like it out there to buy for any reasonable amount of money.
Still wondering if I should go get a live rat and put him in there today:confusd: