Can you re-condition how an adult ball eats?

Hello everyone,

Background:
My girlfriend and I recently adopted our second ball python from craigslist, and we couldn't get a lot of our questions answered as the prior owner was the second owner and we're the third. We do know that he is blind in one eye from being fed live and got scratched, the last owner fed him pre-killed. He's a 5 year old male BP who lived in a rack setup for what I can only presume was most of his life, and was most likely fed in cage.

Let me get to the point, since we've gotten him 2 weeks ago he hasn't eaten inside his terrarium or out and seemed even afraid of the food. I think he was stressed out a bit by living in too small a terrarium as he hissed at me yesterday when I reached in to grab him, this prompted us to get him a 30 gallon tank which seems to suit his size well. If he has been living in and being fed in a racked tub for most of his life, is there any chance we could condition him to eat pre-killed in a box separate from his terrarium? This is how we would prefer to feed him. I'm thinking of giving him another week to adjust to his new home and trying again. I'm concerned that for him to adjust to eating in a separate box, we may have to offer him live food as was the case with our first ball, but he only has one good eye left so that's taking a risk :P Also, I've heard that adult ball pythons may not need to eat weekly as younger ones do, perhaps waiting couldn't hurt.

We'd appreciate any advice, we want to give him lots of love as he isn't just another snake in a rack to us. He's a cherished member of the family.

Thanks,
Caleb & Cat

Even those of us who use racks cherish our snakes.
If hes been in rack most of his life the big surroundings may stress him out.
Why would you want to feed in a separate container, its less stressful to them to be fed in their enclosure

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Crazymonkee

Even those of us who use racks cherish our snakes.
If hes been in rack most of his life the big surroundings may stress him out.
Why would you want to feed in a separate container, its less stressful to them to be fed in their enclosure

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Sorry, didn't mean to infer you guys didn't cherish your snakes, we just don't have as many and we like to make sure they're well taken care of. Our younger ball takes extremely well to being fed in a separate enclosure. He knows immediately where he is when he's placed in the box and gets in eating mode. It's very clear, and we like that he knows the difference and has never showed any cage aggression, that's why we like to feed him in a separate container. Also, it is easier to clean up.

You're also more likely to get bit when moving him around in feed mode... why is there anything to clean up???
Most people on here feed in the enclosure and will recommended doing so. Feeding in the enclosure does not make a snake cage aggressive

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Well I haven't been bit yet, and because sometimes blood gets on the substrate. He may have lived in a rack for most of his life, but now he lives in a terrarium, just figuring out the best way to feed him now as this is his life. Should I feed him in his new terrarium?

Yes I definitely in the enclosure. At least until he eats for you a few times.

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How old and how big is he (weight?). How is your set up and temps? I have a one year old, stunted girl, who must have been underfed before I got her, and because of her size I feed every 5 days. Age matters less than weight. That said, as long as he's not looking skinny, it's ok to wait.

I also don't agree with moving for feeding (and this is the general view here), but as with everything else in life, to each his own. I definitely wouldn't move to live food for a high-risk-for-injury snake, just so you can feed out of enclosure though, that seems backward to me. Worry about your snake eating first, then worry about getting bitten second (although there is no evidence that you are more likely to get bitten if you feed in enclosure, in fact it's the opposite).

Have you been handling? If so don't until he eats a few times. Going from a rack to a terrarium can be stressful, it's very open and scary compared to what they're used to. If you haven't, cover the back and sides with dark paper (or whatever you choose), to make him feel more secure and use multiple small snug fitting hides.

Temps are good, 90 on his hot spot and 77 ambient on his cool side with a humidity of 65%. I've seen some underfed snakes, and he's definitely not looking too skinny, but he's also not quite as bulky as he could be, I'm not sure of his weight.

I'm open to keeping him in his enclosure for feeding. The only reason I'm so gung-ho about feeding him in a separate box is because of the tremendous success we've had doing that with our other ball. Our younger ball's behavior clearly reflects that he knows where it is he feeds, he goes into an aggressive posture, into strike mode and looks up, waiting for his food. He never behaves this way in his terrarium, and despite arguments to the contrary this provides us with a sense of security that he's not going to strike us when we get in his cage to handle him and so far this is true. As I said, we're open to feeding our new one in the enclosure if this makes him feel better. We'll happily give it a try, just some tips as to how to ease him into it would be good.

We have been handling him. Previous owner told us he was held daily, thought we could offer him the same routine to perhaps comfort him. We've covered 3 sides with rainforest background paper that we got at Petco, and I've covered the top with duct tape and aluminum foil to control his humidity and cut a hole in it for his heat lamp. He also has a nice dark hide that is the perfect size for him.

The last terrarium he was in was not overly larger than the tub he used to live in, the main difference being room for a hide and some extra head room, but as far as area it was about the same, and it seemed clear that he was cramped. That's why we opted for the 30 gallon and not a 40, less head room. So far, he seems to really like his new terrarium. He was very curious about it at first and now he seems to love being sprawled out, almost like he's stretching out for the first time in a long time. :D Given that he's been kind of sprawled out in the middle of his terrarium for the past couple hours, it seems clear that he's enjoying it and doesn't seem to feel threatened at all.

Being kept in a tub doesn't mean they are cramped. Have you ever seen a rack system used properly?

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Give him about a week without touching or bothering him to help him settle in to his new enclosure. No food or anything for that week. Then try again inside his enclosure. If his new enclosure is bigger than his last you may need to add more "furniture" to make him feel more secure. Somtimes the move itself is just stressful enough to make them want to skip some meals.

On another note, make sure you have a good quarantine proceedure. Dont handle him or anything in his tank and then go handle your other snake as he could have an illness or parasite that has yet to reveal itself. Use sanatizer on your hands after touching him or anything in his enclosure as well as dont use the same tools for both snakes (if you use any that is, ie feeding tongs or snake hooks). Good luck to you and I hope all turns out well :)