My little odd-ball

My ball python Gemma is a weirdo. When I first got her, she ate pinkies twice a week with no problem. We recently went through our first shed, & of course, since I'm a brand new snake mommy, I freaked out because she stopped eating & started acting abnormal for her (normally a very active snake, she became very antisocial). Now, she had almost a complete shed, with exceptions to her face. She still has a little left to peel off. But recently, when I feed her, she won't eat...normally, I guess is the right word. Every book I've read & every piece of research I've looked into (I've wanted a snake my whole life; I did the planning out way before I actually got her) says you're supposed to animate the pinkie to make the snake think it's alive. Well, I've made pinkies do the Hokey Pokey, the Thriller, the 1, 2, Step, & only God knows what other dance, but she wasn't having it. She dodged it with every move. But when I give up on feeding her & just drop the damn thing in her box, she eats it up like she's never eaten a day in her life. Anyone else have this weird kind of thing going on with their snake?

How many grams is your ball python? She should be on something bigger than pinkies. Even just hatched ball pythons can eat rat pups. And if she eats F/T with no work for you, enjoy it. Less time wasted and less arm cramps lol

I'm not sure how big she is. I haven't taken her to the vet yet, though I might soon. & I was thinking about putting her on fuzzies after I got rid of these pinkies. I've read that you can feed a snake food only as big as the width of her head. I've also read that you can feed a snake food only as big as the widest part of her body. So I've been sticking with the head just to be safe. & you're right, less arm cramps. x]

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Originally Posted by Gemma

My ball python Gemma is a weirdo. When I first got her, she ate pinkies twice a week with no problem. We recently went through our first shed, & of course, since I'm a brand new snake mommy, I freaked out because she stopped eating & started acting abnormal for her (normally a very active snake, she became very antisocial). Now, she had almost a complete shed, with exceptions to her face. She still has a little left to peel off. But recently, when I feed her, she won't eat...normally, I guess is the right word. Every book I've read & every piece of research I've looked into (I've wanted a snake my whole life; I did the planning out way before I actually got her) says you're supposed to animate the pinkie to make the snake think it's alive. Well, I've made pinkies do the Hokey Pokey, the Thriller, the 1, 2, Step, & only God knows what other dance, but she wasn't having it. She dodged it with every move. But when I give up on feeding her & just drop the damn thing in her box, she eats it up like she's never eaten a day in her life. Anyone else have this weird kind of thing going on with their snake?

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I got an albino boa, she will not strike she will only eat when I drop it and I close her lid (feeding container)... She doesn't like being watched, she is around 2yrs old and feeding on (M) f/t rats, at the 4ft mark

Large Fuzzies or Pups is a good starting point. I am putting together a "collection" of rats that are going to roughly be 10 days old for my buddies hatchlings. Pinkies are way too small. I feed my 161g Pewter 2 pups. My 400g female takes larger and so on and so on.