How long to leave the mouse?

I am feeding my newly bought ball python frozen feeder mice, defrosted by soaking in hot water, she shed today and has been active since, I figure that she is hungry so I gave her a mouse around 10am and I am wondering how long to leave it in there? Thanks for any feedback...no pun intended!!!

First off it is better to feed nocturnal snakes such as ball pythons at night. I typically leave a mouse overnight. Leave it at the entrance of the snake's hide spot while it's in there. Leave the snake alone so it feels secure enough to eat.

Are you defrosting directly in the water or are you defrosting with a bag in the water? Both ways are fine. I was just wondering. If you defrost directly in the water, the mouse will get wet and weaken the odor. This can sometimes be a problem with a picky feeder.

I feed my bps at about 7 pm usually....but I have fed anywhere between noon and 2 in the morning. I have always figured that if the mouse is in there for 2 hours and your bp has not taken it.....he probably will not. I feed each of my bp two f/t adult mice each week. First, I offer each mouse with tongs. If no interest is shown, I just set them in the enclosure and give them 2-3 hours to eat. If they dont eat(which rarely happens to me :) ), I just toss the mouse and wait til the next week. If they miss a feeding it is generally no big deal. I hope that helps a bit.

If she doesn't eat the mouse after leaving it over night, do I refreeze or throw out? Also I have her in a 40 gallon tank in my living room with two young kids running around and about, is this annoying to my Bp or will she adjust? Thanks for your reply.

Is you bp a hatchling or an adult? exactly how long ago did you get your bp?

I'd throw the mouse out.. they get stinky pretty quickly.

Running kids can surely stress a BP. I'd put the snake in a low traffic area.

I got her 2 weeks ago and I think she is a sub adult, she is maybe 14 inches long, captive bred, bought from Petco.

Petco in general sucks when it comes to taking care of herps..

14" is pretty small to be living in a 40 gallon tank. I'd put the snake in a 20 gallon, or at least put a bunch of tight, dark hide spots in the 40 gallon to make it feel more secure.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dagen

captive bred, bought from Petco.

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LOL!!!

-adam

if the bp was bought at petco I am pretty much 99% sure that it is Captive Hatched not Captive Bred. And yes there is a big difference.

I wish I could laugh with you adam.....but Thor came from Petco... ha ha ha...never again....just one of those things...oh well :)