Feeding Problems

My ball python has struck her prey repeatedly, but hasn't wrapped around it. This is her first frozen/thawed meal, and it is the same size as the widest part of her body. I'm pretty sure these are real strikes, not defensive ones; she follows her prey with her eyes, doesn't back away from it and strikes so hard that when she does miss, her nose sometimes hits the side of the box. Is there anything I can do? Is this just her not being hungry?

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Originally Posted by gay

My ball python has struck her prey repeatedly, but hasn't wrapped around it. This is her first frozen/thawed meal, and it is the same size as the widest part of her body. I'm pretty sure these are real strikes, not defensive ones; she follows her prey with her eyes, doesn't back away from it and strikes so hard that when she does miss, her nose sometimes hits the side of the box. Is there anything I can do? Is this just her not being hungry?

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How did you thaw it? And was it warm enough for her? Im dealing with the same problem here 😪😪

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I thawed it in a bag under some hot water. It should be hot enough-- it was 102 right after I took it out of the water and i measured it with a heat gun.

Edit: She's huffing/hissing now, so I think she's too stressed and I should try again a different day.

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Originally Posted by gay

I thawed it in a bag under some hot water. It should be hot enough-- it was 102 right after I took it out of the water and i measured it with a heat gun.

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Yea, I do the same lol I'm gonna go get a live rat pup tmmr and rub it on the f/t to see if it works, if not, then i'll use the live rat pup (p/k)

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Sounds like baby defense strikes. How are you presenting the rat to her? Not zombie dangling and right in her face I hope. It also helps if you feed at night after the room has been dark and calm for a bit and then try to stay out of site and just sneak your hand/tongs in. Some hatchlings get really scared when there's this massive creature standing over them booping them with a corpse attached to metal sticks. Go figure.

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Originally Posted by HannahLou

Sounds like baby defense strikes. How are you presenting the rat to her? Not zombie dangling and right in her face I hope. It also helps if you feed at night after the room has been dark and calm for a bit and then try to stay out of site and just sneak your hand/tongs in. Some hatchlings get really scared when there's this massive creature standing over them booping them with a corpse attached to metal sticks. Go figure.

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For some reason, the way you said it made me laugh 😂 lol but yea, i totally agree

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