feeding

does anyone just leave a f/t rat or mouse in tub for picky eater overnight?

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Originally Posted by tmartin2347

does anyone just leave a f/t rat or mouse in tub for picky eater overnight?

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That normally does the trick with a few of my shy feeders.

i got a guy who needs to eat real bad. he ate on the 2nd of this month and that was the first time eating with me, then didnt eat on the 9th because he was in shed. now he looks really skinny and needs to eat and ive tried three times between today and tonight. I'm going to try tomorrow night and if that doesn't work then I don't know what to do.

howbig?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tmartin2347

i got a guy who needs to eat real bad. he ate on the 2nd of this month and that was the first time eating with me, then didnt eat on the 9th because he was in shed. now he looks really skinny and needs to eat and ive tried three times between today and tonight. I'm going to try tomorrow night and if that doesn't work then I don't know what to do.

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try offering live...see if that helps his feeding response.... I do have some that are complete holdouts when it comes to accepting FT.

When you have them refuse a feeding, I would not stress the snake further by offering multiple times the same day or day after...just wait a week and try again.

Honestly a ball python shouldn't lose weight that rapidly from not eating for a few weeks, my guess would be possibly internal parasites or dehydration. When in doubt of an animals health a vet trip with a fecal sample should be priority one.

Well he was born on september 20th of this year. I weighed him in on the 2nd of this month at 101g which was the first day of feeding my new babies since I had them. I'm going to weigh him tomorrow and see where he's at. It is deffinately frustrating though. I just want him to eat like all the others, it was a succesful transion to f/t for the other three. And im almost positive he does'nt have any parasite or anything like that, I got him from a very well known A+ breeder that im sure you all talk to all the time on this forum and probably have bought from him. I dont even have to say his name because are probably thinking about him right now.

I also have one that does not like f/t, he will not strike at it but pounds live. I left the f/t in there over night once and he did take it..

Mine started by not eating anything offered, no matter how long I left it, so I had to force feed a few times, after that, he struck at ANYTHING that I put in there. Since I switched from pinkies to fuzzies (which should be NO PROBLEM for him, I'm pretty sure he could eat an adult mouse) he has been a little bit of a shy eater. I don't keep him on an exact schedule (but it's usually 6-9 days and I'm well aware of when he was fed last) but I wait until he starts hunting around the cage. Once I've seen that a few times, I'll offer him a mouse. I can leave the mouse in front of his nose and he will sit there ready to strike for HOURS. Finally I just go to sleep and it's gone in the morning. I've started just leaving it for him before I go to bed, that's why it's nice that I feed F/T, I wouldn't be able to leave a live one. (Not sure he'd move quick enough to catch a live one either...)

I don't understand why people push F/t so hard before their snakes are eating correctly. And when it doesn't work they are dumb founded.

Offer live after a week of waiting. You have tried to feed him 3-4 times in a day and a half is WAY to many times.

Get your snakes eating correctly before you worry about f/t convenience.

I agree with what everyone is saying. But it seems like the only reason he isnt eating for and probably wont eat for a while is because he is stressed out. Offer once a week only. If he doesnt take then move on. If you keep offering everyday it just stresses him out more. So my advice is give him a solid week of alone time and try again. Also since he is a youngster i would offer live, maybe a live fuzzy rat. Depending on the size of your bp. I hope this makes sense. Good luck.