Re: Ball Python picky with pre-killed mice
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Laura&Vincent
Hello,
So Vincent is a regular ball somewhere around 2 years old? Not exactly sure how old he was when I got him but he was tiny so i'm estimating.....
When I first got him I fed him live mice and he went at them like they were the most delicious food he'd ever had. Never a hesitation or a doubt of whether to eat..... no matter time of year, etc.
I switched him over to pre-killed like 6 months ago and ever since then he's been the most finicky eater i've ever seen. I thaw the mice correctly and even warm them using a hair dryer because sometimes that's the only way he'll go for them. But it's really hit or miss.... sometimes he won't go for them at all and it takes half an hour of dangling it around and taking it out and trying again.... making sure he doesn't get stressed. Sometimes he "kills" it and then wont eat it. Today, after a long time of dangling.... he finally killed it and then he dragged it in his water dish and went back in his hide and didn't eat it.
Why is this so stressful? So many people convinced me to switch him over to pre-killed and frankly its become way more trouble than it's worth for me and for him. I hate seeing those poor little fuzzies die but seriously it's getting ridiculous and i'm seriously considering switching back because I don't know if he's getting enough food and nutrition due to his dislike of this way of feeding.
Any advice would be appreciated :) Thanks!
Best,
Laura & Vincent
Hey fuzzies are way to small for a 2 year old python. try adult mice, and get a pair of feeder tongs and kill a mouse, then dangle the dead mouse by the tail until the python takes it. I just started this a month ago with my 7 month old ball. Hope this helps
