My little Pain in the rear...

I close my tubs. Rat goes in, tub gets shut. Then when they strike I open tub and peek, make sure all is well, then move along. I doubt yours will release his rodent. I've never had any of mine phased by me peeking.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks :) That was my main concern because of how shy he is. I thought people actually stood with the tub open looking in to watch the strike / intervene if needed. I feel a lot better about it now knowing you guys shut the tub and peek after strike.

I find mine much more willing to take F/T after the 200g mark or so

I've dropped a live rat into a tub ( with holes) with my young ball python and covered it. There are some tubs that are off colored that can help shy eaters.
Of course, I always watch with tongs in hand just in case the rat decides to try and move up the evolutionary food chain.

Just got back from the pet store. Asked the guy for a small mouse, he came back with a pretty large almost breeder size. So I asked the other guy if they had anything smaller and he let me in the back to pick one. I noticed they had rat pups! So I eagerly said "how much are the rar pups? " (I had already paid, so wasn't sure how much difference in price there was etc. He replied "they're not for sale. They are still nursing! Smallest rat we sell is a small rat at $3something"

Now, in another situation this wouldn't have bothered me. Policy is policy. But I just bought 2 rat pinks from this store about 2 weeks ago...so.. yea. Anyways, got the small mouse because I didn't see the employees that I normally deal with.

I dropped it in the tub, and it went right into the hide with mojo in it. *squeak* hide jumps...and I had the tub open! So I lifted the hide and he's got a good bite, and leave him be.

Maybe there is hope for him yet! He didn't spit it out when I lifted the hide, so I'm happy!

Side note, I didn't weigh it prior because I was excited to see how the feeding went. It was smaller than I thought after seeing him gulp it down in less than 5 min. I think he's still hungry lol. I'll give him 3-4 days and get another mouse for him.

Congrats! Got love the sound of hide rattling from a strike, lol!

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MrLang

I find mine much more willing to take F/T after the 200g mark or so

---

You know, my boy switched about 250g. When I bought him, he was about 175g and only taking live.

To the OP, next time, feed him a mouse followed immediately by a F/T mouse/rat and just see if he takes it. If he doesn't, leave it in the tub overnight.

I was having problems feeding F/T to my ball pythons too. I was told a few tricks buy some fellow reptile owners. First, when feeding f/t put the rat or mouse in a plastic bag or two and put it in a big bowl of hot water. Next put a smaller bowl of hot water on top to submerge it to thaw. I usually wait 15 to 20 minutes before i take the mouse out. After the time has passed i take the mouse out and set him under a heat lamp. I use a 100 watt heat bulb. I let him sit till he's warm to the touch( i know its a little gross) And completely dry. The next step is really IMPORTANT: Move you snake to another tubs. I use a spare or empty tub. There doesn't need to be anything in it. The reason for this is that if he's still in his home he will respond defensively to movement/new prey being offered. I take him to a fairly dark room. In my case the kitchen with only the heat light on. I let them sit there for a minute to relax then i try offering the mouse. Its worked 100% of the time for me.

Edit: I also recommend feeding in a separate cage because hides and substrate can be health hazards. Most hatch lings do better when fed in separate feeding tubs.

Freaking woot! Just did a live mouse followed up with a prekilled off the tongs and mojo took the prekilled! I just danced around the house in celebration. Definitely a step in the right direction! Yay!