Proud New Owner

Well, I went ahead and checked under Onyx's warm hide today to check temperature, and apparently she moved during the time I was out. She was in the cool hide last night, so it's good to see that she's figuring out the cage layout. So far she seems to be doing well! :)

By the way, does anyone have some tips on how to switch her to frozen thawed? I haven't tried feeding her yet, of course, but I will after she's settled.

Congratulations on the new ball python! She seems like she has a really good personality and sounds beautiful. Best of luck with her! :)

As for feeding F/T vs live, I always go frozen/thawed. It's cheaper when buying in bulk, easier, and removes risk of injury that's involved with live feeding. As for switching her over, I'd say patience and persistence is key! There are some tricks you can use (such as scenting or braining) but I'm not much experienced in any of them, sorry.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MissyG

Congratulations on the new ball python! She seems like she has a really good personality and sounds beautiful. Best of luck with her! :)

As for feeding F/T vs live, I always go frozen/thawed. It's cheaper when buying in bulk, easier, and removes risk of injury that's involved with live feeding. As for switching her over, I'd say patience and persistence is key! There are some tricks you can use (such as scenting or braining) but I'm not much experienced in any of them, sorry.

---

Thank you! I'm really excited about finally owning a snake. :)

I'm going to 100% go with frozen thawed, it's just the switching over that I'm not entirely sure how to do. The breeder had her on live hoppers, I think.

I went into my room to check on Onyx, and she was completely out of her hide exploring her cage. She saw me and came to the center of the cage and was acting all, "yes, I'm out, what do you want?" After that, she turned and halfway climbed on top of her hide box and just stared at me for around five minutes. Who would've thought a python would have so much personality? My mom certainly didn't, haha.

I never knew snakes had such amazing personalities either! When night falls, even if the room lights are on, precioucess wants out and comes to the center (where the doors open) and taps on the glass. When I open it I put my hand like a bridge on the bottom of the opening and she slithers right up my arm. Just too cute! And love how sociable she is.


Molly & Steve
0.1 Normal BP. PRECIOUCESS
0.1 Normal Columbian BCI. LUNA

To get them to eat f/t, I will set the rat out til it gets room temp then I put it in a bag and submerge it in hot water til it's body temp gets to about 100 or a little more. Then I use tongs to wiggle it around in front of my snakes. Only one of my snakes had ever had f/t so when my dealer was out of live, I was a bit worried. I did this method and all 5 of my snakes took f/t no problem

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by aLittleLessButter

To get them to eat f/t, I will set the rat out til it gets room temp then I put it in a bag and submerge it in hot water til it's body temp gets to about 100 or a little more. Then I use tongs to wiggle it around in front of my snakes. Only one of my snakes had ever had f/t so when my dealer was out of live, I was a bit worried. I did this method and all 5 of my snakes took f/t no problem

---

Ok, I guess I'll try that. She's pretty small still, so I want to try to avoid missing too many meals.

Ok, I had to pick her up and move her today because her hide was in the wrong place and I couldn't put it back down because she was in the way. She seemed pretty chill about it, but do you think I might have stressed her out? Just want to check... still trying to figure out what is and isn't going to stress Onyx out while she's settling in.

Another advantage is space and disease control. I used to have so many pythons couldn't afford to buy food for all of them. So we bred our own mice and rats and multis. It took up a lot of space but i also noticed when keeping live rodents in the vicinity of the snakes (same building but different room) it was very hard to be tick free. Frozen rodents don't have any parasites !!

Well, she refused to eat today. I think I accidentally stressed her out, poor thing. I'm leaving the rat in there tonight and hoping she eats by morning. I really shouldn't be worried, I know, but in reality it is stressful!