Albino Ball refuses frozen/thawed

i've noticed a better feeding response on live prey. i feed live because i want a consisitent feeding with my critters. F/T works too, just harder sometimes and less consistent with the whole group. it sounds like you will have to put some time in and work with her on feeding techniques until you find what she wants. don't get caught up on the live feeding scarring thing. properly done and snakes that are "conditioned" to live food , don't get scarred up! i feed live to some good looking snakes without worries, works for me:D



vaughn

I also stand by live feeding. It seems to keep everyone eating regularly, and I feed an Albino, Axanthic, Spider, Hypo, Cinny, and three Pastels live.... no worries here.. They're all awesome feeders, and they very rarely miss.... and if they DO miss, they just try try again! :)

Nothing wrong with prefering F/T or P/K though, just try some of the suggestions offered, and if it doesn't work, then go back to live.

My whole theory is, do what works, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it! :)

Hey everyone!


Thanks again for the replies. I guess I'm now leaning toward feeding her live again. I suppose if I'm standing by with pliers (sorry, PETA) I can intervene if things go South. She was wicked good at tagging and killing live rodents so I am not too worried about her being injured. I bought her at the Chicago Reptile House (very reputable) and they feed all 1,000 plus of their snakes (rare genotypes included) live so I guess I should just do it.

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Originally Posted by Snakebit

Hey everyone!


Thanks again for the replies. I guess I'm now leaning toward feeding her live again. I suppose if I'm standing by with pliers (sorry, PETA) I can intervene if things go South. She was wicked good at tagging and killing live rodents so I am not too worried about her being injured. I bought her at the Chicago Reptile House (very reputable) and they feed all 1,000 plus of their snakes (rare genotypes included) live so I guess I should just do it.

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What i do is i keep a screw driver close by incase a rat starts bitting my snake.Majority of the time my snakes grab them face first as instinct i guess tells them this is a safer way to grab them.

Any time I have an issue like this I to will feed live. I have some that will feed on limpies and some that won't. You can also try some other methods like the brown paper bag or pillow case: putting your girl in a tighter more enclosed dark area with f/t or pre killed. I've had some that just needed total darkness without any movement going that they can see outside.

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Originally Posted by Snakebit

Hey everyone!


Thanks again for the replies. I guess I'm now leaning toward feeding her live again. I suppose if I'm standing by with pliers (sorry, PETA) I can intervene if things go South. She was wicked good at tagging and killing live rodents so I am not too worried about her being injured. I bought her at the Chicago Reptile House (very reputable) and they feed all 1,000 plus of their snakes (rare genotypes included) live so I guess I should just do it.

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Now seriously, feeding live is ok unless you are not responsible...

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Originally Posted by Snakebit

Hi Gang,

I have a 2005 female albino Ball. It took me months to get her to switch from live to pre-killed prey (the breeder only feeds live). She fed on pre-killed adult mice weekly for at least 8 weeks after I finally got her to strike the pre-killed mice. Then, all of a sudden, she refused pre-killed prey. She is actively hunting when the lights go out but absolutely won't strike at the thawed mice. I've dangled them, heated them up with a blow dryer, to no avail. She'll even push the prey around with her nose but won't engage. It's almost like she's hoping it will move, breathe, etcetera. She had a killer (no pun intended) feeding response when I fed her live.

I know if I offer her live mice she'll strike them instantly. But I don't want to lose any progress I've made in converting her to pre-killed by feeding her live mice just to get her to eat. She's missed 8 weeks of feeding at this point and I'm finding myself in quite the juxtaposition. Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks!!

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Maybe she wasnt actually in hunting mode when she was out at night? Or maybe next time while she is and its dark in the room make sure the mouse is heatin g(I wrap mine up in ziplock baggies and microwave water then put the ziplock bag in a bowl of the microwave HOT water. This usually get the mouse hot enough for the snake to see it. And if you try it in the dark you'll have more of a chance of her striking at it or with very dim light. Try it. This is how I fed my Bp when he would not take f/t 5 yrs ago.

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Originally Posted by bpkid

Why sorry to PETA? They should say sorry to us for all of their nonsense...lol. :D

Now seriously, feeding live is ok unless you are not responsible...

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Thats rude and and as I stand up for animal rights I dont think its very nice to make fun of PETA. Because those people are actually EQUAL minded to all living creatures other than the human race. And there is always a way to feed f/t or p/k food other than live.

I'm not going to start anything... this is for another discussion...