BP not Eating

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

You can find out a great deal upon receipt of a newly arrived snake: their overall health- good vs poor body weight- possible defects (such as kinks), mites, respiratory or other obvious signs of illness, the general accuracy of the description as sold (does it match or is it possibly the wrong one?), etc.

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Exactly

These 30 day return deals at box stores, sure you can take your snake back, so can everyone else. They then drop that snake right back in with the others in the store to spread whatever it may have picked up from living with the person that returned it. Then fast forward a day or two, someone else buys the snake with no knowledge that it's already been sold and returned and may have an issue. Your logic, or so it seems, that this is a better system than what the breeder offers is quite frankly ridiculous.

Most return policies set by breeders are there to ensure that you get what you pay for. They give you that live arrival guarantee, and 24 hours to identify any issues, with the snake, not issues with you or your husbandry, but with the animal. The return policy isn't there for you to utilize because you decided 5 weeks down the road that it's too hard.

Wow, I never thought about that, the B.P that is on sale for $49 could be a returned snake? i just hope whoever buys it next can get it right so that it can be happy and eating soon....

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Originally Posted by Thomas S

Wow, I never thought about that, the B.P that is on sale for $49 could be a returned snake? i just hope whoever buys it next can get it right so that it can be happy and eating soon....

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The last 2 BP's I took in were from a pet store, I was ask if I was interested in "2 aggressive" snakes :rolleyes:.

Now we're talking about 70 gram ball pythons, stressed out like crazy, they (store employees) were trying to use tongs to get one and were going to get the "bite gloves" to get them out for me.

I told them not to bother,picked them up and put them in separate boxes (they were housed together). and took them home (for 30.00 each).

I had a minor mite issue, a regurgitation,3 vet visits and a ton of info from the members of this forum to get every thing corrected. now they are doing great. They eat great,shed like they should and can be handled with no issues

I happened to be able to take them in knowing there might be issues. I can't save 'em all but have adopted 5 unwanted snakes so far.

And yes I understand the pet store just got more, but I have a soft heart for what's right in front of me at the moment.

great story! it takes a lot of courage and patience and some $$$ to do what you did. glad it worked out for you in the end, got to watch out for too much of a soft heart, lol

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Originally Posted by Gocntry

...I was ask if I was interested in "2 aggressive" snakes :rolleyes:....

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99 times out of 100, they're just terrified snakes & not the least bit "aggressive", especially when you treat them gently. :rolleyes: Poor snakes, always getting blamed by clueless people.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

99 times out of 100, they're just terrified snakes & not the least bit "aggressive", especially when you treat them gently. :rolleyes: Poor snakes, always getting blamed by clueless people.

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That’s so true !!

I’m constantly amazed / baffled whenever I read about an aggressive Royal / Ball ( even then it’s a rare event ) as I’ve never ever come across one ...

I’m truly not convinced there are any :)


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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

99 times out of 100, they're just terrified snakes & not the least bit "aggressive", especially when you treat them gently. :rolleyes: Poor snakes, always getting blamed by clueless people.

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Yep, Poor Bitey, when I was holding her at the pet store, She thought she was a Cobra she was so stressed... Coiled and striking at everybody (people watching me, and the ones walking by).

Now when we get her out she coils up by me or my daughter and just watches the world go by. no issues handling her at all

She hasn't struck or bit since a week or so after she came home, and I got her stabilized in her own enclosure.

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Originally Posted by Thomas S

great story! it takes a lot of courage and patience and some $$$ to do what you did. glad it worked out for you in the end, got to watch out for too much of a soft heart, lol

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With the prices of some morphs I've seen, the $$$ isn't really an issue. The snakes I've adopted are $20 to $30 each, but still require the enclosure food, hides ect that a $500.00 or $1500 snake would and I would take them to a "well snake visit" to my vet just to have them checked out too.

And being I'm not a breeder, and will not breed my snakes, they are just pets. I'm actually saving money. (well so far, as I haven't had a major vet bill with any of them yet)

We all have our own reasons for the snakes we acquire, I'm just the guy that takes in rescues to try to give them a home.

nothing wrong with why you take in the new ones, thats what i meant by$$$ is major vet bills, knock on wood!!!

So far my B.P has eaten 3 times live now, i want to try again with the F/T feed soon, but i have so many concerns when i think about it..I feel like the Grim Reaper picking out a mouse from the pet store that im sending to its death bed in a few hours later..The last time i did it, The mouse bite me, no big deal, but i worry about my B.P getting bitten by a mouse or a rat later on if i keep this up. I do like i should, drop the mouse in the enclosure, turn out the lights and walk away..Some times i check in about 10 minutes later and the snake still has not eaten the mouse yet, its almost like she likes the thrill of the hunt? She will be 1 year old in July and adult mice will not be enough pretty soon, the switch from adult mice to small rats is approaching..One big problem i have to address now is, my bonding with the snake, when she went 5 weeks without eating, i did not holder then for obvious reasons, then after the 1st live feeding, came a lengthily shed period(she did eat during that) so i did not want to handle her during that, dah...She hides all the time, very rarely does she come out.. When i first got her, she would come out at nights and "play", she liked to wind herself around the temperature gauge mounted on the wall of her enclosure.. What im getting at is, she will have to switch from live to frozen, maybe from mice to rats and and from a nice dark enclosure alone to my ugly "mug"a foot or so away from her, waving a limp dead rodent in front of her waiting for a strike, maybe 5, 10, 15 minutes or longer? is there even a enough room for her to strike at the rodent when she's all balled up in her hide? now im reading all the tricks other people use, wet or dry rodent, use blow dryer, stick a needle in rodents head for extra sent, just so many, sometimes i feel overwhelmed by all of this...which all goes back to the main reason for all these problems, ME!!! thx for reading thru all of this

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Originally Posted by Thomas S

So far my B.P has eaten 3 times live now, i want to try again with the F/T feed soon, but i have so many concerns when i think about it..I feel like the Grim Reaper picking out a mouse from the pet store that im sending to its death bed in a few hours later..The last time i did it, The mouse bite me, no big deal, but i worry about my B.P getting bitten by a mouse or a rat later on if i keep this up. I do like i should, drop the mouse in the enclosure, turn out the lights and walk away..Some times i check in about 10 minutes later and the snake still has not eaten the mouse yet, its almost like she likes the thrill of the hunt? She will be 1 year old in July and adult mice will not be enough pretty soon, the switch from adult mice to small rats is approaching..One big problem i have to address now is, my bonding with the snake, when she went 5 weeks without eating, i did not holder then for obvious reasons, then after the 1st live feeding, came a lengthily shed period(she did eat during that) so i did not want to handle her during that, dah...She hides all the time, very rarely does she come out.. When i first got her, she would come out at nights and "play", she liked to wind herself around the temperature gauge mounted on the wall of her enclosure.. What im getting at is, she will have to switch from live to frozen, maybe from mice to rats and and from a nice dark enclosure alone to my ugly "mug"a foot or so away from her, waving a limp dead rodent in front of her waiting for a strike, maybe 5, 10, 15 minutes or longer? is there even a enough room for her to strike at the rodent when she's all balled up in her hide? now im reading all the tricks other people use, wet or dry rodent, use blow dryer, stick a needle in rodents head for extra sent, just so many, sometimes i feel overwhelmed by all of this...which all goes back to the main reason for all these problems, ME!!! thx for reading thru all of this

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I'd try the hairdryer method , it works a treat if you follow the suggested method . I'll send it to by PM

There's no way you want to be dropping a live Rat in with your precious snake and leaving them together .


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

I'd try the hairdryer method , it works a treat if you follow the suggested method . I'll send it to by PM

There's no way you want to be dropping a live Rat in with your precious snake and leaving them together .


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Yea you shouldn't under any circumstances be leaving a live feeder alone with your snake. Dropping a feeder in and walking away is what'll get your snake bit in my opinion. While you're feeding live keep a pair of feeding thongs on hand and redirect any bites that come. I still have one snake eating live, and I've found that if I leave the feeder on top of his enclosure for about 30 minutes prior to trying to feed, he'll be out looking for it and the process is very quick.

You can feed live safely, or at least safer than the method you're using, so don't get discouraged if she gives you a hard time transitioning. I'm a firm believer that MOST snakes will transition to F/T but that doesn't mean all snakes will. So in the event that yours won't, don't get bummed out.

has anyone that is live feeding ever have a B.P; strike at the mouse, coil it, kill it, uncoil and then not eat it right away?

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yeah cant get too bummed out if it don't work. i was looking at B.P's for sale online, a website, I wont mention its name, but it tells you what the snake is currently eating, i was quite surprised to see some older snakes(9 months and up) are still eating live mice and rats, whether the breeders are actually trying or not trying to teach their B.P's to eat F/T, i wouldn't know, but probably half of the snakes, even young ones, under a year, have made the change to F/T, the odds are in my favor only IF i do everything right!

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Originally Posted by Thomas S

yeah cant get too bummed out if it don't work. i was looking at B.P's for sale online, a website, I wont mention its name, but it tells you what the snake is currently eating, i was quite surprised to see some older snakes(9 months and up) are still eating live mice and rats, whether the breeders are actually trying or not trying to teach their B.P's to eat F/T, i wouldn't know, but probably half of the snakes, even young ones, under a year, have made the change to F/T, the odds are in my favor only IF i do everything right!

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It’s all so different over here in the uk .. we aren’t allowed to feed LIVE so you just find ways to get them to eat thawed frozen.. as you all know I swear by the hairdryer method.

Oddly enough breeders / reptile stores simply aren’t even allowed to sell snakes that aren’t feeding on thawed so it’s a completely different landscape


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Originally Posted by Thomas S

has anyone that is live feeding ever have a B.P; strike at the mouse, coil it, kill it, uncoil and then not eat it right away?

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Yup, you bet. That usually happens because the human is "hovering" near the snake, making them too nervous to eat. More likely to happen if feeding in daytime also, because BPs usually hunt & eat at night, when they feel less "exposed" to other predators that may have THEM for lunch. This is why we suggest feeding BPs at night, & in dim room lights- as dark as you can manage if you have a fussy eater.

When feeding a shy, nervous snake, learn to move very slowly so as not to be noticed by the snake. Once they grab it, slowly move back to watch from a distance, and/or DO NOT MOVE- not a bit!

Just don't leave the room with the cage still open, or you may forget & by the time you remember, the snake will be out & exploring. But do NOT close the cage right when the snake grabs food & is trying to eat, as many will drop it right then in favor of hiding, feeling threatened by your commotion. OK?

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Yup, you bet. That usually happens because the human is "hovering" near the snake, making them too nervous to eat. More likely to happen if feeding in daytime also, because BPs usually hunt & eat at night, when they feel less "exposed" to other predators that may have THEM for lunch. This is why we suggest feeding BPs at night, & in dim room lights- as dark as you can manage if you have a fussy eater.

When feeding a shy, nervous snake, learn to move very slowly so as not to be noticed by the snake. Once they grab it, slowly move back to watch from a distance, and/or DO NOT MOVE- not a bit!

Just don't leave the room with the cage still open, or you may forget & by the time you remember, the snake will be out & exploring. But do NOT close the cage right when the snake grabs food & is trying to eat, as many will drop it right then in favor of hiding, feeling threatened by your commotion. OK?

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Excellent !


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There's also "another kind" of snake that might coil, then drop their prey, now that I think of it. One of my now-mature corn snakes is a very good feeder on f/t- but if she sees ANY motion from me near her tank after she grabs her prey from my tongs, she then drops it in favor of chasing ME! (or rather, my motion- as perceived thru the glass) :rofl: Such an "optimist"-but she's great to handle, she's never bitten me- she's just a die-hard "motion-chaser". There's also no problem getting her to eat what she drops, so it's not a big deal- it's mostly funny & a time-waster. Basically she has taught me to stand still while she eats. ;) But I've dealt with plenty of snakes like the OP's snake, one that is too shy to eat "in public"- that's how I know to stand totally still.

my last live feed drop was to see the mouse movements and when the snake might strike, i watched this in a dark room so she would not see me, everything went good, she did strike the mouse from completely inside her hide, i was worried about that because she hardly ever comes out from her hide when the Big Bad Wolf comes home, Lol.. then she dropped the live mouse that she just killed. I thought to myself, can she smell me in the room watching her feed? Thank god after about 2 minutes she ate the mouse..this F/T first time feeding is not going to be as easy as the You Tube video's are, i hope im wrong, Dah

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Originally Posted by Thomas S

my last live feed drop was to see the mouse movements and when the snake might strike, i watched this in a dark room so she would not see me, everything went good, she did strike the mouse from completely inside her hide, i was worried about that because she hardly ever comes out from her hide when the Big Bad Wolf comes home, Lol.. then she dropped the live mouse that she just killed. I thought to myself, can she smell me in the room watching her feed? Thank god after about 2 minutes she ate the mouse..this F/T first time feeding is not going to be as easy as the You Tube video's are, i hope im wrong, Dah

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Feeding thawed frozen is actually fairly simple once you know and understand HOW to do it ..

I’ll send you a guide to the ‘hairdryer’ method by PM.


In the meantime here’s four of my Royals all eating at the same time .. all four struck in less than two minutes.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...631b5c4fc9.jpg


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Originally Posted by Thomas S

my last live feed drop was to see the mouse movements and when the snake might strike, i watched this in a dark room so she would not see me, everything went good, she did strike the mouse from completely inside her hide, i was worried about that because she hardly ever comes out from her hide when the Big Bad Wolf comes home, Lol.. then she dropped the live mouse that she just killed. I thought to myself, can she smell me in the room watching her feed? Thank god after about 2 minutes she ate the mouse..this F/T first time feeding is not going to be as easy as the You Tube video's are, i hope im wrong, Dah

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Think POSITIVE! ;) You'll get better at it & so will your snake.

the main thing i worry about is: if i use the hair dryer method, if it takes let say over a minute to strike, then she drops it and then she looks at it by that time we ware going on 3 minutes or more, then that mouse has cooled off significantly because its been dead for months now..when the snake strikes and coils, is it better to do the mouse tail tug with the tongs or my gloved hand?

Sometimes I think we overthink these things and it’s really not that complicated. Any animal will eat anything it can when it’s hungry enough. If I really want a snake to eat f/t, which all of mine do, then that’s what they’ll eat, even if it takes them a year to get the message. I’m not one for jumping through many hoops when it comes to feeding my pets. As long as I know the animal isn’t ill and their husbandry is dialed in, it’s basically eat or starve at my place, and obviously none of my snakes are starving. I usually use a hairdryer to warm up the prey items before offering them to the snakes but this last feeding round I decided not to superheat their prey and they all still ate. I’m a firm believer that the hunger ALWAYS wins and I’ve never seen a healthy animal starve itself to death because it preferred a different food item or because their food was a little too cold. I would be curious to see it though. 🤨

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Originally Posted by Thomas S

the main thing i worry about is: if i use the hair dryer method, if it takes let say over a minute to strike, then she drops it and then she looks at it by that time we ware going on 3 minutes or more, then that mouse has cooled off significantly because its been dead for months now..when the snake strikes and coils, is it better to do the mouse tail tug with the tongs or my gloved hand?

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Gloved hands will appear threatening to a snake- more than likely she'll back off completely in fear, & this won't help at all. Feeding tongs should always be used because they have NO "body heat" & are barely perceived by the snake at all, thus not causing alarm & refusal to feed. So keep your "big ol' hands out of there" & think positive, lol. :D

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Originally Posted by Thomas S

the main thing i worry about is: if i use the hair dryer method, if it takes let say over a minute to strike, then she drops it and then she looks at it by that time we ware going on 3 minutes or more, then that mouse has cooled off significantly because its been dead for months now..when the snake strikes and coils, is it better to do the mouse tail tug with the tongs or my gloved hand?

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To be honest after a minute the mouse won’t be warm ... they cool rapidly ..

That’s why suggest a good blast with the hairdryer ..have the viv glass open .. then offer it INSTANTLY whilst still warm .. if it strikes but misses or doesn’t strike then simply repeat ... hot blast ... offer instantly etc etc


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Keep in mind that even when they strike live prey, it does cool off significantly before they actually swallow it. You don't need to worry about it still being warm for that part, just for the strike.

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Originally Posted by nikkubus

Keep in mind that even when they strike live prey, it does cool off significantly before they actually swallow it. You don't need to worry about it still being warm for that part, just for the strike.

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That maybe true but they mentioned it was dropping it and nothing was happening for 3 minutes or so ... but many Royals simply won’t eat cold mice off the ground .... hence my suggestion of repeated reheating.


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Originally Posted by Thomas S

the main thing i worry about is: if i use the hair dryer method, if it takes let say over a minute to strike, then she drops it and then she looks at it by that time we ware going on 3 minutes or more, then that mouse has cooled off significantly because its been dead for months now..when the snake strikes and coils, is it better to do the mouse tail tug with the tongs or my gloved hand?

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As regards the mouse-tail tug trick .. I’ve only ever really done that with Boas ( who occasionally seem to go to sleep before swallowing )
:)

It does occasionally work on Royals of course.

Always used tongs


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Another good feeding night thanks to the hairdryer :)

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...29703bce13.jpg


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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Another good feeding night thanks to the hairdryer :)

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...29703bce13.jpg


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Are you sure you don't sell hairdryers? :rofl:

do you do all the re-blasting in the same room, near the cage? i know snakes don't have ears but you never know what they can hear/feel?

I did the hairdryer on my first feeding it was OK, on my 2nd feeding, I use my ceramic coffer cup and microwave some water, to get hotter then my tap water, I had my fuzzy in a zip lock, then i poor my Hot water into a thin kids plastic cup, and sit the fuzzy in the cup with the zip lock bag, the fuzzy felt much much Warmer doing it this way. I guess everyone has there way :snake:

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Originally Posted by Thomas S

do you do all the re-blasting in the same room, near the cage? i know snakes don't have ears but you never know what they can hear/feel?

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I think it’s the scent that gets them going but I guess it could be the sound/vibrations too. All I know is all my hungry snakes perk up and pop out when that hairdryer goes on. :)

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I think it’s the scent that gets them going but I guess it could be the sound/vibrations too. All I know is all my hungry snakes perk up and pop out when that hairdryer goes on. :)

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This ^

Sometimes the wife pops into the snake room to give her hair a quick blast and she’s said a few times ...

“ are your snakes due a feed ? “

:)


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Originally Posted by dee151

I did the hairdryer on my first feeding it was OK, on my 2nd feeding, I use my ceramic coffer cup and microwave some water, to get hotter then my tap water, I had my fuzzy in a zip lock, then i poor my Hot water into a thin kids plastic cup, and sit the fuzzy in the cup with the zip lock bag, the fuzzy felt much much Warmer doing it this way. I guess everyone has there way :snake:

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Yep
Whatever works


That said ... we only feed thawed frozen here in the uk so it’s vital to find a ‘nailed on method’ if you have loads of Royals - as I have over the years .

Some are brilliant feeders whilst others are more difficult - they’re not like Kings or the other species with great food responses .

I took a while for me to try all the accepted ways and settled on this hairdryer method then just fine tuned it over time :)


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With all these stories of BPs not eating or being unbelievably picky I feel like the luckiest owner. It's been nearly a full year since mine's been with me and he's transitioned directly from live to frozen as his first meal post-arrival (I could not for the life of me find a place to just buy a live mouse so I just took a chance), switched from mice to rats without hesitation, and will eat no matter what I do beforehand be it misting, handling (mostly for weighing since the readings will be the most accurate) or even cleaning.

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Originally Posted by Snagrio

With all these stories of BPs not eating or being unbelievably picky I feel like the luckiest owner. It's been nearly a full year since mine's been with me and he's transitioned directly from live to frozen as his first meal post-arrival (I could not for the life of me find a place to just buy a live mouse so I just took a chance), switched from mice to rats without hesitation, and will eat no matter what I do beforehand be it misting, handling (mostly for weighing since the readings will be the most accurate) or even cleaning.

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Yeah Royals are somewhat of an enigma as regards feeding ..

Some of mine have been absolutely insatiable, lunging two feet out of the viv to strike whilst others needed lots of patience . Years ago I bought a stunning, adult Pied at about 2.5Kg and it didn’t eat a morsel for 15 MONTHS !!


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Originally Posted by Snagrio

With all these stories of BPs not eating or being unbelievably picky I feel like the luckiest owner. It's been nearly a full year since mine's been with me and he's transitioned directly from live to frozen as his first meal post-arrival (I could not for the life of me find a place to just buy a live mouse so I just took a chance), switched from mice to rats without hesitation, and will eat no matter what I do beforehand be it misting, handling (mostly for weighing since the readings will be the most accurate) or even cleaning.

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It’s a BP. Give it time 😀. (jk) I hope your boy stays voracious!

Today is my B.P's 1st Birthday, do they sell "Mouse" Cakes anywhere?

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Originally Posted by Thomas S

Today is my B.P's 1st Birthday, do they sell "Mouse" Cakes anywhere?

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Oh, I HOPE NOT! :O :rofl: If you decide to make your own, let us know how it goes...?

Unless you want one of these: https://archziner.com/wp-content/upl...background.jpg

your story proves it, every snake is different...