Strike... coil... drop.

I'm having issues with one of my ball pythons feeding.

I have a female '09 het clown. I got her September 20th. I purchased her from a great breeder. He gave me the last 5 dates that she had eaten, which was about every 4 or 5 days, prior to getting her. She also came to me at a very good weight so I have zero doubt in my mind that she was a solid eater. By the time I got her she was already on rat weanlings.

Since then she has not eaten for me. BUT. Here's the kicker... For a week and a half my snakes were fostered at a friend's place while I had the windows done on my house. (Windows in October... makes for a cold house.) During that period she ate twice for my friend. The only variable was that my friend has a snake (a solomon island ground boa) that prefers mice and so there was a mouse thawing in the same tub as the rats. So perhaps the rat was lightly mouse scented?

It's really quite strange. All the other ball pythons I have (4 currently) are being housed at the same temps, same humidity as her.

And it's not that she shows no interest. She STRIKES and then COILS... but then drops the rat. Just leaves it there. If I pick up the rat and dangle it again then she strikes and coils again. Last week I did this FOUR TIMES and each time she struck, coiled and then dropped the rat.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for an and all help.

I've got a Pastel he has ate rats just fine for me but every once in a while he refuses them so I rub mouse shavings on them and he nails them every time. I'd try rubbing a mouse on it to see if it makes a difference.

Also do you tug the rat a few times to simulate a live rat? It fools them into thinking its alive and seems to stimulate them more.

have you tried feeding her a mouse. i have heard some crazy stories about snakes only eating certain color mice and stuff maybe she only likes mice?

try tugging the rats tail after she coils. then leave her be. a lot of the time they'll strike, coil and then let go and come back to find the right end (or wrong end) and eat then. Just leave her overnight with the rodent. If she doent' eat then try a mouse, or a rat scented with a mouse.

Oh trust me, I've tried the tugging thing. This is not my first ball python. And I've had a stubborn feeder before. (He had to be force fed, but is a champ now with eating thankfully.)

It might be the mouse thing, I think. I just don't get it. She was getting rat weanlings from the breeder before I got her. And she wasn't eating for me at all. But she mysteriously ate at my friend's place. And now not again. The only thing I can think of is the mouse thing.

I guess I'll give that a try in the coming weeks and see how it works out.

I should also mentioned that I have previously left the rat in her bin overnight and she has not eaten it using that method either.

don'tt know if this will help, but when you feed her do you leave her tub open and watch her? My male clown will strike coil a rat, but if i watch he just stares at me and then doesnt end up eating the rat no matter what, even if i dangle it again. I'm not sure if you watch her or not, but if you are just dangle have her strike and then close put her away right after. Hope this helps :)

A good tip, but when I feed I leave all the snakes alone in the dark basically with the lights in the room off so that they can eat in peace. Maybe that's the difference. Maybe she likes being watched or having the lights on? :O

I dont know if this will help.. but i fed my 3 snakes today and the pet store was out of small rats so i fed 2 adult mice to each snake. 2 of my snakes eat outside of their tubs and in a seperate one.. Anyway after i fed the first mouse to one of mine he wouldnt eat the second one in the seperate enclosure so i put him back in his tub, and fed him there he struck coiled so i slid his tub back in the rack. 2 mins later i came back to see if he ate it he hadnt yet and litterally came at me and struck hard... so i slid him back in and he ate...
Moral of the story maybe just get her to coil and then shut whatever it is shes in so that she cant pick up your heat, could be scaring her.
Sorry for the long post just thought id share.

Could it be the core temp of the rodent?

Movement, heat and scent are the 3 things they need.

If she hits from the movement, is excited by the scent, but perhaps does not recognize the rodent as food from the temp drop following?

How are you heating the rats? I have a few of those girls, and they are the ones that tend to prefer live (and I know you do not feed live). Any live feeder that is converting, or any FT feeder that is giving me grief, I pay extra attention to that.

If you are not already I would suggest a good water proof bag to float her rodent in hot water, get the core temps up, and then hit the head and tail with a blowdryer (or heat gun) to mark those areas...

Bruce

I think you should try feeding her mice. It has happend to me before, well not the same thing, but I have some balls who prefer mice over rats, or rats over mice and I would thaw them all in the same container, and none of them would touch their food, so I had to thaw the rats in one bin and the mice in the other. Maybe she got the taste of the mouse and preferd it?? not sure, if you havnt already tried a mouse try that. and if it works, just scent the rat from now on and she will get use to rats.
I had bought an adult ball off some guy a year ago and i could not get her to eat, i tried everything, she was seirouly on the verge of dying and this guy would not get back to me. So i tried hamster, and she pounded that thing, so i just scented all her rats with hamster bedding a couple times now she take rats no problem.
Hope this helps.. Good Luck! :)

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Originally Posted by Mettle

And it's not that she shows no interest. She STRIKES and then COILS... but then drops the rat. Just leaves it there. If I pick up the rat and dangle it again then she strikes and coils again. Last week I did this FOUR TIMES and each time she struck, coiled and then dropped the rat.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for an and all help.

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iCandi Ball Pythons..Backs that thang up n PoP...Lock..and DROPS it!:rofl:

I tried the heating. Not with a temp gun, but over a hot light. The rat was pretty warm. She struck, coiled and constricted. Again. And then let go. Again.

What gets me is that she ate twice for someone else in the time that I've had her since she came from the breeder. I heard back from the breeder tonight and she had 10 meals before coming to me and always ate without issue. Again, her size shows it.

I'm going to double and triple check the temps and everything. But three other ball pythons are being housed the exact same way as her and they're all eating fine.

I'm going to get to the bottom of this. Somehow, I'll figure it out. And get her eating.

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Originally Posted by iCandiBallPythons

iCandi Ball Pythons..Backs that thang up n PoP...Lock..and DROPS it!:rofl:

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Droppin' it like it's hot? :taz:

I do not know... Olive does that, she gets crazy excited, and then gets distracted.

Try this... it works with HRH.

I feed her LAST, as she hits I close the tub, hit the lights, and leave the room. No chance to get distracted.

I know with the Big O, it is like she is looking for a better option rather than focusing on the delicious rat at hand. :)

Bruce

With eaters that 'drop' I've had the most success in letting them coil then leaving for at least an hour or so and coming back. Turning off all lights and making sure there is no noise in the room could help too.

Try using a blow dryer to heat up the head of the rat, sometimes the head creates a helpful response that gets them to start eating it properly instead of getting frustrated and dropping it.

Good luck!!
:gj:

Also, just because your other snakes are eating in that environment, doesn't mean she feels the same way in hers, so tweak things around a little bit and see if she prefers things a little differently. More hides, humidity, ext.

A lot of snakes will do this because they want one thing....LIVE. If you try live BG bets the snake will eat it. For some reason they do exactly what your snake is doing, but when given a live rodent.....GULP. You might wanna try live for a while to get it eating and then switch back.

Why would it eat fine for the breeder, stop eating for me, and then eat for my friend, and stop eating for me again. Dang it. It hates me.

I'm really, really confused...

Oh. And I did actually try a live mouse about 4 weeks ago with her. My emerald tree boa only eats live (has only ever eaten live) but she was in shed so I needed another candidate. SO. Tried the live mouse with this female het clown. The female barely acknowledge it. Then the mouse tried to sleep snuggled in her coils. :rolleyes:

Stupid snake. :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mettle

Why would it eat fine for the breeder, stop eating for me, and then eat for my friend, and stop eating for me again. Dang it. It hates me.

I'm really, really confused...

Oh. And I did actually try a live mouse about 4 weeks ago with her. My emerald tree boa only eats live (has only ever eaten live) but she was in shed so I needed another candidate. SO. Tried the live mouse with this female het clown. The female barely acknowledge it. Then the mouse tried to sleep snuggled in her coils. :rolleyes:

Stupid snake. :(

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Try again.:gj:

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Originally Posted by Big Gunns

Try again.:gj:

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try again after that. if not ill give u 150 bucks for it

I thought of something else Stephan...

A few of my girls get fed on feeding day #2, which is the day after feeding day basically for that reason. I feed all the snakes, let them eat, then the next day I feed the few that tend to drop and/or holdout.

Bruce

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

I thought of something else Stephan...

A few of my girls get fed on feeding day #2, which is the day after feeding day basically for that reason. I feed all the snakes, let them eat, then the next day I feed the few that tend to drop and/or holdout.

Bruce

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I have found success in the past with this also.

You can never really understand Balls I've had some be on rats and refuse rats only to eat mice a few times and then go back to rats. I've had some eating f/t to refuse that and only want live. I've had some only eat in plastic tubs and others only eat in their enclosure. I've got an 09' Albino that eats like a pig as long as I hold his neck and touch his nose with the mouse he opens and I stick the head in and he bites and coils but leaving a dead mouse or rat, or live mouse or rat with him does nothing.

Throw him a live mouse I bet he'll eat it, then try a rat next time.

Mine did the same thing but only with a mouse. We figured out that she thought it was too big for lovely neck. Weird....

I went and got her 2 smaller ones and she gobbled them up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

I thought of something else Stephan...

A few of my girls get fed on feeding day #2, which is the day after feeding day basically for that reason. I feed all the snakes, let them eat, then the next day I feed the few that tend to drop and/or holdout.

Bruce

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Why would this work? I'm confused.

Keeps them in feed mode for 2 days... best as I can figure.

They get excited on the first day and nothing happens, so second day they are that much more focused and actually follow through.

Like I said with Olive she gets very excited, hits her rat, then drops it and mosies around. Will hit 2 or 3 and drop all of them if given the chance, but never eat them.

If I do not feed her on feeding day, but feed the rest and then leave, the next day she almost always hits and starts swallowing while still constricting.

Just seems to be based on the level of excitement? I used to offer on day one and then again on day two, but now I only offer to her on day two. I have about 4 adult females that get fed on a different day. Same with any that show lots of excitement on day one but do not eat, or strike, they get offered again the next day (almost always get a hit and a swallow on day two).

Bruce

PS: Could also be that an extended feed response helps build hunger?

PPS: I also use this method for any snake that is feeding live and I am trying to switch over to FT.

Sounds logical, Bruce. I'll give that a try on my next round of feeding. If that doesn't work I'll try scenting with a mouse. If that doesn't work I'll just try a mouse. If that doesn't work I'll freak out and go insane. :rolleyes:

I just don't understand why she will not eat for me. She ate when she was at Zoe's. And she ate fine for the breeder. So so strange.

Try prescenting with a rat weanling (live) right beside her all day and that should make her good and hungry!

I just wanted to update this post with my results and let people know that I was successful and getting her to feed using the "day after" trick suggested by Bruce.

I fed everyone one night, except her, and the next night I fed her with success. She struck, coiled and this time actually ate her rat.

It's feeding time again on Thursday night so we'll see if I have the same results come Friday night with her. I'll update the thread again this weekend to let you know.

Sounds great Stephan. Sometimes we have to do what works for a specific snake. I have some that feed better using the day after method. It's like on feeding day they are just not ready yet but after being exposed to the closeby sounds of other snakes live feeding, they clue in and get into a proper hunting "mindset" (couldn't think of another world to use LOL).

I also have a snake here that if you don't feed her last, she'd likely never eat. Any, and I mean any, movement, sounds, heavy footsteps near her tub and that's it...no way will she eat or if she's swallowing, she'll back that rat out as fast as anything. We've learned to just work around how Lia is and always feed her last then flip off the lights and walk away...very quietly.

I'm glad that next day thing worked for you. That is one I have never tried!

Well, I just wanted to update this one more time and say that yet again the day after method worked for me. She didn't take food one week, though it was because she was in shed. So I forgive her for that one. She's now eating her rats again so hopefully I can get her eating on a regular basis now and she'll catch up in weight to her future boyfriend. Because of her little strike she's about 100 grams behind him already. Funny how much difference a few meals can make.