Spider Ball ate for me tonight!

About 5 days ago I tried to feed my Spider, but he refused so I just put the thawed mouse back in the freezer. Tonight, I was determined he would eat, since he's been here for over a week now.

I tried to offer the mouse but he didn't take it, so I put it back in the warm water and tried again. All he did was curl up in a ball, so I decided to put the rodent in his mouth and see if that would work. So I took his head, put the rodent in his mouth with the head just about in the throat, and let go. He sat there with the rodent in his mouth for a minute or so, so I just went downstairs and got my dinner:D and came back up to see if he'd eat it.

I came back to find him swallowing the rodent down, and that made me SOOOO happy! Hopefully he'll eat next week without me having to do that. He isn't that head shy either which made it simple. I wish I had pictures but I didn't want to disturb him (in case he saw me I didn't want him to drop the rodent and ball up again).

YouTube - Survivor, Eye Of The Tiger(Original Music video)

Yay :banana: Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!

wooohooooo!!!!

Hey I when I did F/T...I hit it with my blow dryer for a sec...it seemed to work! ;)

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Originally Posted by iCandiBallPythons

YouTube - Survivor, Eye Of The Tiger(Original Music video)

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LOL, that song is sooo awesome!:D

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Originally Posted by Boanerges

Yay :banana: Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!

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Thank you!! I was so excited that he ate, I really hope he'll be as good of an eater as my girl is, and she's never refused a meal nor had I ever tried to force feed her.

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

wooohooooo!!!!

Hey I when I did F/T...I hit it with my blow dryer for a sec...it seemed to work! ;)

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I was thinking about trying that, but I wanted to see how he would react to force feeding.. plus I've always wanted to try it out, and one time I tried to do it on my other male Ball python, but he made it very difficult because he did not like getting his head touched.

I also may add in that I've seen force feeding/assist feeding done before and I was extremely gentle with the snake while doing this. The snake was not harmed and took down the rodent in one peace. Just needed to say that before people got the wrong idea.

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

Thank you!! I was so excited that he ate, I really hope he'll be as good of an eater as my girl is, and she's never refused a meal nor had I ever tried to force feed her.

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I hope so too and I will keep my fingers crossed for you :gj:

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Originally Posted by Boanerges

I hope so too and I will keep my fingers crossed for you :gj:

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Thanks:D:D

Congrats!

My male normal went fasting for several months once (used to be the worst feeder, got pretty thin too) and I did the exact same thing, sticking the rodent in his mouth and he would bite down and eat it.

After a few feedings like this he became very food aggressive. Of course using this method earned me my first and only bite. After this I didn't have any more problems though and now he feeds like a beast. lol


I hope your lil one decides to eat on his own!

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Originally Posted by bad-one

Congrats!

My male normal went fasting for several months once (used to be the worst feeder, got pretty thin too) and I did the exact same thing, sticking the rodent in his mouth and he would bite down and eat it.

After a few feedings like this he became very food aggressive. Of course using this method earned me my first and only bite. After this I didn't have any more problems though and now he feeds like a beast. lol


I hope your lil one decides to eat on his own!

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Don't you just HATE it when a snake just doesn't want to eat? I've had this problem once with my Dumeril's boa I used to have when I first got her--she refused for two months, and only accepted live for 5-6 months until she could eat whatever.

The really cool thing was, my Spider didn't nip me or anything when I was handling him and getting his head into place so I could put the rodent in his mouth.. my hands were completely scented with rodent all over them. I used to feed my snakes in tubs (the Ball pythons) and after feeling if the rodents were alright to feed, I wouldn't wash my hands afterwards I would just go in and get the snakes. Can't believe I didn't get bitten the entire time, but now I'm more smart about it but tend to forget sometimes:D

You're lucky it was easy to do, the first time I assist fed my boy he tried to pull free, I think he bit the rodent out of frustration and then realized what it was. I did this for 3 or 4 more feedings before he began eating on his own but it worked and I didn't have to force him to eat it. -phew-

He was almost 1000g so the bite wasn't too fun since he was in feed mode-he had pulled free, dropped the rat and fixed onto my hand lol! Of course my best friend saw me come out with a bloody hand and freaked :oops:

Tiffany is gonna listen to the song while she brings the feeders out from deep freeze from now on :rofl::rofl:

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Originally Posted by iCandiBallPythons

YouTube - Survivor, Eye Of The Tiger(Original Music video)

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Originally Posted by Danounet

Tiffany is gonna listen to the song while she brings the feeders out from deep freeze from now on :rofl::rofl:

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LOL I should. I'll buy it on iTunes, burn it to a CD, and play it on my stereo while I feed my snakes:D