He Ate!!! Now I have a question...

I have gotten so much great advice from this site so i figure this will be an easy one. I have had my first bp for almost a month now and couldn't get him to eat. I was told by petsmart to give him frozen pinkies but he just kept ignoring them. I stopped at a different pet store last night, where, no offense to petsmart, the workers at this smaller place are more knowledgeable. They recommended i try to feed my bp something larger so i got a fairly large frozen fuzzie, about 4 times the size of the pinkies i have. I just thawed it out and placed it in Elvis's cage 15 minutes ago and to my suprise, when i went to check on him, the mouse was gone! I was so excited. It felt like one huge victory since I have noticed Elvis getting thinner and thinner. So my question - He finally ate and i'm thinking it was because he never should have been offered pinkies in the first place. I expected i would be able to see a "bump" on my bp where the mouse is, but you can't even tell he ate it. Should i go out and get more fuzzies and offer him more tomorrow, or wait a week. I am thinking that the poor guy was probably starving and i was just giving him the wrong food...

If he hasn't been eating I would hold off for a few days. You risk a regurg offering too much too quickly with a snake like that. You can put him on a 5 day schedule. You can probably offer small adult mice until he gets a few meals in him.
Glad he ate for you!

Hi,

I'd probably wait 5 days or so then offer him a hopper mouse - Bp's can pretty much start out on those. :)

Try and get something about the same around as he is at his thickest point. :gj:


dr del

Wait a week. Feed him those fuzzies for another two weeks then bump up his food item to something as thick as the snake at the thickest point on his body.

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

I'd probably wait 5 days or so then offer him a hopper mouse - Bp's can pretty much start out on those. :)

Try and get something about the same around as he is at his thickest point. :gj:


dr del

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Most hatchlings are started on hoppers like Dr Del said.

I wouldn't take any advise blindfolded from any petstore employee (no offence) at least check around to make sure other people will tell you the same or similar advise.

Yeah you can't trust pet store employees!!!

"Just thawing it out" and offering it to your snake will not do the trick. You need heat. Snakes do not see the way we do, they see thermally, so the hotter you can get it, the better chance your snake will have of being interested. I like to get all my f/t feeders up to 100 degrees; hottest water that will come out of your tap, damp dry and feed. BAM!

Yes I'm learning the hard way that i walked into this situation of owning a snake kind of blind, but thanks to this site, i have learned a lot. I can already feel myself getting addicted and wanting another snake! There are just so many morphs that are so awesome, I want one of each lol. Maybe one day... but for now, i'm taking baby steps.

Oh and i'm not just "thawing" the mice. I put them in a cup of water and put them in the microwave for about 15 seconds, or until they are warm, but not too hot, kind of like testing a baby bottle, then i put the mouse over the side of the tank that has an under the tank heating pad to keep them warm.

Thanks again for the advice!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cschneider

Yes I'm learning the hard way that i walked into this situation of owning a snake kind of blind, but thanks to this site, i have learned a lot. I can already feel myself getting addicted and wanting another snake! There are just so many morphs that are so awesome, I want one of each lol. Maybe one day... but for now, i'm taking baby steps.

Oh and i'm not just "thawing" the mice. I put them in a cup of water and put them in the microwave for about 15 seconds, or until they are warm, but not too hot, kind of like testing a baby bottle, then i put the mouse over the side of the tank that has an under the tank heating pad to keep them warm.

Thanks again for the advice!

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AHHHH!
HOLD THE PHONE.

That's bad news! You can kill your snake doing that! Do NOT feed microwaved animals to your ball pythons! It may feel only warm on the outside, but it's either really not thawed properly on the inside, it's boiling hot on the inside, or it's been cooked. All of which can cause serious harm to your animals.

To thaw out your rats and mice you place them in warm water for approximately 20-30 minutes until they are completely thawed through, you can tell this by feeling for any hard cold points in the mouse. If you want to heat it up a bit more after that, use a blow dryer to heat up the head.

Also, because a rat or mouse is technically a closed container with liquid inside, a few seconds too long in the microwave could make it explode everywhere, even in water!

Yeah never microwave a mouse to thaw it out!!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mykee

"Just thawing it out" and offering it to your snake will not do the trick. You need heat. Snakes do not see the way we do, they see thermally, so the hotter you can get it, the better chance your snake will have of being interested. I like to get all my f/t feeders up to 100 degrees; hottest water that will come out of your tap, damp dry and feed. BAM!

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My snakes must be weird then, they will take thawed at room temperature with no problems, never had to heat any before!!

Wow ok i am officially never seeking advice from a pet store again! You all very well could have just saved my snake. Thanks a million!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cschneider

Wow ok i am officially never seeking advice from a pet store again! You all very well could have just saved my snake. Thanks a million!

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Pet store employess told you to microwave rats and mice?
I wouldn't go back there if I were you, unless you went in there to complain about incorrect information.

BP.net is the only source of advice you ever need. There may be a book or two out there that is a handy resource, but books lack personality. Some of us on here have a little too much personality.*



*(I'm lookin' at you, BG)

Too much personality???NEVER!!!:rofl:

As far as books go there is an excellent on called "The Ball Python Manual" by Phillipe De Vosjoli, or something like that, I may not have spelled the name right...but anyway!!

Thats so funny you say that. I just bought that book "the ball python manual" earlier today. I have skimmed through it and it seems interesting. I think this website will help more though. I am also thinking of going up to Petsmart and telling that employee to do some research. I don't want to get her in trouble, but i keep thinking of how many people she is giving bad advice to and how many bp's are suffering because of it. It seems like everything she told me was wrong and yes she told me to microwave the mice. She also didn't tell me i needed a thermometer hydrometer. I went out the next day and got them though. I'm so thankful i didn't hurt my bp! Overall, this has been a great learning experience. I'm 100% hooked on bp's. They are truly amazing animals!