first feeding day ever

any way to speed this up? its the first day of feeding and i was just wondering if i should just blow dry it ?

we bought some tongs so were going to use that to make the dead mouse dance around the tank


i have to admit im scared i dont really have any experience with reptiles i hope the strike doesnt make me jump gota just remember hes a harmless sweet snake

It's going to make you jump, it comes from instinct! Have fun!

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Originally Posted by exotica0095

any way to speed this up? its the first day of feeding and i was just wondering if i should just blow dry it ?

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You can put it in a bowl of warm water if you haven't already, and yes blow dry the head and it will help your snake with its aim.

some people move their snakes to bins before feeding??


Also can i de thaw the mouse in water?

Yes you can thaw it in water. I would put it in a sandwich bag so it does not get all wet.

I put mine in a sandwich bag, place it in a pan of lukewarm water for about an hour, then hot tap water for another 30 minutes. This should thaw the rat completely. You can tell when it's thawed because you will be able to push the belly in. Then, pick it up by the scruff of the neck or the skin on its back with the tongs and heat it up with a blow dryer for about 40 seconds or so. It will also help if you use the blow dryer to blow the scent towards the enclosure while you are heating it up. This will let the snake know it's feeding time. Do the zombie dance about 3-4 inches in front of the snake. Good Luck...

Here is a video that may help...

YouTube - 8 Ball Pythons - Feeding Lessons

Moving it to feed is probably more stressful than not and may contribute to a refusal.

ok at first he ignored the mouse then when i heated it under a lamp and my roomate made it do the zombie dance he took the mouse RIGHT away


hes eating it now is it ok to watch him eat it or should i leave him alone i am so tempted to peak in the tank and watch him but my roomate says he pulled away when she looked

Some don't mind others do! You will have to see what works for your snake! Congrats on a successful feeding!

ok i9 just checked no lump in snake no mouse either so i guess hes fat enough for it not to showÉ

my roomate pet his head even tho i told her not to she still pet him he didnt move or anything and we didnt pick him up i closed the light and left


it seems like hes looking around for more mice, for a 3 foot ball python do u think 1 adult white feeder mouse is to small should he eat another mouse or no

Our 3' ball could eat three, but we've been told to feed two every five days instead of three every seven. If you can, get a scale and weigh it. Feed 10-15% of it's body weight.

my ball python is 3 feet and she is pounding medium to large rats like there was no tomorrow...i feed her every 7 or 8 days

There is also a general rule of thumb that they can eat something a little smaller then the diameter of their biggest area.

Well, I should be feeding rats, too, but I just bought a problem feeder who's lived on mice and ASF's for all his six years, and my girlfriend's is a little skittish on the rats. And if we get refusals, we don't have the room to keep the mice and rats separate, so it's all mice for now.

so i should de thaw another and feed him again tommorrow i guess

he wont throw up his last catch will he

Well, no, wait until next feeding. Offering too much is said to stress them out.

Ya try to stay on some kind of schedule. although some argue since they are opportunistic eaters that doesn't matter so much, it makes it easier for us hehe

so wait till next feeding and feed him 2 micer in a row? i gota finish these mice b4 he gets rats

Yep. And I'm in the same boat. Good luck.

what do u do tho u feed him one mouse wait an hour go back and feed him the second all in one night?

You can drop the second one in right after he gets the first down. Make sure you blowdry the face right before.

You can do that, but with mine the feeding response isn't as strong if it's presented an hour later, and they're trying to hunker down to start digesting so it may spook them out. Give him one mouse, wait till it's down all the way, wait a minute or two just to make sure and then present the other. If he's hungry he'll take it, if not he won't. A lot of ball pythons are good like that, though some will eat till their eyes bulge. :P

If he doesn't take the second one but seems really interested you can try just leaving the mouse in there with him. Sometimes they'll wait a while and then go back for more.

Really, the feeding technique you use is up to you. I just don't recommmend feeding him any less than 5-7 days apart, because food presented too often can scare him and trying to feed a snake that's stressed because of food is a real pain in the fanny.

Good luck! Glad he ate for you! :)