Feeding live rat question

Some time this week, I plan on feed my 1.5 year old ball a live rat for the first time. I've read a lot into this so I am prepared and do not plan on leaving the ball unattended.

With that being said, If my ball does not eat the rat, where do I go from there? How long until I attempt to feed him again and do I use the same rat? How often do I need to feed the rat and what can I feed it? Does it need any external heat (ie lamp)?

Thanks

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Originally Posted by unhip_crayon

Some time this week, I plan on feed my 1.5 year old ball a live rat for the first time. I've read a lot into this so I am prepared and do not plan on leaving the ball unattended.

With that being said, If my ball does not eat the rat, where do I go from there? How long until I attempt to feed him again and do I use the same rat? How often do I need to feed the rat and what can I feed it? Does it need any external heat (ie lamp)?

Thanks

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If your BP is feeding on f/t I would seriously just stick with that. It is a lot safer for your BP in the long run and is much more cost effective then buying a live rat every time you feed (you can buy f/t in bulk and freeze a half year supply of feeders). I wish my girl would eat f/t but she is picky and will only take live. Consider yourself lucky.

To answer your question, as far as attempting another feeding, I usually wait another week before trying to offer something that has been refused and I would also offer the same rat that was refused. I don't know how everyone else does it but I usually don't have to deal with this problem (I think I've only had to do it once or twice in the 6 years that I've owned my BP) so I'll leave that up to someone else to answer for sure.

You need to feed the rat daily and if you don't have any special rat lab block laying around, you can always use some dog kibble. The heat question all depends on where you live really; if it's excessively cold, I would give it a little extra heat but generally, no extra heat is necessary.

What are you keeping the rat in for now?

I plan on feeding it live just this one time.

I have been switching between F/T and Pre-killed for his entire life, so i don't think there will be an issue in switching back to FT...I hope.

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Originally Posted by RuthlessReptiles

What are you keeping the rat in for now?

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Thats an issue as well. Don't rats need an exercise wheel or something? I'm actually thinking of just killing the rat, and freezing it.

My first question is what have you been feeding it for a year? How great of a feeder is he?

Some of my snakes I can tell before I ever put the rat in that they are going to eat because of their behavior when I come in the room with the rats(scent). Many are 1/3 out of their hide in ambush position and will hit the next thing that drops near them, thats what I call good eaters. Others are not so quick to eat so I will give them a lot more time without disturbing them.

My point is good feeders you should know pretty quick if he is going to eat and picky feeders may need more time and patience. So knowing the snakes eating habits should dictate. After 30 minutes I would say they party is over unless the rat has found some great hiding spot and the snake is still actively searching.

Always make sure your rats are hydrated and not starving as they will chew each other up(let alone your snake) if they are dehydrated and starving. I feed almost 100 snakes live every week safely without problems.

Another rule I use is I only feed live rodents to snake that the snake can easily control with a strike. For example my boa eats prekilled because she gets fed really big rats that could possibly defend themselves. My ball pythons get fed much smaller rats in comparison so that they can just about kill or at least instantly control them, so not much resistance or fight at all. Thats why I like rats better because a smaller baby rat is not as scrappy or aggresive as an adult mouse. They have alot less fight yet have more weight.:gj:

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Originally Posted by West Coast Jungle

My first question is what have you been feeding it for a year? How great of a feeder is he?

Some of my snakes I can tell before I ever put the rat in that they are going to eat because of their behavior when I come in the room with the rats(scent). Many are 1/3 out of their hide in ambush position and will hit the next thing that drops near them, thats what I call good eaters.

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My ball does the exact same thing. I've actually trained him to poke his head out when he's hungry. At first it was bi-weekly and some, now its weekly.

THanks for all the tips.

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Originally Posted by unhip_crayon

I plan on feeding it live just this one time.

I have been switching between F/T and Pre-killed for his entire life, so i don't think there will be an issue in switching back to FT...I hope.

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Just be prepared to feed live for the rest of it's life. If you find that worth the risk go for it. Personally I think it is a really dumb and cruel thing to do

Has anyone had the problem where the rat backs into a corner into a ball to make himself look bigger?

My ball went right up to it head to head and kinda looked around him and left. I'm gonna try again in like 3 hours. The rat is no wider than the biggest section of the snake

If the snake doesnt take the rat, will a cup of water and some bread be enough to survive overnight? I should probably have it in a plastic container

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Originally Posted by unhip_crayon

If the snake doesnt take the rat, will a cup of water and some bread be enough to survive overnight? I should probably have it in a plastic container

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You shouldnt keep offering the rat everyday. If a ball refuses a meal its best to wait at least 4 days but usually its best to wait to the next scheduled feed. If you over offer food, it can actually scare your ball and he may stop eating for longer periods.

Whatever you do DO NOT leave that rat in the cage with your ball. Your snake could be seriously hurt or killed. If you want evidence just type "ball python eaten by rat" in google to see the damage a rat can cause.

I had no intention on leaving the rat in the cage. When I said "I should probably have it in a plastic container" I meant vs the cardboard one the rat came with.

And the snake went for it, except, I think he realized it was too big. I'm gonna see if I can swap the rat for a smaller one. Doubt they'll do it but I'll try

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Originally Posted by unhip_crayon

I had no intention on leaving the rat in the cage. When I said "I should probably have it in a plastic container" I meant vs the cardboard one the rat came with.

And the snake went for it, except, I think he realized it was too big. I'm gonna see if I can swap the rat for a smaller one. Doubt they'll do it but I'll try

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Thats good, just double checking to be safe:)

They would be pretty stupid to take it back as it could have mites/disease/ whatever but you never know :)

Feed what ever you want. Its your snake and if done right its fine.

Frozen thawed has more risks than feeding live. If not thawed properly the rodent can rot in the snake and kill it.

IMO live feedings are just as good as f/t when done right, So for the one saying its stupid/dumb and cruel, your in the WRONG hobby. As you will SOON end up with a snake that eats live and not a thing you can do will make it take f/t. And ill bet my anything once you get a live eater you wont get it off live. They imprint to easy on feedings and dont take to change well

If you like live feedings feed live, plain and simple.

I can understand the appeal of feeding a live rat at least once. I was excited to feed my ball for the first time, as well as my blood and whenever I think it's time to step up prey size I like to see a live feed... Of course, I was lucky enough to get a ball who eats whatever you put in front of him, and Bloods have a strong feeding response anyway. I may be new to this hobby, but Richs comment sounds right to me, there's nothing wrong with it if it's done right!

What I don't understand is why you only want to feed live once? I mean nothing against the live feeders because I agree if proper precautions are taken it's just as harmless as feeding f/t, but I can't even count the number of times I have seen threads regarding the stress and difficulty people have had trying to switch FROM live to f/t, and you have a snake that takes f/t with no issue and you want to feed it live ONCE? Sounds odd, and it sounds like you weren't prepared in the least. You probably should have looked into this stuff BEFORE you bought the poor rat that your snake doesn't even want right now.

Why oh why oh why would you rock the boat. You have no idea how lucky you are to have a ball python that eats F/T. Many of us have BP's that go on long fasts, turn their nose up at F/T or have some other weird feeding quirk. To me this is like saying I want to smoke one cigarette. Sure the chances that you will have a problem are slim, but why risk it at all? I have fed live and I have fed F/T. Let me tell you that the novelty doesn't last long. I am excited every time my snakes eat regardless.

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Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons

Feed what ever you want. Its your snake and if done right

IMO live feedings are just as good as f/t when done right, So for the one saying its stupid/dumb and cruel, your in the WRONG hobby. As you will SOON end up with a snake that eats live and not a thing you can do will make it take f/t. And ill bet my anything once you get a live eater you wont get it off live. They imprint to easy on feedings and dont take to change well

If you like live feedings feed live, plain and simple.

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You misunderstood me. He wants to feed live once. This is stupid because the animal can imprint as you stated yourself. I honestly don't care about live or ft but live for "one time" is not smart...

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Originally Posted by LGray23

What I don't understand is why you only want to feed live once? I mean nothing against the live feeders because I agree if proper precautions are taken it's just as harmless as feeding f/t, but I can't even count the number of times I have seen threads regarding the stress and difficulty people have had trying to switch FROM live to f/t, and you have a snake that takes f/t with no issue and you want to feed it live ONCE? Sounds odd, and it sounds like you weren't prepared in the least. You probably should have looked into this stuff BEFORE you bought the poor rat that your snake doesn't even want right now.

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I'm a student, so frozen is more practical for me. Plus I plan on selling him in a few months.

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Originally Posted by unhip_crayon

I'm a student, so frozen is more practical for me. Plus I plan on selling him in a few months.

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What does that have to do with feeding live once?

well, store wont take the rat back...go figure. So I'm just gonna kill it and freeze it.

I'm probably just gonna forget about feeding it live. I'm a little worried that he wont go back to FT.

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Originally Posted by LGray23

What does that have to do with feeding live once?

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Curiosity? Entertainment? I don't know, I just wanted to try it once.