2nd feeding! 2hits and a miss :( *pics*

Hey all its been 5 days which means time for another feeding for the new ones.

Calypso and Odin ate fine without a problem. Unfortunately Freyja the 57g girl still wont take. I contacted the breeder and they said that she was on f/k :mad:

Which really sucks cuz there is no chance in hell I will kill a baby rat. I dont even want to attempt to feed her a live one. One of the rules of me getting ball pythons was that they were to eat f/t only. Like seriously my sister and my mother will not allow me to kill a rat. I dont even want to bring it up to them that I might have to attempt giving her a live one.

I have tried giving her f/t twice now. I thaw out in hot (out of tap) water first. Then take a blow dryer to it for about 5 minutes and she still wont take it. Ill leave it in there for 20 minutes come back and reheat it again and nothing.

Anyways,

Here are Calypso and Odin with their rats.

http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...ids/feed27.png
http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...ids/feed26.png
http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...nids/feed2.png
http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...ids/feed25.png
http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...ids/feed23.png


http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...ids/feed24.png
http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...ids/feed22.png
http://i1172.photobucket.com/albums/...ids/feed21.png

Ball pythons are picky. If they havent tried it, then they don't see it as food. Once they try it, they know that it's okay to eat. They will starve themselves to death!!! With live they won't because they know it's food. Believe me, there are snakes that will never switch. They usually don't take f/t as babies. It's usually closer to 200 g when the majority switch. I know it's frustrating, but you have to comply with their behaviors.

Well, if she is that small, a little blind rat pup would be no big deal to feed live. No worries of anyone getting hurt, no need to p/k. Maybe just smuggle the pup in and don't tell mom and sister? Is that an option? So you can get your little guy going?

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I'm with the Doc on this one, will smuggling a rat in be an option?

Looks like Live pup it is. I will go and buy one today. See if she will take it. But if she doesn't what am I to do with the rat?

I bet if you leave her alone in a dark quite place with it overnight, it will be gone. Otherwise, do you have any other piggies who would eat it?

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Actually yah my corn snake could prob me moved up to rat pups. He is eating large hoppers right now. He devours everything.

Corns are garbage disposals, lol.

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Originally Posted by reptiliachnids

Which really sucks cuz there is no chance in hell I will kill a baby rat. I dont even want to attempt to feed her a live one. One of the rules of me getting ball pythons was that they were to eat f/t only. Like seriously my sister and my mother will not allow me to kill a rat. I dont even want to bring it up to them that I might have to attempt giving her a live one.

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I don't understand the logic here. They do realize that the f/t ones were alive at some point right? :confusd: They are dying either way, just a matter of when...

pre killing a baby rat that small is literally as easy as flicking their skull. Their skulls at that age are paper thin so the death is quick. I can understand if you dont wanna do that though.

Try braining one of the f/t rats. Take a knife and poke a small slit into the skull and squeeze some of the brain juices out. Then if she doesnt take it while you zombie dance it just leave it in the tub with her overnite.

Also i noticed the tubs in your rack you got are pretty large. Try temporarily moving her into a 6qt tub with just a water dish and a tight fitting hide. She probably doesnt feel secure in the big tub.

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Originally Posted by mackynz

I don't understand the logic here. They do realize that the f/t ones were alive at some point right? :confusd: They are dying either way, just a matter of when...

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Yes but I am not bringing a live rodent into the house and then murdering it they are already dead and frozen and were not killed in the vicinity of my mom or sister. Dont know why thats so hard for you to not understand ......

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Originally Posted by DrDooLittle

I bet if you leave her alone in a dark quite place with it overnight, it will be gone. Otherwise, do you have any other piggies who would eat it?

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i agree with doolittle. with live you will get a response.

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Originally Posted by reptiliachnids

Yes but I am not bringing a live rodent into the house and then murdering it they are already dead and frozen and were not killed in the vicinity of my mom or sister. Dont know why thats so hard for you to not understand ......

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So it's an irrational thing. Got it.

Can you take it out somewhere away from your mom and sis and kill it? Since dying things are prohibited in your house but corpses aren't?

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Originally Posted by reptiliachnids

Yes but I am not bringing a live rodent into the house and then murdering it they are already dead and frozen and were not killed in the vicinity of my mom or sister. Dont know why thats so hard for you to not understand ......

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i got a question. so if mice were running loose around in your house you wouldn't use mouse traps to catch them? (most of those traps sold at stores kill mice)

my mom, sister, and girlfriend also hate mice alive or dead being in the house but i still keep them here only because my snakes which they also hate but they need to eat something

Nope mom uses the humane ones and lets them go.

And no I will not take it some where else and kill it. I said I am not going to kill it already.

Back to the issue at hand... A rat pup is too large for a 57g BP. You need to either offer a small fuzzy, or a hopper mouse (LIVE). Also, the suggestion earlier about moving her to a smaller tub was a good one. You should also try putting her on aspen instead of paper towels - the "fluffiness" of the substrate seems to help them feel more secure. Get her eating for you a few times, and THEN you can worry about switching to F/T.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Back to the issue at hand... A rat pup is too large for a 57g BP. You need to either offer a small fuzzy, or a hopper mouse (LIVE). Also, the suggestion earlier about moving her to a smaller tub was a good one. You should also try putting her on aspen instead of paper towels - the "fluffiness" of the substrate seems to help them feel more secure. Get her eating for you a few times, and THEN you can worry about switching to F/T.

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These are great suggestions. I also noticed you said you just leave the rat in her tub, have you tried a zombie dance? If so how long? Sometimes it takes a good amount of movement to get a strike...

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Back to the issue at hand... A rat pup is too large for a 57g BP. You need to either offer a small fuzzy, or a hopper mouse (LIVE). Also, the suggestion earlier about moving her to a smaller tub was a good one. You should also try putting her on aspen instead of paper towels - the "fluffiness" of the substrate seems to help them feel more secure. Get her eating for you a few times, and THEN you can worry about switching to F/T.

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*FACEPALM* I totally forgot to weigh the rats! They are 15g and she should be eating 8-9g. Silly me :rolleyes: ... Anyways Yah I am gunna get her into a smaller tub and get her a fuzzy to nom on. I dont know why it never occurred to me but she is obviously close to a hatching and the other 2 are already twice her size I dont know why I got just pups. So much was going on through my mind when I was at the reptile expo that I was constantly forgetting things XD

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Originally Posted by Zombie

These are great suggestions. I also noticed you said you just leave the rat in her tub, have you tried a zombie dance? If so how long? Sometimes it takes a good amount of movement to get a strike...

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Yah I stood there for a good 5 ish minutes dangling it in her face. Tapping it on her side a few times nothing invoked anything close to a strike.

She just kept constantly trying to climb up my hand and onto my arm. Had no interest in the rat at all.

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Originally Posted by Zombie

These are great suggestions. I also noticed you said you just leave the rat in her tub, have you tried a zombie dance? If so how long? Sometimes it takes a good amount of movement to get a strike...

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Admittedly I just swapped to F/T but I watched my snake eat and tried to duplicate what made him strike. Most live mice moved a lot and then would stay still, which gave him time to coil up to strike, after that they might twitch/shiver or move quickly and that's when he strikes. So I took a rat and heated it to 101 degrees (put rat in a baggy before putting in hot tap water) and then I used tongs to hold it by the tail and held it near his hide. When he came out I danced it around for maybe 30-45seconds when I accidentally dropped it. He struck so fast the rat never hit the ground.

Try the dance, it works! If it's warm, dry/fresh and moving they CAN NOT tell the difference, I'm sold on it now thanks to the great advice here!

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Originally Posted by reptiliachnids

. Like seriously my sister and my mother will not allow me to kill a rat. I dont even want to bring it up to them that I might have to attempt giving her a live one.]

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Owning BPs you really have to have a open mind when it comes to feeding them what they want how they want. We all know they can be picky eaters so every time you get a new snake there is a chance it may only want to eat a way you don't agree with. If your not open to try everything to get the animal to eat idk what to tell you. I'm not trying to bash you at all, trying everything to get the animal to eat just comes with the territory of keeping bps.

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Originally Posted by Rob

Owning BPs you really have to have a open mind when it comes to feeding them what they want how they want. We all know they can be picky eaters so every time you get a new snake there is a chance it may only want to eat a way you don't agree with. If your not open to try everything to get the animal to eat idk what to tell you. I'm not trying to bash you at all, trying everything to get the animal to eat just comes with the territory of keeping bps.

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I understand 100% Rob. I know, I am open to everything. Like if it comes down to it, I will feed her a f/k... but only as a last resort. I couldnt see why she wont take a live though.

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Originally Posted by reptiliachnids

I understand 100% Rob. I know, I am open to everything. Like if it comes down to it, I will feed her a f/k... but only as a last resort. I couldnt see why she wont take a live though.

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Good to hear, and trust me I know what your saying about not wanting to do f/k. I love animals, so honestly I felt sick the first time I had to try f/k for one of mine, but hey anything for our pets.

I know its just hard because we have always had pet rats. Especially my mom and my sister. They love rats sooo much. Thats why its so hard for them.

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Originally Posted by reptiliachnids

I know its just hard because we have always had pet rats. Especially my mom and my sister. They love rats sooo much. Thats why its so hard for them.

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If they are rat lovers my advice would be to leave out the details of feeding to them.

Yah I have to lol. My mom is somewhat ok with it because she is such a tom boy lol. Grew up in the country running around grabbing snakes by their tails and such, So she is not too bad with it but still doesnt like the details. My sister on the other hand when I came home from the reptile expo with 20 rats and 8 mice she yelled at me when I took them out of the bag .

If they are rat lovers convince them to get a breeding operation going to feed your snakes.
You could setup a CO2 chamber so killing the rats would be humane and theyd probably be ok with it. (What else would they do with all the extra rats? Ya know.)

Out of curiosity, have you tried thawing the rat on a plate to room temp and then warming with either a blow dryer or heat lamp? I noticed the pups looked damp in the pics you posted and though my corns will eat their mice still sopping wet, my balls won't touch it unless it's dry and fluffy. I would guess it also preserves the scent a bit better and since he's more interested in coming out to play, he's either not sensing the rat as food or not hungry.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

If they are rat lovers convince them to get a breeding operation going to feed your snakes.
You could setup a CO2 chamber so killing the rats would be humane and theyd probably be ok with it. (What else would they do with all the extra rats? Ya know.)

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This sounds like a great idea.

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