Frozen feeders...

I have a new python ( arrived at my house on March 14th! :)) and I have everything he needs but food. So on the 14th, after oggled my snake in all his little ball python glory, I started calling up the local pet stores to see if they had any frozen or live fuzzies. Well, none of the stores had feeder mice so I decided to look online. I found a few sites that sold frozen feeders and would ship them to you but the ones I went to didn't have customer reviews and just seemed kinda...off. So where do I go? I went to Petsmart.com to order some fuzzies. The fuzzies were a wee bit expensive but I bought them anyway with overnight shipping. I did all this on the 14th. I then get an automated email on the 15th saying my order had been received and that I would get updates on my order. Sounds good right? WRONG!!! It has been 4 days and still no package...I decided to send an email expressing my concern about my order not being delivered and that I did pay for overnight shipping. I get back an email from Petsmart Customer Service saying that my order would be delivered on Monday 3/19/12. Yea, you read that right. 3/19/12. I assumed that the person who sent me the email put the date down wrong, so I wait patiently all day for my mice. Come around 5pm. Still no package. So I called the customer service number and explained what was going on. I also asked for my shipping fee to be refunded seeing how it's been 4 days since I put my order in. Guess what? They haven't even processed my order! They also tried to tell me that I didn't purchase overnight shipping and that it's not even a shipping option on the mice I ordered. I calmly explained to them that I did indeed purchase overnight shipping and that it was a shipping option on the mice. After 30 minutes of arguing and being told I wasn't getting my shipping fee refunded, I got a little pissy...( I've worked in customer service before, hell I was a customer service manager and I have NEVER treated an upset customer or any customer this way.) They finally found my order number and checked my receipt and saw that I did in fact pay for overnight shipping. So yay! I get my refund! However, I don't get my mice until 3/28/2013...So I am still a bit irritated. ( Can't you tell from this long rant? HAHA!)Anywho, ball python parents! If you order frozen feeders from a website, who do you use and what was your experience? I would like to know because I do not plan on purchasing anything else from Petsmart.com. Any info or advice would be great! Thanks!!!! :)

I've had good luck with Mice Direct and American Rodent. I wasn't impressed with RodentPro but that has been several years so things may have changed.

You may want to try Craig's list for live feeders, when my local reptile was low for a couple weeks I found a secondary supplier this way. I don't feed live but I bought live and just prekilled them my self.

I also like live/prekilled because if my ball refuses I can freeze and offer once more. I don't like to refreeze if the rodent has already gone through one freeze cycle.


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http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ers-of-feeders

I tried craigslist but the guy who was selling feeders only had rats. My little guy is way too small for rats. Thanks everyone for the response!

Does he have rat pups, from my understanding hatchlings can feed off these. 10 - 15 percent of your balls weight is the general rule of thumb.

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/...psb873d309.jpg


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I asked him that and he said that he only had large adults. :(

I would look on fauna classifieds too. I lucked out and found a great supplier that's about 45 minutes away from me.

If you have a reptile show nearby, you can also contact the organizers and see who might go to that show. Chances are they know the feeder suppliers in the area because they are into herps too. If not, they can point you to local breeders who either would know of one or breed their own and might be willing to sell you some for the time being.

If there is no other way, just buy a pet rhodent and dont say that it is for food. Claim to buy it as a pet.

I feel so horrible right now! I really wish Petsmart.com didn't pull this crap because I honestly think my little guy is hungry! Always searching for something in his tank, poking his head out of his hide when I walk by, constantly sniffing the air. ( I had a mouse problem 2 days before I got him and have the mouse problem taken care of but I think he can still smell them.) I just feel bad. I wish I could go to the local pet store here but the only thing they have are rats and adult mice. My little guy is about 16 to 18 inches long and I think the adult mice are too big. :( I just don't like my animals to go hungry.

Can you go to your local petsmart and pick up some food until you shipment arrives?


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Unfortunately no... The closest Petsmart is over an hour away. :( That and my car won't make it that far. It has a new problem everyday and I don't trust it. My boyfriend enjoys working on it though...Stupid car...

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Originally Posted by Kurtilein

If there is no other way, just buy a pet rhodent and dont say that it is for food. Claim to buy it as a pet.

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If your ball truly needs to eat, this maybe an option.


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Your hatchling might be able to handle an adult mouse. Do you know how much your snake weighs?

No. I do know that he is around 16 or 18 inches long and is thin. The best way to describe him being thin is that his thickest part of his body is as thick as hot dog frank but his neck is super tiny. A penny is bigger around than his neck is. ( Not sure if that's what their called...) He wont even let me touch him. He likes to strike repeatedly whether I'm trying to change his water bowl out or just walking by the tank. I can see if he'll eat an adult mouse but the pet store isn't open tomorrow.

Also, I'm trying to upload a picture so you guys can see his size but I don't know how to.

The neck isn't the issue, their skin is fantastically stretchy to allow them to swallow very large prey. So long as you choose a smaller mouse, he should be able to take it no problem. You are going to want to invest in a digital scale to weigh him with - it will help us and you know exactly what to offer/suggest to offer.

What size hides does he have? He sounds like he's very scared and defensive, which is totally normal for a hatchling BP. Anything larger than a cereal bowl and you're going to have issues with him not feeling safe enough, which will lead to feeding refusals.

Also, here's a guide to uploading photos :)

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...th-pictures%29

His hide is a plastic log that you buy in the pet area of walmart. It has fake plants and rocks on it. If he's in it and I pick it up, he gets picked up with the hide. His hide actually looks small but he likes it...I think...He also likes to lay on my tshirt I put in there. ( I was told to put a clothing item with my scent in the tank so he will know my scent when I handle him and I don't know if it really works or not.) I uploaded some pictures to my gallery on my profile.

I dont believe scenting works, it will just have one poop stained shirt in a few weeks.

In any case you can always adopt one from the classified or you can just wait it out. To be honest if you have never feed your baby before you will probably to disspoiunted to find out he might not take f/t right away

edit: i just realize you got your baby from bhp, he should be good to go on f/t

Heard a loud banging on the door this morning! T'was the UPS fairy delivering my frozen fuzzies! Thank you Petsmart.com for shipping them to me earlier than you said! With that being said, I will not purchase from them again. I will go to one of the sites that was recommended to me on here. Anywho...Time to thaw some mice for my hungry looking guy! :)

Make sure you buy a second identical hide to the one he's using, since he likes it. They need two - identical ones work best because then you know they're not preferring one over another for whatever reason. Glad to hear your feeders came in, I hope he eats for you!

I tried to feed him. While he was very interested in the fuzzies ( smelling them like crazy and nudging them), he did not eat. I will try again later tonight when he's not in his hide.

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Originally Posted by dArKmAiDeN999

I tried to feed him. While he was very interested in the fuzzies ( smelling them like crazy and nudging them), he did not eat. I will try again later tonight when he's not in his hide.

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Make sure they are warm enough when you are offering them. My first indication that the feeder isn't warm enough is when my BPs nose it like crazy but don't grab it.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Make sure they are warm enough when you are offering them. My first indication that the feeder isn't warm enough is when my BPs nose it like crazy but don't grab it.

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Thanks! I will definitely make sure they're warm enough for him! :)

So...I thawed 2 fuzzies and made sure that they were warm. William ( the boyfriend) got my ball to strike at the fuzzie and my ball constricted it. Well...My little guy ripped the fuzzie open and tried to swallow it. That didn't really work out too well seeing how he let his food go and just left it there. Does this normally happen when trying to feed a new ball in a new home? Also any advice on getting him to eat? He drug his food into his hide with him so now I have to wait until he leaves his hide to get the fuzzie out. Here are some pictures of him *attempting* to eat his food before he spat it out.

[IMG]http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5f5e5e23.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps045341e4.jpg[/IMG]

You probably heated up your fuzzies -too- much. When mice (or rats for that matter) get too warm, the skin in their bellies degrades and it makes them VERY easy to pop. I've popped several in my time of keeping snakes.

Exactly how many fuzzies did you buy? Fuzzies are way too small and that could potentially be an issue for why your snake won't eat them. Try to get something larger and grab it by the scruff of the neck with tongs and make it wiggle close to the floor of the cage to mimic a live mouse. Hopefully that will cause a little better reaction.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BHReptiles

You probably heated up your fuzzies -too- much. When mice (or rats for that matter) get too warm, the skin in their bellies degrades and it makes them VERY easy to pop. I've popped several in my time of keeping snakes.

Exactly how many fuzzies did you buy? Fuzzies are way too small and that could potentially be an issue for why your snake won't eat them. Try to get something larger and grab it by the scruff of the neck with tongs and make it wiggle close to the floor of the cage to mimic a live mouse. Hopefully that will cause a little better reaction.

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Another reason why I won't be shopping at Petsmart anymore! The fuzzies in the picture were bigger than the ones I got. What would you suggest feeding him?

the general guideline is to feed him something that is equal to the thicket part of the balls' body girth wise

For your future sanity, see if you can get him to eat rats. He's big enough to take rat fuzzies at a minimum. If you really want to stick to mice, he can take hopper mice easy and probably even adult or weaned mice.

your best bet is to get a scale and try to purchase prey for him that's about 10% of his body weight. So if he's say 150g, you want to feed him a prey items that's between 15-22g (adult mouse or a rat fuzzy).

The mouse in that picture you posted is a fuzzy, and too small for a ball.
As stated, if you are going to stick with mice then you want at least hoppers but smalls would be better.

I got him to eat! I went to the pet store today and broke down and bought live hoppers. I would have bought rat pups ( I think they're the same size?) but he had just sold the last of them. So hoppers it is then! They're multicolored and freakin' adorable. I bought 6 of them and brought them home and tried to decide which way to kill the mouse ( I do not want to feed live). Well after looking it up online, I came to the decision to put the mouse in a bag and hit it off the wall. I felt so bad doing it but I have a snake that needs to be fed! Anywho, I killed the mouse and its nerves were still making it move. I am 100% sure that the mouse was dead. I held it over him for like 30 seconds and BAM! My little guy snatched it from me and constricted it. It was kinda funny actually...He grabbed the mouse by the leg and after constricting it, let it go, looked at me, then nudged it a little and then ate it from the head down! It was amazing to watch. I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped me with this. THANK YOU GUYS!!! :) :) :) Here are some pictures!

[IMG]http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps32f5f844.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psf5d84856.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps41314287.jpg[/IMG]

I have only prekilled rats my self once. I went with this method:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...and-Humane-too




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good job getting it to eat but it still looks like the prey item is too small for it

Smacking them against a wall is actually a very inhumane way to kill a rodent. If you don't want to feed live, you can prekill them in a homemade CO2 chamber. It's pretty easy, I think there are tutorials online, using either CO2 canisters or dry ice and water. I think it looks too small as well, but anything's better than nothing and the prey size can always be upped.

The one thing you'll find is that buying online can get a tad expensive when it comes to shipping because they ship the frozen feeders with dry ice. The best thing you can do is find an online seller that allows smaller batches to be sold and fill the box. For instance, I order from Loxahatchee rodents. I can order in packs of 25. So I order one package of the current size they're feeding on AND order the next size up. You can keep frozen rodents in your freezer for 9-12 months. Right now, I am set for the next 6-8 months. I highly recommend Loxahatchee Rodents as they have always come to me frozen, well packaged, sized correctly, clean, my balls gobble them right up (I feed rats but they also do mice), and they by far have been the most reasonable with their shipping prices. While a bit spendy up front, the per-rodent is about the same as in the pet store and you don't have to drive anywhere.

Check them out: http://www.loxahatcheerodents.com/estore/

PLUS they have many, many, many, happy customer testimonials.

I know it was inhumane to kill the mouse that way. That's why I said I felt bad. I will try the dry ice next time. I really didn't know what else to do. :confusd: I will up his feeding size when he finishes off the hoppers. The hoppers are the same size as the thickest part of his body so I think he'll be ok until I get bigger food for him. The pet store I went to is changing from live feeders to frozen in a week or 2 ( YAY!). Again, thank you guys for the help and advice!