UGHH, New it would happen some time

I new it would happen, every one tellin stories about their ball's and how they can go with out eating etc. etc
well i went to the pet store and purchased a fresh killed Juvi rat, like i have been doing for countless weeks it was smaller than usual tho, they only had HUGE rats there so i settled for a small one.
got it home and i usually do the little rat dnace and he goes at it if it were alive, but the last few weeks he hasnt been doing that, so i just leave it in his tank and when i wake up the next morning it is gone.
Any way today was different, he wouldnt take it with the rat dance then when i went out for a while and came back he had what seem to be half eaten, Half (top end) was all slimey and the other half wasnt touched, so i guess he regurgeatated(sp) it. so should i leave it in the tank over ngiht and hope he will eat it, or take him out and wait for a few days?
Any suggestions??? :(
CHONG

perhaps youre stressing your snake out with too much handling. consider the circumstances, has anything around its enclosure changed?

does the pet store kill the mice (or rat) for you, mine doesnt

Usually only reptile stores will kill the mice for you.

no, nothing has changed, and i dont over exceed handeling him, should i leave the half slimy rat in there in hope he will eat it?,
and yes the reptile store does kill it for me, its a local store with very knowlageable people, check them out at
www.rainforestpets.ca

I would not leave it in there. Remove it and wait a week until the next feeding.

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Originally Posted by gen

I would not leave it in there. Remove it and wait a week until the next feeding.

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I agree. He just might not have been hungry. Bp's are notoriously picky eaters.

do you guys think i should purchase a live prey item next time?
because he really doest seem intrested in freshly killed anymore.....?
as much as i hate to say it.... live seems to be the better buy

I would not resort to live feedings unless he goes for SO long without eating that he begins to lose weight. (For a bp, that would be months!) Just maintain your routine. I would check to see if there's any reason he started to eat the rat and then spat it back up. An non-hungry snake won't usually bother putting his mouth on prey that he doesn't want. Damien (I think it was him!) recently discovered that his snake went off food for a couple weeks because he had a sore in his mouth...probably due to a lost tooth getting infected.

OH MY GOD, ZOMBIE RATS. Be careful they might eat your brains...hehe.

you actually should try putting the rat down yourself. that way when it is introduced to your snake it is still giving off plenty of natural body heat.

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so should i leave it in the tank over ngiht and hope he will eat it, or take him out and wait for a few days?

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Definitely not! You can re-try with an ignored prey item that hasn't been out too long, but never re-try with a regurged item. Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to give an extra couple of days before trying to feed again.

any way of " putting down " the rat that arent too viloent. I dont think id be able to do it.
Killing somethin isnt my stlye id rather let some 1 eles do it :lol:

I just put them in a plastic market bag ( sometimes double bagged ) and give them one good whack against the driveway. Usually does the trick the first time. Fourfeathers came up with a great DIY gas chamber: http://www.ball-pythons.net/index.ph...ewtopic&t=3852 . You may want to check it out as well.