Just bought a ball python about 7 months old

Hello all,

Just wanted to introduce myself, being new to the forum and all. I would like to know if when I put the mouse in the enclosure with the snake will he go after it and eat it or is there a more proper way to do the feeding. Also, is there an average time frame of when the snake would eat after he's presented w/ the food?

I read the 'care for ball pythons' article you've got here - really helped me a lot!!!

Onyx

well if he is hungry he should go after it and eat it. Is the food live or frozen thawed ?

it'll be alive. the seller told me he ate this week, so I'm going to try to feed him wednesday, I just wanted to know all i can before I do.

dont feed live....just..dont.

yeah i would definitly try and feed f/t have u seen pictures of what mice and rats can do to your pet. its terrible. does somebody have that pic on here ???

You can also knock out the mouse yourself. Its much safer for you new pet.

yeah,i do that too, just put it in a bag and whack it against something hard. its quick and fast and the rodent doesnt suffer a bit (if its done correctly)

i was told i could buy it, freeze it, thaw in hot tap water for 20 minutes, then feed the snake...

but you say just knock it out by banging it's head on a hard surface in a plastic baggie?

Oh my gosh, please don't kill the mouse by freezing it. Just knock it out and feed it to your snake. Much less painful and quicker death for the mouse. Or you can buy frozen mice and thaw them. But don't buy a live mouse then put it in the freezer.

Oh yeah, and welcome to the site! :)

I have known of people who have put a live mouse in the freezer. They poop and pee all over themselves. Killing the rodent just before you feed it to your ball pythons is best because it still has its body temps. Use some tongs or some hemastats to dangle the rodent in front of the snake and he will strike. Never use your hands because the snake may mistake your body warmth for the rodent.

Welcome to the forum and ask as many questions as you want. Check out the care sheet its very detailed.

Actually, feeding rodents that have been frozen for at least 30 days is best, because it kills all parasites and prevents infections as well as injury from live prey. But it is easier to get the temp right with pre-killed.

he ate a live little mouse today. my husband did that. I think though, the next time I will try to buy pre-frozen. I dont' think I can bring myself to kill the mouse.

Think of it this way: the mouse will die either way. But I'd think it'd be a quicker, less painful death if you do it with just a whack to a hard surface, rather than the constriction of the snakey. :)

I think that it gets easier, the more rats you kill. At first, I too was apprehensive about it, but I figured it this way. Either the mouse can die a (comparatively) slow death by strangulation, or I can whack it really quick and get the deed over with faster. I am so glad I do not have to go through live-feeding anymore. Every time, I would be so scared that my snake would get bitten by the rat, and sometimes I even had to block the rat.s mouth with a piece of cardboard until the snake was done constricting. I think it is totally irresponsible to feed live, unless there is absolutely no choice and the snake will not accept at least prekilled.

Mine are eating live but the pups have no teeth. Planning on switching to mice f/t

hey, welcome to the forums :)
Nice to have ya here.
As everyone said, feeding prekilled or frozen thawed is safest for your snake.
Not to mention that buying frozen in bulk is cheaper and you always have mice on hand.

Thank all you guys. I told my husband all of these and so far, the past 5 weeks he's been getting live. I still haven't been able to bring myself to kill the thing....

i've watched very carefully, and maybe because the mice are still relatively small they've not bitten him...

I'm going to try to cajoke my husband into buying frozen.

Someone mentioned a picture of a snake that was done terribly by a mouse??? If I could get that I'd really appreciate it.

TTFN - I'll check back in after my beloved tennis lesson :-)

Alright a couple of things.

Try feeding in a seperate enclosure. Less chance of ingesting substrate and IMHO, conditions the snake into thinking "food box = feed response". Every one I know who has a "feed box" that reeks of rodent death has never had a meal turned down.

As far as killing rodents. You own a ball python- congrats, now you will have to learn how to kill rodents and accept their death. Period. Its part of being a responsible owner. My advice is to start small. You will not be able to continue to feed live once your python is large enough to eat rats, they are much more aggressive and your snake WILL get hurt at some point in time. So get used to killing mice now.

If you want to avoid the above situation, get your snake switched to f/t. If your snake is feeding live now, its pretty easy to do this. Simply go a few weeks with a p/k mouse. It doesnt take much, just take the mouse by the tail and slam it on a countertop. The harder you do it, the quicker and less painful it is for the mouse. Offer it to the snake right after that, even if its still twitching. The idea here is that isn't not moving around too much. Once your snake is comfy with this, offer a f/t mouse. Go above and SEARCH "thawing methods" and you will find many threads on how to thaw a mouse.

If you can't bring yourself to kill the rodent ( some people just can't ... its ok ), you can always get some f/t rats. That way you dont have to kill them .. just thaw them out. F/t rodents are available from a bunch of places online, and even some Petco's carry them ( you may have ask a associate, we dont have a petco here .. i've just heard this from some members here ). Under our Web Links section we have some links to places to buy f/t rodents online. Here's the link : http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....viewlink&cid=8 . Good luck, and its always safer not to feed live! :)

Quote:

---

Someone mentioned a picture of a snake that was done terribly by a mouse??? If I could get that I'd really appreciate it.

---

yeah,whoever has that pic i was talkin about or any other rat bite pic, please post em, thanks !

Here is a pretty horrible picture. Not for the faint of heart.

http://www.proexotics.com/graphics/b...ive_prey_1.jpg

THAT is why i quit feeding live. That is just horrible and the first time i saw it i was terrified that the same thing could happen to my little guy.

Here's the full pic of the poor ball python suffering.(I heard it was still alive with all those injuries...:()

http://ball-pythons.net/careimages/ballchew2.jpg