My new BP won't take F/t .. Please help!

Hi guys, so I own a few ball pythons and all of them switched to f/t right away for me with no problem at all. I purchased 2 more about 4 weeks ago , and I left them alone for about a week before offering food. They were both eating live. So after that week I thought it was alright to offer food. And I did and the citrus took it right away, but my firefly wasn't having it. I put her back and decided I'll try again next week. I did and nothing. Now it's been 3 weeks and she still haven't ate. I know they are picky and they go of feed and I know is sometimes hard to switch the to f/t but this girl just ain't having it. The temp is 90-95, she has a hide, humidity is about 60% so everything is good. I tried the chicken broth thing and nothing.. Any suggestions? Please help

Thank you!

Feed live.


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Thanks, but It's kinda difficult for me to go and buy a live one evey week it's beneficial for me and for the snake to feed them f/t, plus all my other snakes take f/t no problem. I'm just looking for a suggestion on how to maybe switch her over

They will eat when hungry enough ;) Mine didn't eat for 1.5 months before he took his first bite with me. After that on frozen all the time. And he was fed live before I got him.

they don't all switch. so getting the snake feeding is the most important thing. even if it is an inconvenience for you.


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What was it eating before you got it?

Yeah I have a 1,000g female mojave that I've tried everything to get her to switch and she just won't.

To the OP, there are probably hundreds of threads about switching to F/T here. I would encourage you to use the search function on the site. Not because nobody wants to answer, but because the combined knowledge of many threads will give you more information than just this one.

Its a new snake in a new environment and chances are that snake is a hatchling .. best thing to do is feed her live until u start getting a good feeding response from her and then switch her over ... some are easy to switch some need time .. its just how it is

Did any snake die of hunger while trying to switch from live to frozen? Probably everyone just let it go after a while and feed live again.

You can always try scenting the unfrozen one with scent of a live one ;)

BTW: how are you offering unfrozen ones? Do you do the zombie dance and wiggle them in front of your snake or do you just let it be laying dead on the ground?

The priority when getting a new BP is to get it to eat, that means switching to F/T is not a priority and while some might take it right away some will not.

Offer live make sure your BP eats with consistency (3 to 5 meals) then attempt switching if this is what you wan to do.

Just remember owning a snake means being prepared to feed live.

Both were eating live rat pups when I got them..

Okay will do! thank you so much, I appreciate it.

Lmao the zombie dance that's a good one! Yes, usually grab it by the tail and wiggle it in front of them and boom! They grab it, sometimes I grab it by the neck area and I start mimicking how the pup would move and they go for it right away.

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Originally Posted by G.Vega

Thanks, but It's kinda difficult for me to go and buy a live one evey week it's beneficial for me and for the snake to feed them f/t, plus all my other snakes take f/t no problem. I'm just looking for a suggestion on how to maybe switch her over

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This should always be a concern and if you're unable to take care of it's needs then you shouldn't get the snake. I'm in no way trying to be mean here, but as they're in captivity they rely on us to take care of them. Some snakes don't eat F/T, some will switch eventually. How are you heating up the f/t and what not? Here is a video of mine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9P0_K75IAU

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Originally Posted by jxl

They will eat when hungry enough ;) Mine didn't eat for 1.5 months before he took his first bite with me. After that on frozen all the time. And he was fed live before I got him.

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This is absolutely not true and you shouldn't say this as advice to anybody. It's plain ignorant advice. I've seen snakes starve to death because they were stubborn eaters. Some snakes will never take rats, some will never take f/t. A ball python can/will starve itself if it's picky enough. So being that you clearly don't have a lot of experience with snakes please stop trying to offer this type of advice.

Just watch its weight if you're going to try to hold out for F/T. If the weight is dropping - get the live.


I agree that you should get it eating before trying the switch. After a few feedings hopefully you'll notice the snake get up in strike pose and get a little excited when you open the cage because they have learned that they eat when you open the cage. If they start striking at the live within a second or two of dropping it in the cage, that's a great sign. The next time you go in with F/T you go about it just like you're going to feed live except don't let go of it and just wiggle it a little near or on the ground a few inches from the snake. Don't get up in its face and don't change what you do from the live feedings as much as possible.

Good luck!

Patience. BPs require lots of patience. Even if ts inconvenient feed it live for a few meals. Get it eating then switch.

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Originally Posted by G.Vega

Both were eating live rat pups when I got them..

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Then that's what you should continue till they get a little more weight on them.

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Originally Posted by jxl

They will eat when hungry enough ;) Mine didn't eat for 1.5 months before he took his first bite with me. After that on frozen all the time. And he was fed live before I got him.

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NOT a good idea. First priority is to get the snake to feed (some snakes are picky and won't switch). Not starve and "hope" it would switch, which can lead to NEGLECT/CRUELTY (I'm not saying you did)

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Originally Posted by jxl

Did any snake die of hunger while trying to switch from live to frozen? Probably everyone just let it go after a while and feed live again.

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Yes. I did know a snake that did die due to his owner being in the same "They will eat when hungry enough" mindset attempting to switch from live to f/t.....epic fail.

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Originally Posted by Neal

This should always be a concern and if you're unable to take care of it's needs then you shouldn't get the snake. I'm in no way trying to be mean here, but as they're in captivity they rely on us to take care of them. Some snakes don't eat F/T, some will switch eventually. How are you heating up the f/t and what not? Here is a video of mine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9P0_K75IAU



This is absolutely not true and you shouldn't say this as advice to anybody. It's plain ignorant advice. I've seen snakes starve to death because they were stubborn eaters. Some snakes will never take rats, some will never take f/t. A ball python can/will starve itself if it's picky enough. So being that you clearly don't have a lot of experience with snakes please stop trying to offer this type of advice.

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I am able to care for they're needs I have 8 of them and they're all are doing great. While I understand what your saying, one of my snakes got bitten by a rat and left an ugly scare and from that day on I decided that feeding f/t will be best for all my snakes. I never want to see that or for any of my snakes to go thru that again so that's my reason for switching.


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Originally Posted by G.Vega

I am able to care for they're needs I have 8 of them and they're all are doing great. While I understand what your saying, one of my snakes got bitten by a rat and left an ugly scare and from that day on I decided that feeding f/t will be best for all my snakes. I never want to see that or for any of my snakes to go thru that again so that's my reason for switching.

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This is why live feedings are monitored. I see too many people just drop the rat in and walk out. I feed live all the time without amy problems.

Completely agreed that they will starve themselves.... I waited 2 months before going with live on first female, on bad advice... stuck a live hopper mouse in a bam... She won't eat f/t, rats or even asfs believe it or not!! Live mice is it for her. My other 4 will eat anything.
I feed live, I prefer live. They are built for live but agreed, they must be monitored. So far none of mine have needed assistance but I'm there in case

As much of an inconvenience it is for you, you need to get him feeding first and foremost, then worry about trying to switch. And remember some snakes just will not switch.
Good luck

I feed live and have never had a snake bitten. I've been bitten but not them and it was my own stupid fault. I tried to get a rat that wasn't well cared for out of my holding pen and got bit. That rat staid in the holding pen longer so it could relax and get more food into him. It was a wise decision on my part. It calmed down and became a great breeder.