Supposed Fussy Eater

I got an 8 month old OG and the shop says he's a fussy eater. I have almost a whole week t figure this out, so tell me if you guys think these are good ideas, and if not, I'm all ears :)

1. They have him on frozen hoppers, so I'm going to try a heavily monitored live feed, hoping its just that simple
2. If it gets ridiculous, I've heard Guinea Pigs will work, as that's what they eat in Africa, but that sounds kind of unethical lol only because they're pets, almost like feeding it a dog. I know they're rodents but still, it sounded weird to me, any thoughts on this would be appreciated
3. I'm hoping the way I'm storing him might just make a difference. He was in a tank that seemed a little too small, with crickets all inside his tank from the other tanks around him at the store. He's acclimating to his new home seemingly well as expected, more room, clean, proper conditions with temp and humidity etc, and enough hides on its hot and cool sides.

I think a combo of 1 and 3 is a realistic game plan, and could be a solution to this "picky eater". What do you guys think?

1) It could be just that simple. Also, you'll want to make sure he has appropriate sized meals.
2) Guinea pigs are just a crazy idea that you should forget you may have heard. a) They're from South America - BPs are from Africa - the two never meet naturally; b) They're way too big for a BP; c) There are much more economical food sources (rats).
3) Sounds good to me.

Lots of pet stores think they've got picky eaters on their hands. In reality, they have a snake that's a little too stressed out in its temporary sales floor environment to eat. Once they get home and secure, many of them turn into eating machines. I'm sure you'll have good luck with him.

I would try using an appropriate sized f/t rat or mouse first, then if he doesn't eat that, try live. I could be as simple as the stress he had from poor living conditions at the store. Good luck feeding him though!:gj:

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

1) It could be just that simple. Also, you'll want to make sure he has appropriate sized meals.
2) Guinea pigs are just a crazy idea that you should forget you may have heard. a) They're from South America - BPs are from Africa - the two never meet naturally; b) They're way too big for a BP; c) There are much more economical food sources (rats).
3) Sounds good to me.

Lots of pet stores think they've got picky eaters on their hands. In reality, they have a snake that's a little too stressed out in its temporary sales floor environment to eat. Once they get home and secure, many of them turn into eating machines. I'm sure you'll have good luck with him.

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Hahaha yeah I thought that guinea pig stuff was a bunch of nonsense when I heard it lol
As far as the stressful sales floor thing, that was my logic too, I think it's just stressed. Thank you for your feedback :)

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Originally Posted by Kamerick

I would try using an appropriate sized f/t rat or mouse first, then if he doesn't eat that, try live. I could be as simple as the stress he had from poor living conditions at the store. Good luck feeding him though!:gj:

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That's pretty much where I'm at with it too, thank you :)

Guinea pigs and ball pythons! That was a good laugh! I would forget everything that person told you.

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Originally Posted by KMG

Guinea pigs and ball pythons! That was a good laugh! I would forget everything that person told you.

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Haha I know right? I thought it sounded wrong on a few levels lol I had to ask though

In Africa they eat African Soft Furred rats, or ASF.

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Originally Posted by KMG

Guinea pigs and ball pythons! That was a good laugh! I would forget everything that person told you.

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Actually balls go nuts for guinea pigs. Feed one to a ball one time and they usually wont eat anything else. So while the reasoning may have been nonsense their is a precedented history of BPs going crazy for guinea pigs

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Originally Posted by CryHavoc17

Actually balls go nuts for guinea pigs. Feed one to a ball one time and they usually wont eat anything else. So while the reasoning may have been nonsense their is a precedented history of BPs going crazy for guinea pigs

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Ok, now I'm just confused lol ok, I just googled ball pythons and guinea pigs, and without getting to into it, I could see there seems to be some merit to this. People are claiming to have done this. So at this point, I gotta ask, is it ethical to feed one to your snake? I suppose if you did, you wouldn't buy an expensive one at a conglomerate store, but maybe someone who breeds them. And obviously it would have to be fed to a full grown ball python, that's how I would see it going down. So do people breed these as food or what?

Ive used some hamsters befor because they were mean and free.

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Originally Posted by CryHavoc17

Actually balls go nuts for guinea pigs. Feed one to a ball one time and they usually wont eat anything else. So while the reasoning may have been nonsense their is a precedented history of BPs going crazy for guinea pigs

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I'm sure they will, don't doubt that, but that's not what I thought was funny. It was the belief they eat them in the wild in Africa.

I don't care what rodent a person feeds to a snake. In my eyes a rodents is a rodent and all of them are kept as pets by folks. One men's pet is another mans feeder.

Don't do guinea pigs, ethical or not, it will be hard to find a constant supplier for them, especially at such small sizes. Not only that, I'm sure it'd be 10x more costly than a rat or mouse.

I would like to clarify, the last thing I said, I wasn't considering it, just trying to understand it lol
and yes it really is incredibly funny that someone said they eat them in the wild of Africa. It sounded believable though, only because I had no clue where they were from, but I knew there was a guinea in west Africa lol. I think it was one of the ladies at the pet store too, so that didn't help me disbelieve the misinformation hahaha

They best way i have found to get my fussy eating bp to eat is by doing a fresh killed. I just use the side of a hammer head and give it a good whack to kill it. Then i use tongs to present it to the bp and juggle it around and usually the movement and smell of blood will get them to eat. Also try using different colors of rats as some will take any color and some like my male will only take brown and not black or white. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Out of all the baby BP's I've raised I've never seen one that just won't eat. As long as you provide your new friend with a proper environment he'll eat. As far as live, F\T, or pre-killed rats, if he's already eating F\T then why change to live? Now, if you offer him a F\T and he won't eat for you then I would try offering a live rat. I feed all my snakes live rats besides 2. The 2 that won't eat live rats are way better "pets" to me. I have to pre - kill the rats for them because they are too passive to kill the rats themselves. If you decide to feed live keep a pencil with you when you feed. Once the snake grabs the rat place the pencil in the rats mouth so it bites the pencil instead of the snake. I also use my feeding tongs to hold the rats back feet. Sometimes the rat will kick and scratch the snake. Good luck with your new friend!

A little late but if anyone was wondering, he hasn't given me a single problem. Live mice, and a consistent home was all he needed apparently lol thanks everyone for helping me prepare for the worst though!

I, like the above post have used hamsters too, and because they were also mean, and free, and it did work, but however at the same time you risk imprinting your snake on the hamsters, or guinea pigs, which would get quite expensive. So I would just put the GP idea on the shelf, whoever told you that didn't have a clue...:O