Pigs

Lots of posts by people with BP's that won't eat or are problem feeders but how about the ones that are the total opposite? My daughters young Mohave girl is just ridiculous. She acts totally fearless, she doesn't ball up and handles just as friendly and nice as any snake I've seen. When I heat up her f/t fuzzy rat she just goes crazy. If she's in her hide she will come barreling out and will just come right out of her tank after it. Her first strikes are always some crazy lunge from some ridiculous range she just flat goes crazy. Then after she's done swallowing it she paces back and forth across the front of her tank like she wants another. She'll finally go back in her hide and just a couple days later she's out and acting like she's hungry again.
I feel the fuzzy rats I'm feeding her are perfectly size prey for her. They leave a nice noticeable lump but nothing too big I believe. I feed every 7 days and have thought of bumping her to every 5 but she looks great, is fattening up really nice so I kinda don't want to screw up the routine.
I'm sure there are others here that have a BP in their collection that just doesn't seem to fit the mold of your standard "pet rock" Ball Python and is just a flat out PIG when it comes feeding time.....or even WELL before!!

My second pied (Minerva) was just like that, she was very active when held and never refused a meal. However in January when she was 1,465 grams she decided she did not want to be a pig anymore and joined some of my other adults in their winter hunger strike. I hate how much she's changed, she doesn't bite but she recently started hissing to be left alone :tears:. I hope your daughter's BP will never change.

I've got one known as Frank the Tank. Every time you open her tub she looks like she's ready for a rat. She could've just ate the day before but she's still ready. Like right now. Give her a rat hooman. I'll be sad the first day she refuses. Funny enough, Frank is also a Mojave...wonder if there's a connection there? She's well fed, though. Generally the top end of 10-15% once a week.

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My Mojave is the exact same way. As soon as she gets her prey down, she's raising up in her tank, flicking her tongue like she's looking for more. I'm just happy she's such a great eater. I can only hope it continues.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL135.../412298010.jpg

Here she is 2 days after a great big f/t fuzzy rat. She doesn't act like she's exploring or trying to escape just right out front almost begging for food. Makes me wonder with your responses if maybe it could be a Mohave thing. I plan on bumping her up to pups soon but think they would be too big just yet.
Compared to my scaredy cat male she just has such a cool personality. Nothing seems to spook or frighten her.

LOL... Exactly how my girl is. She is just now at 200g. I picked up a bag of frozen pups at an expo this past weekend and when I got home, I realized he gave me weaned rats instead. I weighed and packed them all individually and there was one that was smaller looking and weighed 30g. I gave it to her and it was a little big, but she got it down. the next day, she was back to her "looking for more" routine. lol. I'm picking up some pups this week and will keep her on those for now, but I feed every 6 days, and she looks healthy (as does yours) and is putting on weight consistently. So I don't want to over-feed. It is kind of interesting they both have similar behaviors.

I noticed my honeybee and my super pastel woma never miss a meal, always hungry. I thought it might have to be the morph also.

my most aggressive feeder is my Pastel Leopard girl. she's at the front of the tub as soon as she smells a rat. my Mojave boy only takes live prey and his brother, a GHI Mojave, is a mouser. :/ very good feeders when u give them what they want tho. my GHI Mojave girl and Mojave x Butter BEL always eat well and on time. :)

I have a pied who's just a little monster when it comes to feeding day. As soon as we come in the room with the fk rats she is out and about pacing her tank and will lunge instantly for them. She even gets upset if we feed our other snakes first lol. When we feed her first and she finishes quickly she'll watch me feed the others and it almost seems like shes trying to say "its ok you dont have to feed sherbert his medium rat i'll take that too" even though shes between pups and weaned at the moment lol

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My nuclear ball python girl is a beast when it comes to feeding. She outgrew my whole collection and is now the biggest snake I have. Everyone else is older than her but she's still the largest and none have caught up lol. I love my sweet Delilah :) she's the perfect snake, she always eats and is always happy.


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My normal will eat everything! She came from a situation where she got one mouse a MONTH. And she's something over 600 grams. So she will eat whatever, whenever, however she can get it. I stagger my feedings by species, so if there is something left over I give it to her- she ate three days in a row.

granted, the extras were only pups....but she will nom on anything presented. Lol!!

^ We have a very similar normal girl - rescue, wasn't being fed correctly - she is just the sweetest girl, and I swear she groks gratitude. Every Wednesday, shed or shine, she's at the front of the tub doing her begging, and takes anything we give her with no more than 2 seconds to give it a sniff and make sure it's a food!

My first BP, Vince the super pastel, has also never refused a meal - even if he's curled up into a ball at feeding time, or deep blue, I can prod him gently with a food offering and he will stick his snoot up to see what's for eats - he sometimes takes a moment to think it over, but so far he's my most reliable boy. <3

^ Me too - my 2-3 year old normal rescue girl came to me at 203g 3 months ago. After 3 feedings of small mice on a 5 day schedule, and then ~15% weight rats on a weekly schedule after that, she's now 321g right after a poo. She's not missed a meal.

She swallows her rat and goes into her hide, but immediately pokes her head out in a hunting pose. The same the next night and every night. In the morning when I change her water and check for soiling, she pokes her head out again. Although it's nice to see this as "friendly", I'm pretty sure she's checking for another meal... But, she's never striked at me, bit or been "aggressive" in any way or even hissed. The other night she even came out of her hide and climbed onto my arm!

You want to talk strong feeding response get some clown morphs! My Clown's practically fly out of their tubs when I have rats out. I had one stand up so high that I just tossed the rat into the air and she caught it. Wish I had a camera set up for that one!

I hope this is true, I want to get into Clowns sometime in the future! :)

I bought 2 young BPs on 2/20/16. One was 148g and the other 111g. One has accepted all 5 offerings of a 15g f/t mouse and the other has accepted only 1 and that one was left in the enclosure and was gone the next morning. Last attempt to feed he did not take it so I left it in the enclosure again but it was still there the next morning. He just refused an offering again so I can only hope that it will not still be there tomorrow morning.

My young one Sadie has a stellar food response, sometimes she strikes the f/t feeder so hard she flings it across the tank haha


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by gaitedappy

My young one Sadie has a stellar food response, sometimes she strikes the f/t feeder so hard she flings it across the tank haha


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Nice. You know when I was a kid and had snakes I always fed live and thought it was watching something being killed that was so fun but now I know that it is just watching it eat that is fun/rewarding because I get the same pleasure watching them eat f/t.

My YB will not take food from me. I have to leave it in his feeding bin. Then he takes it when no one is looking.

my female black pastel pin on the other hand goes completely beast mode whenever I put her in the feeding bin. She's going to tag me one day I'm sure.

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Originally Posted by Snipes Ma Bipes

My YB will not take food from me. I have to leave it in his feeding bin. Then he takes it when no one is looking.

my female black pastel pin on the other hand goes completely beast mode whenever I put her in the feeding bin. She's going to tag me one day I'm sure.

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I left the mouse in the enclosure and even observed him slither right over it but the mouse was still laying there this morning. :(

My pastel clown girl is the most calm laid back snake you could ask for. That all changes when you bring a tub of rats in the room. She's at the front of her tub waitin and soon as you crack her tub open she comes flyin out with her mouth wide open. Shes got my palm a couple times so I used to have to use a hook to open her tub now I bring her rat in first before she has a chance to get a whiff of it.