Feeding question needs answering

So I've got my nearly 5 month old ball python he's a great feeder and never missed a meal I know they can be fussy eaters at time he is feeding on T/F rat pups and having 2 a week this is the first time his feeding sceduale has fallen when he is just about to shed he is a very dull colour and his eyes are really milky I have just tried feeding him and he won't eat his meal he's not interested at all I had a feeling he wouldn't and I have no worries at all with him not eating the question I'm asking is that his rat pups have just been thawed out are they good to re freeze or do they have to be disposed of many thanks in advance

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Originally Posted by Mexecutioner

So I've got my nearly 5 month old ball python he's a great feeder and never missed a meal I know they can be fussy eaters at time he is feeding on T/F rat pups and having 2 a week this is the first time his feeding sceduale has fallen when he is just about to shed he is a very dull colour and his eyes are really milky I have just tried feeding him and he won't eat his meal he's not interested at all I had a feeling he wouldn't and I have no worries at all with him not eating the question I'm asking is that his rat pups have just been thawed out are they good to re freeze or do they have to be disposed of many thanks in advance

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You can refreeze once. Maaaaaaaaybe twice (I would do it only once tho)

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Thank you I wasn't to sure I thought they might be ok to re freeze once or twice but wanted to ask the question thanks again

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Originally Posted by Gc99

You can refreeze once. Maaaaaaaaybe twice (I would do it only once tho)

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i agree. i'd only reuse twice if i'm running low on feeders.

I feed most of my collection f/t as well. From a safety perspective, it's fine to refreeze as long as you've thawed the rat(s) in a refrigerator that didn't get above 40°F. If you thawed at temperatures warmer than that (or they've been left out for longer than 2 hours), just throw it out and chalk it up to a lesson learned - don't thaw f/t rats for him when he's in blue.

Yup, I would say once. Any more than that and even sometimes with just one refreeze you can end up with "exploding rat" when the snake constricts. It is really nasty to clean up, stinks really bad and most of the time the snake will not eat them with the guts hanging out.

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Originally Posted by JodanOrNoDan

Yup, I would say once. Any more than that and even sometimes with just one refreeze you can end up with "exploding rat" when the snake constricts. It is really nasty to clean up, stinks really bad and most of the time the snake will not eat them with the guts hanging out.

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I've had a rat pup pop on him on his first feed I think I thawed it out for too long it wasn't a pretty sight but he still ate it I've not had one do it since as I'm more curious after that feeding haha

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

I feed most of my collection f/t as well. From a safety perspective, it's fine to refreeze as long as you've thawed the rat(s) in a refrigerator that didn't get above 40°F. If you thawed at temperatures warmer than that (or they've been left out for longer than 2 hours), just throw it out and chalk it up to a lesson learned - don't thaw f/t rats for him when he's in blue.

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I thawe them out in two food bags with boiling water and add half cold water then leave them sat there for half hour to 40 mins that's how I was told to do it when I got him so I arnt entirely sure on the tempreture he's thawed in what's your suggestion maybe just get rid to be on the safe side

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There thawed at I ment to say not he's thawed at I don't freeze my snake haha

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Originally Posted by Mexecutioner

what's your suggestion maybe just get rid to be on the safe side

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That's exactly what my recommendation would be in your case, yes. Better safe than sorry.

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

That's exactly what my recommendation would be in your case, yes. Better safe than sorry.

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Yeh there getting thrown away I'd rather loose a couple quid then to cause any harm or problems for him

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I've reheated uneaten prey items before. I would only do it once though. Fortunately I don't have that problem anymore. Most of my snakes eat pretty consistently and now that I have 8 snakes there's ALWAYS somebody who's ready to eat. :)

I wouldn't re-freeze if it was warmed up (either with hot water or blow dryer or whatever)

MAYBE I would if all that had happened was it was thawed in the cold fridge but not warmed....even then I might hesitate because I'm a nervous nelly

The way I do F/T that seems to work well is thaw in the fridge for like 12 hours (when I get up at 6-7am and then go to feed at around 7pm)... and then blow dry it for a little bit to get it up to around 100 degrees (use infrared thermometer gun to check). If I had already blow dried it to the warmer temp, I would NOT attempt to refreeze.

Did you leave the feeder in the enclosure close by the hide to see if maybe your BP would eat it on its own? the feeding before last, I hadn't realized she was in the shedding process (I'm still a newbie lol), and she wouldnt take it from my tongs ...but I left it right in front of her very close as she hid in her hide and then wrapped a towel around the glass to increase privacy...she ended up eating it on her own after about 20 min. However, I don't think she was "in blue" until the next day so maybe her sight wasnt AS bad.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

I've reheated uneaten prey items before. I would only do it once though. Fortunately I don't have that problem anymore. Most of my snakes eat pretty consistently and now that I have 8 snakes there's ALWAYS somebody who's ready to eat. :)

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This is my first snake and I think they will be more to come now he's a good eater he's 5 month now and it's first time he's refused his food but I'm certain it because he's in shed

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No I didn't leave the feed to see if he would take it but I don't like to leave him long after feeding because I take everything out of one side of his enclosure and lay news paper down and put him on that to feed him as I'm nervous about him swallowing any bedding with his meal once he's eaten he will go to the other side In his hide or climb up near his heater that's when I remove the paper and put everything back in then i leave him to settle and digest.

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Also need to purchase a heat gun they seem to be a lot more accurate from what I've read

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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2920484d6d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e4cad2ce33.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3d1bddb104.jpg
Raptor is fresh out of his shed now so will try feed him again on his usual day on Wednesday and the pic of the sheds is his first one with us on the right to the second one with us on the left I'm positive he will feed this time as he was a lot more alert this time and was following my hand about like a locked on missile at first lol so will let you all no the outcome on Wednesday thanks for all the input peeps

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

I feed most of my collection f/t as well. From a safety perspective, it's fine to refreeze as long as you've thawed the rat(s) in a refrigerator that didn't get above 40°F. If you thawed at temperatures warmer than that (or they've been left out for longer than 2 hours), just throw it out and chalk it up to a lesson learned - don't thaw f/t rats for him when he's in blue.

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Spot on advice as usual. I think Eric gives spot on, accurate advice in such a friendly way. I've never personally disagreed with anything he has said that I can remember. A great help to this website and it's posters. I've recently decided a couple months ago to wait till after shed to feed my snake when he is shedding
even if it is his scheduled time to eat, because most the time he is not interested in eating but sometimes he would eat but I think there is more chance of a better shed when he hasn't eaten real recently or during shed. Then after the shed and (sometimes poop) he is hungry and ready to eat.

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Originally Posted by ballpythonsrock2

I think Eric gives spot on, accurate advice in such a friendly way.

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Thanks for the kind words!

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Originally Posted by ballpythonsrock2

I've never personally disagreed with anything he has said that I can remember.

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Challenge accepted. ;)

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Originally Posted by Mexecutioner

I thawe them out in two food bags with boiling water and add half cold water then leave them sat there for half hour to 40 mins that's how I was told to do it when I got him so I arnt entirely sure on the tempreture he's thawed in what's your suggestion maybe just get rid to be on the safe side

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Dont ever use boiling water to thaw rodents, in any way. The risk of accidentally cooking part of the thawed food and having your snake either refuse or, even worse, eat the cooked rat and then get sick is not worth the minuscule amount of time saved. Snakes can usually tell when there's something wrong with an offered prey item (i.e. still frozen in the center, overheated/cooked, spoilage, etc) but if they do end up ingesting something that was prepared incorrectly for them it can cause a multitude of issues that will make them very ill and possibly kill them.

Just go the safe route and thaw them in the fridge (or even on the counter in some cool water) until they're soft all the way through, then just run them under warm water. After they're warm all the way through (hold them under the tap for a minute+ depending on the size of the prey item), I usually set the water as hot as I can without it being too hot for me to hold my hand under, and run the tap over the rodents head for about 30ish seconds. If you're uncomfortable with your hand under the tap for more than 10 seconds it's too hot. Pat dry with a paper towel and then offer! Btw I run the head under hot tap so that when I offer the snakes focus more on the head than the torso. Helps get them to aim where I want (I don't feed with tongs) and they don't spend a bunch of time playing "find the head".

Well I'll Deffo change around and stick to the fridge method and I love your tip about heating the head more makes so much sense although I'll still be using tongs not right comfortable about the hand feeding lol have you got a video of that been done mine is only feeding on rat pups bit risky

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Originally Posted by Mexecutioner

Well I'll Deffo change around and stick to the fridge method and I love your tip about heating the head more makes so much sense although I'll still be using tongs not right comfortable about the hand feeding lol have you got a video of that been done mine is only feeding on rat pups bit risky

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I actually have a little axanthic pinstripe boy who's only 82 grams and eating rat pinks, and his next feeding is in a couple days, so I'll see if I can/ try to remember to get a video lol. Do you want a video of the whole process or just the hand feeding? As far as the whole tongs thing, I'm honestly just not that intimidated by a possible bite from what I consider small snakes. But maybe I just haven't been bit bad enough yet ;) my boyfriend thinks I'm crazy

And I know he's a tad bit big for rat pinks, they're all about 6-9 grams each, but the expo I was at when I got them had run out of fuzzies and I didn't want to wait to get him any food. So I may end up feeding him two this next time. Before anyone asks lol

For what it's worth .,

I haven't read all through the thread so apologies if I've repeated something already suggested .
This works for my 20 snakes every week . I feed thawed mice/ rats :-

This method WORKS if done properly ...
I wait until evening as they're nocturnal of course . I let the rodent thaw out in the reptile room so they get the smell ..
Then I warm up the mouse / rat with a hairdryer and offer with tongs IMMEDIATELY whilst still warm . If refused simply repeat the heating and offering as many times as needed. .
A couple of mine will only strike feed from within their hides so I dangle the warm rodent in front of the hide's entrance - usually works but if it fails simply reheat the rodent with a hairdryer and immediately offer again whilst it's still warm , continue until it's grabbed ...
I always wait until evenings to feed as they're nocturnal of course .

Incidentally , if it shows no interest at all not even a tongue flicker maybe it's best to leave for a week or so.

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

For what it's worth .,

I haven't read all through the thread so apologies if I've repeated something already suggested .
This works for my 20 snakes every week . I feed thawed mice/ rats :-

This method WORKS if done properly ...
I wait until evening as they're nocturnal of course . I let the rodent thaw out in the reptile room so they get the smell ..
Then I warm up the mouse / rat with a hairdryer and offer with tongs IMMEDIATELY whilst still warm . If refused simply repeat the heating and offering as many times as needed. .
A couple of mine will only strike feed from within their hides so I dangle the warm rodent in front of the hide's entrance - usually works but if it fails simply reheat the rodent with a hairdryer and immediately offer again whilst it's still warm , continue until it's grabbed ...
I always wait until evenings to feed as they're nocturnal of course .

Incidentally , if it shows no interest at all not even a tongue flicker maybe it's best to leave for a week or so.

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Yeh there wasn't even a tongue flicker it's been exactly a week today so I will try again tonight I've put some rat pups in the fridge this morning ready for tonight thanks for the advice people

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Originally Posted by Trisnake

I actually have a little axanthic pinstripe boy who's only 82 grams and eating rat pinks, and his next feeding is in a couple days, so I'll see if I can/ try to remember to get a video lol. Do you want a video of the whole process or just the hand feeding? As far as the whole tongs thing, I'm honestly just not that intimidated by a possible bite from what I consider small snakes. But maybe I just haven't been bit bad enough yet ;) my boyfriend thinks I'm crazy

And I know he's a tad bit big for rat pinks, they're all about 6-9 grams each, but the expo I was at when I got them had run out of fuzzies and I didn't want to wait to get him any food. So I may end up feeding him two this next time. Before anyone asks lol

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I've been bitten once and wasn't bad at all I'm not scared of getting nit I can handle that part I'm just worried if he bit and latched on could end up pulling done Teath out or do some other damage with my reflexes I'd like to see the hand feeding part but don't mind watching the full process

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