First Feed - Few Questions

Hi all!

I've had my first BP for a week today so i was planning on his first feeding. He pooped in his enclosure for the first time last night and as i changed out some paper towels he seemed a bit skittish

So my first question is whether or not i should try feeding today since he seemed skittish last night

Second question is live or f/t for the first meal? Breeder recommends live for first few meals, has anyone had success going f/t right away?

Thank you all

I'd try feeding him tonight. It can't hurt to try f/t but don't get upset if your snake refuses. I've had a few snakes accept f/t their first feeding and others that took more work. You might get lucky. If the snake refuses try feeding again in 7-10 days.

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Originally Posted by pHenom

Hi all!

I've had my first BP for a week today so i was planning on his first feeding. He pooped in his enclosure for the first time last night and as i changed out some paper towels he seemed a bit skittish

So my first question is whether or not i should try feeding today since he seemed skittish last night

Second question is live or f/t for the first meal? Breeder recommends live for first few meals, has anyone had success going f/t right away?

Thank you all

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I would wait 1 more day. Make sure he's really comfortable and settled in.

How old and how much does he weigh? The older/bigger he is, the longer you can go between feedings without risk.

I had zero problems switching my 200G BP, Shayna, to F/T for live immediately. Usually, as young BP's, they switch pretty easily. She's 6 now and 1650G and has never eaten anything but F/T with me.

Below I have my detailed description of how to thaw and offer F/T prey. This should help you have a higher likelihood of success.






This is my step by step list on defrosting F/T rodents.

Others may do it differently and that's fine. This how I do it and it works for me.


STEPS FOR DEFROSTING F/T RODENTS/PREY

1. Put prey item(s) into appropriate size plastic bag (1 for each). I use Quart size ziplock bags up to a medium rat. NOTE: Bags are optional. Some people just throw the prey in the water. I like the bags, but you have to squeeze the air out of them.

2. Fill the container/storage box 3/4 of the way with room temp to slightly warm water. If you have a temp gun (which you should, so if you don't, get one), make sure the water is not hotter than 85-90F, or there about.

3. Put F/T prey item(s) in water. Cover (optional) and leave for an hour +/-.

4. After an hour, rotate/flip prey. If in plastic bags, they often will stay on whatever side you put them in on. So if mouse is on left side, turn to right side, etc.

5. Leave for another hour +/- for a TOTAL of about 2 hours (up to medium sized rat - longer if bigger prey for when ROE is bigger and eating Large rats, for example).

6. Check that prey is defrosted totally through. Squeeze at different sections of the preys body. Should be cool/room temp to touch, but be soft with no cold spots. If hard (except for bone), in abdomen, for example, or cold, put back in water until room temp and soft.

7. Take prey out of the container/storage box and put aside. THEN FOLLOW STEPS 8-11 OR STEP 12

8. Fill container with hot water from tap. If using temp gun, water temp should be 110-130F, not more.

9. Drop prey item into water for 30 seconds +/-. If multiple prey items, do one at a time. You want each item hot when you offer.

10. Remove (if hot water, with tongs).

11. Dry as best as you can, and is quickly as you can, with paper towels. I dry with paper towels while I am walking from the bathroom where I defrost to the snake tanks. I kind of wrap the prey item up in them. It's ten feet, so by the time I get to the tanks, the prey is drier, but still warm.

12. If not using hot water, use a hairdryer to heat rat so it entices snake

13. Open tank and offer ASAP.

First off, welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of snake keeping!!

If it were me, I would offer F/T tonight, see what happens. Worst case scenario, he doesn't eat. No big deal. Wait 7 days and try again. If there's another refusal then, we can revisit the situation.

There's loads of ways ..

I'm in the UK so I've only EVER fed frozen thawed and if he's gonna eat - this way never ever fails .

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Make sure it's evening as they're nocturnal , mine prefer low light / dim light and all four now only strike from within their hides .
Heat well with hairdryer then offer with tongs - dangle in front of the hide entrance - offer IMMEDIATELY whilst still warm - they cool down substantially each second. If there is the slightest interest shown , reheat and offer instantly- repeat the procedure as many times as it takes .

~~~

Obviously if it's too soon or he's going in shed he won't be interested..


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Thank you all for your help! Tons of great info here

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Originally Posted by dakski

How old and how much does he weigh? The older/bigger he is, the longer you can go between feedings without risk.

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He's a little guy, hatched on 7/2 and weighed 99g when i got him. Which is why i want to give myself the best chance at success the first time :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pHenom

Thank you all for your help! Tons of great info here


He's a little guy, hatched on 7/2 and weighed 99g when i got him. Which is why i want to give myself the best chance at success the first time :)

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Defrost properly and heat and offer. Tonight or tomorrow. Should be fine.

Shake me on the tongs gently and see if he takes it. If he doesn’t strike l, leave for a few hours and see if he eats.

If not, leave him alone and try in 7 days. No handling etc.

Keep us in the loop.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

Shake me on the tongs gently

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Sorry, this was just too funny :rofl: OP: You’ve gotten great advice from everyone, hope it goes well!!

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Originally Posted by Snakeydoodles

Sorry, this was just too funny :rofl: OP: You’ve gotten great advice from everyone, hope it goes well!!

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Damn iPhones!

LOL! Shake the MOUSE on the tongs gently! :)

Also, below is the BP feeding chart. Make sure you are giving the same prey item he's used to and that is appropriate size.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ding_chart.jpg

One last thing... which ever way you choose ... many Royals/ Balls especially youngsters will ONLY strike from under their hides where they feel secure ..

So for the first time at least I'd make sure its settled under its hide for a while then dangle the WARM mouse in front of the hide entrance and DON'T blink !


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

Shake me on the tongs gently and see if he takes it.

Keep us in the loop.

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Please don't try to shake Dakski on tongs.
Hahahhaha :rofl:

This is definitely one of the better auto-corrects recently.

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Originally Posted by craigafrechette

Please don't try to shake Dakski on tongs.
Hahahhaha :rofl:

This is definitely one of the better auto-corrects recently.

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They would have to be big tongs........and you might need a crane, or at least a lift of some kind.

Prednisone every day for the past 6 1/2 years has not been kind to my figure. On the other hand, 6 1/2 years with no signs of my transplanted kidney slowing down. I’ll take that trade.

Besides, Katie thinks I am a looker, and that’s all that matters.

Alrighty so i tried to feed as he was moving around the enclosure at night. Tried to pre scent and he went into a hide so i used the hair dryer to warm it up. He was staring at it from the hide for a bit but never took a shot. 15g rat fuzzy. I got too close once and he flinched back a bit.

How hot do you try and get they prey? Maybe i didnt use the hair dryer for long enough

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pHenom

Alrighty so i tried to feed as he was moving around the enclosure at night. Tried to pre scent and he went into a hide so i used the hair dryer to warm it up. He was staring at it from the hide for a bit but never took a shot. 15g rat fuzzy. I got too close once and he flinched back a bit.

How hot do you try and get they prey? Maybe i didnt use the hair dryer for long enough

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Sorry but you probably did the WORST thing possible by offering when it was moving around ...
I did suggest for the first attempt to wait until it was 'settled' under a hide [emoji20]


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

One last thing... which ever way you choose ... many Royals/ Balls especially youngsters will ONLY strike from under their hides where they feel secure ..

So for the first time at least I'd make sure its settled under its hide for a while then dangle the WARM mouse in front of the hide entrance and DON'T blink !


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Sorry but you probably did the WORST thing possible by offering when it was moving around ...
I did suggest for the first attempt to wait until it was 'settled' under a hide [emoji20]

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He was in his hide. He came out to explore as the sun was coming down so i put the rat fuzzy near his cage to pre scent, he went into his hide within minutes and that is when i used the hair dryer and attempted to feed

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pHenom

He was in his hide. He came out to explore as the sun was coming down so i put the rat fuzzy near his cage to pre scent, he went into his hide within minutes and that is when i used the hair dryer and attempted to feed

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Thing is these young Royals are generally so nervous .. sure you get the odd one two who will feed anywhere but they are in the minority I'd say ..


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I read it as though you'd offered it as it was roaming around . Which is a no~no for young nervous types
I have a couple of good feeders and a couple of nervous ones .
With the two nervy ones I make sure they've been settled in their hides for hours before even trying to offer to them ..

Now those two ( both Albino oddly ) will feed 100% from a settled hiding place but occasionally when I'm feeding all the snakes in the evening- one of these two will be roaming out and about and if I dangle it near it or in front of it's face it actually runs away and scarpers into the nearest hide ... but if won't feed then , not even later . It's just too unsettled by then ..

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I recently fed my new dum boa, and similar to bp, they are shy little buggers and the babies are known to be difficult to feed due to being so sensitive to stress. If your husbandry is on point, and if it is hungry, they would do what is natural which is to hide, wait for the prey to come by and strike. And feed at night. Your snake may be getting into position when you interrupted him and shove (gently) a food source in its face, who is already terrified of you.

That happened to me with the dum as well. He was not in 'position.' I think it could be I accidentally bumped into his tub before I fed him lol. He was out of hiding but just hanging out. He did not take his food. So I left his food in a section of his tub that has no substrate and hoped for the best.

And.. He ate it overnight.

So lesson learned, try your best to provide the most ideal condition (wait for him to hide and feed at night). If you are as clumsy as me, then leave it overnight and see what happens. This trick did NOT work for my bp so it may not work for you depending whether or not it got spooked because you are there, food is not warm enough, husbandry is off, it is still stressed out and/or it does not recognize what that is. Just make sure to throw out the next morning if it did not eat it.

I usually blow dry the prey for 15 sec each side, more so on the face area and belly after 2x warm water soaks (without bag). One try per week, stay at same type and size of rodent, and try at least one more time f/t before giving him live and try again with the switch.

OP, to answer your question, the prey item should be warm enough to "trick" the snake into thinking it's alive.
This is another great reason to have a a temp gun. I've fed so many times I don't need to anymore, but starting out its a good idea to put the temp gun on the prey item. Try to get a reading on the whole body, but focus on the head.
Try to get a temp around 100F.

Are you sure he was eating rats before? Usually breeders start on mice.

If he was eating mice and you offered a rat, and a F/T one at that, that would make a lot of sense why he refused.

Find out what he was eating and offer exactly that, to a T.

Also, don't pre-scent by putting the rodent the tank.

Defrost and warm properly, then offer on tongs. If the snake doesn't take it right away, you can leave for a few hours to see if he does.

Hey all just an update..

He didn't eat the second week either so i got the feeling his enclosure was too large. I decided to switch from a 10g glass tank to a 6qt tub and i let him hang for another week. I tried feeding him again today..defrosted the rat and left it by the tub for a half hour. He was really active then went into his hide and thats when i dipped the prey in 135F water. Brought it right over on tongs and he nailed the head in seconds! Very happy now and glad i made the switch to a tub :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pHenom

Hey all just an update..

He didn't eat the second week either so i got the feeling his enclosure was too large. I decided to switch from a 10g glass tank to a 6qt tub and i let him hang for another week. I tried feeding him again today..defrosted the rat and left it by the tub for a half hour. He was really active then went into his hide and thats when i dipped the prey in 135F water. Brought it right over on tongs and he nailed the head in seconds! Very happy now and glad i made the switch to a tub :)

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That's the key really ..

Feed evenings as they're nocturnal , wait until they're settled a while under a hide ( they're more secure ) then dangle a WARM rat/mouse in front of the hide entrance.. BOOM !

I use a hairdryer to warm the rat/mouse for convenience..


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