Hamster for bp

Ziggy hasn’t eat 2 or 3 months his choice
I like to give him a hamster as a late birthday present and I heard that hamster at Petco & Petsmart are vaccinated and am wondering how bad it can be if I feed him regularly on hamsters there if they are and I’m wondering if anyone here knows about it I am/will
Call them about it when I have time at work today or on my day off


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Originally Posted by Ziggy31984

Ziggy hasn’t eat 2 or 3 months his choice
I like to give him a hamster as a late birthday present and I heard that hamster at Petco & Petsmart are vaccinated and am wondering how bad it can be if I feed him regularly on hamsters there if they are and I’m wondering if anyone here knows about it I am/will

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A lot of male ball pythons are going to have erratic feeding schedules this time of year (breeding season).

I wouldn't tell Petco or Petsmart that you plan on feeding their animals to snakes (unless they are being sold as designated feeders). Some of their stores even make you sign contracts stating that you will not feed one animal to another-and that they are being sold as 'pets only'.

I doubt a vaccinated hamster will bother a ball python on a physiological level: they are only getting digested in stomach acid.

I bred Syrian hamsters for a few years and fed the offspring to my snakes (including ball pythons). I did not see any real difference to body conditions other than they were getting more 'rounded' (fatter) than their mouse and rat diet equivalents. Switching from hamsters back to rodents-as prey-only took a few weeks of rejected offerings, but I was dealing with sub-adults (1-2 years old) and they tend to get hungry fast...I would expect an established ball python adult who decides he likes hamsters better-to be much more of a problem...

Ball pythons don't seem like the kind of pet who keeps track of their birthdays...in the event I *did* want to feed a ball python something they would enjoy: It would be a gerbil: They love those...

I am not planning to tell them what I’m going to do with the hamster & interesting


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There was a place other than place that I was getting they no longer sell them


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In my past experience keeping BPs, they do love both hamsters & gerbils. I have serious doubts as to any pet store vaccinating hamsters...at least, that's a new one on me! I'd ask my (or any) veterinarian first, if that's ever done- because I have a feeling that the pet store person who said that is just b.s.-ing to make a sale (make the hamsters sound safer, knowing they may bite). I used to raise dwarf hamsters for some years & sold many to the local pet store...never vaccinated any, lol. And they didn't bite, anyway...I guaranteed their temperaments, & exchanged any that the store had a problem with (very rare, & probably the human handler's fault), but in any event, culled hamsters were a delicacy to my snakes. I didn't keep many gerbils, & not for long- just gave them a try, but snakes appreciate them too.

Just never (NEVER) feed any hamsters or gerbils live- your snake will likely get bit & vet bills are not fun. I was amazed when I started raising the hamsters that the babies, with eyes still closed, would growl & bite in self-defense! They are NOT like rats or mice with eyes closed- they fight back very well. I think you'll find hamsters are more fattening to snakes than rats & mice (I raised zillions of them for many years), & also you "may" have trouble getting a BP back to eating rats & mice after you give them a "treat" (of a hamster, gerbil, or ASF) so make sure you have a steady supply that is also affordable if you do this. ;) Unless you just won the lottery...

It’s on occasion the place that I go to doesn’t have small/medium rats or something like this happens where they don’t have the size I’m looking for there are so many things I have had heard over the years some I don’t even remember where I heard it from


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I have tried offering f/t he will not take it and I keep an eye during feeding time so right when it happens if the meal bites I can take it out if/when he doesn’t want it


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I would not do it. I assume your BP is healthy otherwise? If so, the answer is a strong NO.

1. BP's can go off food. Normal. He will eat when he is ready. If what you were feeding prior worked, it will work again.

2. BP's imprint on food items. If he eats a hamster and likes it, he may not eat rats easily again. There are stories of people feeding 5 mice to their BP in a feeding because they could not switch them to rats. Another reason why I encourage people not to feed African Soft Fur (ASF) rats. ASF are BP's food in the wild and they love them, but you might not be able to source them easily for the life of your BP. I've heard of people who switch to ASF and it takes years to switch their BP back to "normal" rats.

Play it safe, stick with what works, and he will come around.

Thank you this isn’t his first hunger strike with me and the occasional is around thanksgiving, Christmas and birthday thing and now when there not the size rat that I’m looking for I have noticed that he started liking smallish rats he was getting medium before a few months ago to last year as long as he’s healthy,eats when he wants and hopefully happy that’s all I care


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Originally Posted by Ziggy31984

I have tried offering f/t he will not take it and I keep an eye during feeding time so right when it happens if the meal bites I can take it out if/when he doesn’t want it


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You are not faster than a defense-biting rodent. Hope you (& your snake) don't learn the hard way. Rodent bites can kill snakes- either a bite in a bad place or by infection. Prevention is best.

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Originally Posted by Ziggy31984

I have tried offering f/t he will not take it and I keep an eye during feeding time so right when it happens if the meal bites I can take it out if/when he doesn’t want it

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A snake that will take live but not FT will often take a prekilled rodent. Some snakes that don't take FT (or better: some instances of snakes not taking FT) are due to the fact that the snake doesn't like something about the particular source of the rodent; often enough, switching sources (a different store that buys from some other rodent producer) is enough to get the snake feeding on FT. More on that below:


[QUOTE=Ziggy31984;2789086]Thank you this isn’t his first hunger strike with me and the occasional is around thanksgiving, Christmas and birthday thing and now when there not the size rat that I’m looking for I have noticed that he started liking smallish rats he was getting medium before a few months ago to last year as long as he’s healthy,eats when he wants and hopefully happy that’s all I care
/QUOTE]

A male BP is likely best on small rats anyway, and the smaller prey items have some tendency to keep a snake from refusing food.

Related to this and the 'different rodent source' issue: buying a bag or two of frozen rats from a quality online supplier (which as far as I've figured out at this point is Perfect Prey and no others) will both help avoid the occasional 'doesn't like this source' risk and also eliminate the issue of not finding the size you're looking for locally. Having rats shipped is not as expensive as a person might think, though the benefit to the snake would be worth extra money anyway.

I have tried 2 x f/t pre kill he doesn’t take it


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Originally Posted by Ziggy31984

f/t pre kill

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"Prekilled" means that you take a live rodent and kill it immediately before offering it to the snake. "F/T" means that the rodent was frozen, and is thawed before feeding it to the snake.

Also keep in mind that some snakes need the movement of prey in order to accept the prey, which can be accomplished with either prekilled or FT by presenting the prey on a long tongs and moving it around a little bit.

Just to clarify, all my comments are just informational. There seems no reason to do anything out of the ordinary for a male BP that hasn't taken a meal for three months this time of the year, especially as you mentioned this is the snake's usual annual routine. But if the failure to accept anything but live prey is long standing, I personally think that once the snake is back on food it would be beneficial to get him off live prey for the reasons mentioned by others above.

I agree with dakski that giving it a hamster is not a good idea. Snakes don't celebrate birthdays, and it isn't worth the amusement to risk giving the snake an eating disorder, IMO.

What eating disorders


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Originally Posted by Ziggy31984

What eating disorders


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Refusing to eat normal prey items. Often because they get "stuck on" something more appealing (like a hamster or ASF) that was fed on a whim.

This can also happen for no obvious reason, or can be caused by the snake getting even a tiny nip (that you missed seeing) from a live rodent, & thereafter the snake decides that type of prey (or sometimes even the COLOR of the rodent) is no longer worth the risk to eat.

As also previously mentioned, not all sources provide good quality feeders; too many feed their rodents crappy food, or they're not healthy (& kept in filth), & then the rodents smell differently to the snake, causing refusal to eat. Or (has happened before), the prey was allowed to thaw even part-way, & that allowed some spoilage prior to you receiving it- again, making it smell bad to the snake. It matters who you buy snake food from.

Yep, that. :)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

As also previously mentioned, not all sources provide good quality feeders; too many feed their rodents crappy food, or they're not healthy (& kept in filth), & then the rodents smell differently to the snake, causing refusal to eat. Or (has happened before), the prey was allowed to thaw even part-way, & that allowed some spoilage prior to you receiving it- again, making it smell bad to the snake. It matters who you buy snake food from.

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All true. My specific concern relative to the 'refusing prey from certain sources' issue is that most of the online feeder companies (and by extension most brick and mortar locations selling frozen feeders, which are purchased from these online companies) purchase some or all of their product from sources outside their own facility. This leads to irregular quality and characteristics (taste, smell, freezer burn amount, etc) even within one vendor's supply.

So far I've found only Perfect Prey (and MiceDirect, whose pricing seems extreme and which I haven't tried) to raise all their rodents in house and thus provide a consistent product. Of course, raising one's own rodents is the only real way to ensure quality and humane conditions, but that's unrealistic for nearly all snake keepers.

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Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum

... Of course, raising one's own rodents is the only real way to ensure quality and humane conditions, but that's unrealistic for nearly all snake keepers.

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Yup. Did that for way too long...decades! But now I'm just using what's in my freezer for a while, then I'll buy from Perfect Prey. I sure don't miss raising rodents! :rofl:

There are many kinds of snakes that aren't picky eaters (prone to "eating disorders"), like most boas, most rat snakes, most king snakes, most Pituophis (bull-gopher-& pine) snake, etc. But BPs are not in that easy-feeder club, even though some may be. But it makes sense to generalize.