Quick question about lazy pythons

Ok I am going on my second feeding. Ever since he ate, hes been in his hide (he didn't use it once before he ate for 4 weeks strait!) and the last 6 or 7 days he hasn't come out.

Is it ok to lift the hide and place him in the open part of cage and then put mouse in? Or should I put the mouse in and hope he smells or wants it.

Would it be a bad idea to take the hide off, play with him for 5 minutes to wake him up, then feed him?

I've never had a snake sleep through a feeding yet. Just drop the mouse in and the snake will find it.
I do have one snake that refuses to eat if her hides are in her enclosure, so I do have to take hers out, but that's one out of 12.

both my boys will do that. I'd leave him alone, and just put the mouse in.
If he's hungry, he'll find it. ;)

Everyone has a different routine and what works for some snakes may not work for others. TYPICALLY, with ball pythons, if you disturb them before you feed them, they won't show interest in eating. But there are some who feed in a separate container and some who remove all the cage "furniture" before feeding...and do just fine. However, ball pythons are usually "ambush" hunters and prefer to strike from the security of their own hide.


What I do is pre-scent the room. The top of her tub gets thumped a little as I remove the clamps and I slide it over just a bit to make room for my little rat cage...which gets set right next to her tub with the live rat in it. I leave it like that for 20-30 minutes. If Kisasa is going to eat that day, she will slide part-way out of her hide and be very alert and watching the edge of the tub where she knows it will open and the rat will drop in.

That's what works for me.

I take the rat and kinda dangle it in front of the door to the hide. and move it away so she knows it's there and waiting.
If she doesnt come out, I put it back close to the hide and she usually attacks it from inside the hide.

Btw I am using F/T

Ooooh, scratch my advice, then! I tried f/t for a couple of weeks and could only get half my snakes to eat them.

Pre-scenting the room still works with f/t though. ;) :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JLC

Pre-scenting the room still works with f/t though. ;) :P

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its my bedroom :( lol

Lol,


It's my living room. :D

Just open the window after feedings over to de-scent the room - I also do the same to de-poop the atmosphere.:)


dr del

He ate his 2nd ft mouse.

After he was done, I couldnt put in the "preferred" hide, so I took the last 4 inches of his body and dragged him to the other end. Put the hide in, and he made a whopping 8 inch strike! I was scarred to death, he tried to bite me that little crapper! lol

1. Please tell me this is normal because he was in "feeding mode"
2. How do I put in his hide next time? It seems impossible because hes pretty much the length of the cage so he could prolly strike

Quote:

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Originally Posted by whyteboi

1. Please tell me this is normal because he was in "feeding mode"
2. How do I put in his hide next time? It seems impossible because hes pretty much the length of the cage so he could prolly strike

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1. Perfectly understandable and could have happened for either of two reasons:
A) He was still in feeding mode and your hand was a big, warm target that may have smelled like mouse
B) You may have given him quite a scare. When snakes eat, they are extremely vulnerable to predators. You (to his view a GIANT predator looming over him) grabbed him by the tail and pulled him. Most likely scared the bejeezus out of him and he struck out of fear, trying to get the big bad monster to go away. (And I realize you weren't jerking on his tail or in any way hurting him...but HE doesn't know that!)

2. It's really not necessary to remove the hide at all. But if you still feel you must....just gently place it down on top of him. He'll curl himself up inside quite easily. Unless its made of lead or something, it won't hurt him to just gently and carefully place it back in its normal spot, even if part of it rests on top of the snake.

Oh my god, hes using the warm HIDE! He actualy moved over night.

And yeah when I did grab his tail, he yanked his head back very scared, and then tried to swat me when I put the hide in.

And when I removed the hide, took 10 seconds for him to eat, but without removing hide, took 10+ minutes when I left it in the cage, so I will probably remove it next time and wait till he goes in the other hide to put the one that he was in back in