Will not touch f/t

I got 4 new bp's from the same breeder a while back, and will not touch f/t.

Does anyone have any really good tricks to switch them over?

The death dance works well...

Just take the FT (warmed up) with tongs and do a little jiggle dance..

Make sure not to shove it in the snake's face, but in the vicinity, and it should simulate a live animal.

granted, the 'zombie' dance may have to be repeated a few times before the snake gets the message. Also avoid shoving your whole hand in the bin with the snake, you want to make them think that they are alone with the zombie mouse..... ohhh the temptation.....

Cheers,
Kat

In my vast experience with converting from live to f/t (i.e. I've fed my snake once ever lol) it helps to move the f/t animal away from the snake, while doing the zombie dance, like the mouse is running from the snake. When I was moving it about in place, she showed some interest, but moving it away from her seemed to be the real key.

The first time I fed my bp f/t it took him about 45 minutes before he took it but he was interested in the meal the whole time. I found that if I did the little dance with the mouse and tongs then moved it to the other side of the enclosure for a minute or two he would look around to see where it went.

I did this a few times and finally he took it. Just be careful not to stress your snake out by over-doing the "dead mouse" dance, because that could make your attempts at feeding even harder. If you have already tried a few times, give him a week before you try again and thaw the mouse on-top or near the enclosure for the day and that might help trigger some feeding response. Then try again with a similar attempt.

Hope that helps!

Thanks everyone for your help. I think I think I will try the hokey pokey next sunday. :banana::banana::banana:

Try leaving one in over night, if they refuse the zombie dance:banana:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brimstone111888

Try leaving one in over night, if they refuse the zombie dance:banana:

---

I actually left mine in there for about an hour, and she sniffed at it the whole time, before repeating the zombie dance....and that's when she struck. So when you give up, and go to take it out, make sure to give it one more shot!

Am I missing something here? Does the OP want to switch from FT to live rather than the other way around? If this is the case you're in luck. I've done this with all of my snakes. It's way easier than switching from live to FT.

Okay, you all know I've gotta throw my hand into this one. This may seen unorthodox, but my python Mila didn't take to the zombie dance. Just when I was about to give up on her eating f/t, I put her in her tank and just set the prey in front of her and left it there with her and left her alone (this was her first feeding at home). I sat down and just played COD4 and kept an eye on her out of the corner of my eye. Not 10 mins later she was swallowing it. Some like the dance of the dead, some don't. I just happen to think Mila was smart enough to know the work had been done for her and she just moved in on it. She'd just look at me with a puzzled expression when I dangled it like, "What are you doing? Just set it down!" Just make sure the prey item is warm and dry. It may or may not work for you, but what the hell? Give it a try! It was dark when I fed her too.

If you feed a live prey item while trying to convert to f/t, you'll have a hell of a hard time making the switch.

I think the biggest problem people have switching from live to f/t is how they prepare the food.

We have had the best luck letting the rodent defrost at room temp (86 in our snake rooms) on a thick padding of newspaper to defrost slowly. When fully defrosted rub them dry in a paper towel so it fluffs them dry and creates a little heat from the friction. When we offer f/t done this way we have about a 90% feed success.

If you do the hot water route it can cook the rodent on the inside, and it also makes them have a very strong smell, which a lot of snakes do not like.

Hope this helps.

If not try to leave a f/t rodent in front of its box at night and they will usually take it.

I usexd to do the zombie dance with tongs for my BP, but then I tried pre-scenting. I just took the plastic bag the mice came in and put it in his cage for a good 5 minutes under supervision of course. He came out of his hide in the middle of the day after smelling it.

I put him in his seperate feeding enclosure with the mouse and it took him all but 4 seconds to find and strike.

The other thing I think helps is putting them in a seperate enclosure. I've had a Cali King for 2 years now and every time he goes into the seperate enclosure I have for him (his is different from the BP's) he litterally goes into feeding more. He knows where he is and knows what's coming even before I put the mouse in.

The BP seems to be starting to do that too now. They seem to learn what it means when you put them somewhere else.