First Time Feeding!!? Waiting!?

I just went to the pet store and just got home. Its around 6:30 pm and my ball usually comes out around 7-7:30 on his night cycle til about 9ish -10 exploring and whatever else. And i have the live mouse sitting right next to me in a box. Im getting realllly anxious to feed him. He's in his cooler hide right now. Should i wait for him to come out of his hide then drop the mouse in or should i just put it in now!!?

i said F it and just dropped him in. I'm happy to report that it only took 3 minutes for my ball to eat the live mouse :D My ball was still in his lil coolside hide and he kept poking his head out as the mouse went by. And the thrid time the mouse passed the hide hole, my ball lunged out and got his dinner! No fight, no struggle. 100% successful. Makes me feel a lil good inside :)

you should keep the mouse in the box in/on top of your snakes enclosure for about 20-30 minutes. The scent of the mouse will wake up your snake and get him ready to eat. Its called prescenting.

looks like im late lol.

gj on the smooth feeding

thanks :D yeah after he got down the last bit he went back into his hide. Is that what balls usually do? It's around 7pm here.

Congrats on a successful feed!!:banana::snake::banana:

Yeah, I think it's definitely normal for them to go into the hide after a meal
that's what I like to do anyway: go take a nap:8:

You shouldn't feed your snake in it's cage. If you continue to do that, it'll think it's feeding time every time you open the cage. And if you do that, you might get bitten when you try to hold him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cop

You shouldn't feed your snake in it's cage. If you continue to do that, it'll think it's feeding time every time you open the cage. And if you do that, you might get bitten when you try to hold him.

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Whoa. You are about to get bombarded. I think.

To the OP.

This information is not true. I used to think the same thing, and was advised otherwise. My snakes are fine with me holding them whenever. Feeding in the tank will NOT, I repeat, NOT make your BP attack you when you open the tank.

Just feed it on a schedule (every monday for me... 2 mice) and pre-scent, and you'll take that 3 minute feed time to about 3 seconds or less. My guys are waiting for food when I walk in the door, and I still wait until night time to feed them. I have to be very careful about putting the mouse in the cage they are so hungry.

Any other day, the are gentle as can be.

:salute:

Yeah thats what i figured, ive heard that alot. (that balls wont associate you opening the cage and sticking your hand down to pick them up with "food" or a "mouse" per say. But yeah every friday about 7 oclock pm for me. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cop

You shouldn't feed your snake in it's cage. If you continue to do that, it'll think it's feeding time every time you open the cage. And if you do that, you might get bitten when you try to hold him.

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Hi,

We hear this argument a lot but there are arguments that seem to support both sides of it - for example why does yours not think it is feeding time and bite you everytime you take him out of his cage?

There are members who use both feeding methods so if there really was a final answer one way or another we would (hopefully) have found it by now.

Best advice I can pass on that I ever heard was to do what works for you and your snake.


dr del

Oh yeah, and :gj: on your first feeding. It makes you feel good inside.

amen to that lol :D

Yeah I just had my first feeding last night and it didn't go quite so well. I was using a f/t fuzzy and she didn't even try to strike at it. She just kept sniffing around it and she even tried to climb up the tongs to get to me, I guess she thought I wanted to play with her (she is a VERY affectionate snake in total contrast to everything people say about snakes). Should I wait til next week before I try feeding again? I think she may still just be getting used to her new environment. I've only had her for 6 days.
Anyways sorry for the ramble but congrats on the successful feed man!

Dude honestly, I 100% beleive with the right temps, humidity, and care given to the snake, they have no reason not to fully succeed in killing a live feeder mouse, ya know. And compared to a rat or something much bigger, a white feeder mouse is small and doesnt really got much going for him in the lines of defense lol. I would honestly go buy a live and drop it in there and hope for the best, thats what i did and everything happened to work according to plan, not saying yours will or everyones for that matter. But it's definietely worth a shot! A living, breathing, mouse is more enticing to a ball than dangling it from a pair of forceps. But thank your for the congrats bro! I hope your next feed goes 100%! Good luck!! :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cop

You shouldn't feed your snake in it's cage. If you continue to do that, it'll think it's feeding time every time you open the cage. And if you do that, you might get bitten when you try to hold him.

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Well by that "wisdom" I should be pretty chewed up shouldn't I. 28 snakes from 3 different species, from a little milksnake to a large boa, everyone fed in their own homes, every week, week after week.

1 bite and that was from a rescue years ago and totally unrelated to feeding her and did not even occur in her enclosure.

Feed in a manner you understand fully and works for you, feed a top quality prey item that your snake will take with a strong feeding response and that you can get from a good source. There are very few absolutes in snake keeping. It's all good if you understand the reasons why and avoid just repeating what you've heard rather than what you've personally done over a number of years. :)

If she doesn't grab it in ten minutes, try again in a few days. Live mice generally provoke more eager feeding responses, but you also run the risk of the mouse biting your snake when you feed live.

When I got my first big snake, it took him four weeks to eat! Some are just fussy feeders. If they are hungry enough, they will eat evetually. ;)