Frozen Thawed question

Ok. I have recently been trying to convert my snakes over to f/t. Now it seems like my normal girl will take it as long as I leave her in the enclosure, she seems to get nervous when I put her in a seperat bin. My other one (pastel male) didn't take yesterday though. 2 weeks ago though he took it so fast, didn't even think twice. He was in a seperate bin too, which I did yesterday but he didn't go for it in there. So I put him back in his bin with his hide, and waited like 5 min while keeping the f/t warm. He deffinately smelled it cuz he was nosing around outside his hide, but when I offered it to him he didn't take. If it was live he would destroy it though thats the thing. I know hes hungry, but I don't get why he would take it so easily one time and then not this time. I know BP's are finicky but I'm just wondering what I should do in terms of converting him the easist way. He's also going through shed, but that has never stopped him from eating. Any ideas?

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Originally Posted by dsmalex97

Ok. I have recently been trying to convert my snakes over to f/t. Now it seems like my normal girl will take it as long as I leave her in the enclosure, she seems to get nervous when I put her in a seperat bin. My other one (pastel male) didn't take yesterday though. 2 weeks ago though he took it so fast, didn't even think twice. He was in a seperate bin too, which I did yesterday but he didn't go for it in there. So I put him back in his bin with his hide, and waited like 5 min while keeping the f/t warm. He deffinately smelled it cuz he was nosing around outside his hide, but when I offered it to him he didn't take. If it was live he would destroy it though thats the thing. I know hes hungry, but I don't get why he would take it so easily one time and then not this time. I know BP's are finicky but I'm just wondering what I should do in terms of converting him the easist way. He's also going through shed, but that has never stopped him from eating. Any ideas?

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do the zombie dance with some tongs or hemostats, great the F/T bu the scruff behind the neck and dance it about 4-6" away from your python. also try dipping it in almost boiling water this will get the temp up and they will see it better. also if you feed in a separate enclosure offer a hide, my BP will not eat unless i offer a hide place him in it and then present the Food item.

Ive used tuna juice on the rodent before and blow dry it to dry the juice.

lol yeah I did do the zombie dance with some hemostats just the way you said, but no dice. Should I just get him a live for this week or make him go hungry for a bit?

Why do you put them in a separate container to feed? Just leave them in their home tub where they'll feel more comfortable.

And yes, just let him go hungry for a bit, it won't hurt.

v

well its actually pretty common to do that so the snake doesn't become agressive every time you open the tank. My snakes have never lead me to believe they would ever act like this, I just did it for precaution because a lot of people reccomended it. But when do you think I should try to feed him again?

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Originally Posted by Vacado

Why do you put them in a separate container to feed? Just leave them in their home tub where they'll feel more comfortable.

v

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well, feeding in a separate container is fully ok if done right. i do this once a week. while he eats i clean. you have to move him to clean anyways so i kill 2 birds with one stone.

my boy eats like a champ too. and don't let him go hungry if he isn't an adult. feed live if you must. i always feed live, but that's a personal preference of mine since i do take the care to do it correctly there is no risk.

do any of you notice your snake rejecting food when they are in shed?

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Originally Posted by dsmalex97

do any of you notice your snake rejecting food when they are in shed?

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this is common, mine eats all the way through a shed but some do not.

I think the best way to get a snake to eat F/T is to pre feed. What I mean by that it to feed a small live mouse or rat, as soon as he has swallowed the live one introduce the F/T feeder. Both should be about half the size of a normal feeding. This has worked for me many of times on pythons and boas. Hope this helps.

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Originally Posted by RWD

I think the best way to get a snake to eat F/T is to pre feed. What I mean by that it to feed a small live mouse or rat, as soon as he has swallowed the live one introduce the F/T feeder. Both should be about half the size of a normal feeding. This has worked for me many of times on pythons and boas. Hope this helps.

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if he pre feeds he will never break them of there refusal habit to F/T

oh another thing!!!

when I feed him in his tub, should I just let him come out of his hide, or should I remove it when I introduce the food?

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Originally Posted by dsmalex97

oh another thing!!!

when I feed him in his tub, should I just let him come out of his hide, or should I remove it when I introduce the food?

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just let him come out on his own terms. i just fed last night, i let him crawl into the hide from my hands drop in my live feeder and this time it took literally 20 seconds and that mouse was done. he stuck his head out and as soo as it wandered near bam! struck so hard the hide flipped and he looked like a ball of yarn constricting on it lol

haha i love feeding live! If it was live it takes about 5 seconds for him to get it lol. I think if I offer it to him later on tonight without removing him from his tub, and just offering it without touching him, it will work. Or should I wait longer?

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Originally Posted by dsmalex97

haha i love feeding live! If it was live it takes about 5 seconds for him to get it lol. I think if I offer it to him later on tonight without removing him from his tub, and just offering it without touching him, it will work. Or should I wait longer?

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you can try if he is in his hide to the zombie dance in front of the hide entrance

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Originally Posted by dsmalex97

well its actually pretty common to do that so the snake doesn't become agressive every time you open the tank. My snakes have never lead me to believe they would ever act like this, I just did it for precaution because a lot of people reccomended it. But when do you think I should try to feed him again?

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This is a myth. No one recommends this. Can you do it? Yes. Does it actually make them less aggressive? Not in any way. I have fed in a separate container and in their normal tub and I have never noticed a difference in temperament.

feed him again in 5 days. Have you tried pre-scenting or rubbing the F/T with soiled rat or mouse bedding?

All my snakes are fed in seperate containers.
But when I first got my 08 male pastel I offered him his first meal in his cage since he was still settling in and was nervous. I gave him a live rat fuzzy which he gladly took first try. Now I feed him p/k in a seperate container with no problems.
Keep trying f/t. What I do is thaw the rodent in the fridge over night, then put it in a cup of hot water for 10-15 min. Make sure it is warm to the touch and dry. The more pungent it smells and the warmer it is, the more likely your snake will take it. If your going to feed in his cage, dangle it infront of his hide and make it do a convincing dance. Hopefully he'll strike before he realizes it's a dead rodent already. Good luck!

ummm then how come about 10 people on here told me to do if no one does it lol? But i do agree with that it really doesn't do anything, being that I have normally fed my snake in the tub and have had 0 problems. I think some snakes are just born pissed off haha. But i did pre-scent as well. What I do is take the bag the frozen mice are in and open it and put part of the bag in the tub. He deffinately smelled it when I did that, I think taking him out of the tub just threw him off. Even though I did it 2 weeks ago like I said and took it without hesitating. SO really? Wait 5 days?

I would leave him alone for a few days (even until next feeding day). Then you should try pre-scenting the room if you haven't already done so. Blow drying the thawed rodent the first few F/T meals is a great way to get them interested. Mine are conditioned already to just take the thawed rodent that I place in their tubs. But I started with zombie dances, blow drying, & pre-scenting. All 18 of mine now accept F/T with no issues.

Feeding in a seperate container or not depends on the keeper's preference. I feed in their enclosures and have never had any of my snakes strike at me during non-feeding days. However, I've heard of many who feed in seperate containers & are succesful with that method. It also depends on the snake. Some are stressed by being moved around, some are not.

Last thing: Some of my BPs refuse food while in shed & some don't. I'd say it's 50/50 with mine.

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Originally Posted by dsmalex97

ummm then how come about 10 people on here told me to do if no one does it lol? But i do agree with that it really doesn't do anything, being that I have normally fed my snake in the tub and have had 0 problems. I think some snakes are just born pissed off haha. But i did pre-scent as well. What I do is take the bag the frozen mice are in and open it and put part of the bag in the tub. He deffinately smelled it when I did that, I think taking him out of the tub just threw him off. Even though I did it 2 weeks ago like I said and took it without hesitating. SO really? Wait 5 days?

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People do it just because they have heard that it helps with "aggressiveness". But it really doesn't. At all.

Yes, wait 5 days and try again. How long did you leave the mouse in last time?

my BP has never even looked at me funny let alone snapped at me.

the feeding association with aggressiveness is a myth as far as im concerned. they either fear you and snap at you or they dont. and if your lucky that dissipates with age.

Yeah, if your snake eats fine in a separate tub then I guess it's no issue, but it's not necessary at all. I worked at zoos and nature centers for 7 years and we never fed anything in a separate container. Look at how difficult it is to get some snakes switched to eating a F/T rodent that clearly looks and smells like food. They are not going to confuse your hand for one unless you were handling rodents without washing.

It is fun waiting for them to come out of their hide to strike a F/T. My babies will hit so fast that you don't even see the head, you just realize that suddenly the pup is gone! Sometimes they will drag it into their hide to swallow, but other times they will actually come out to eat it. I almost always am startled by the strike though, haha.

v

I don't feed my snakes while in shed. Well, if the eyes are blue anyway. They wouldn't be out looking for food at that time if they were in the wild. It won't hurt them to miss a meal.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

People do it just because they have heard that it helps with "aggressiveness". But it really doesn't. At all.

Yes, wait 5 days and try again. How long did you leave the mouse in last time?

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You can't be so definite in your statement. A BP is generally more docile, but other more aggressive snakes with stronger feeding habits may need to be taught that eating[striking], is only for this tub, and not while in the enclosure.

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Originally Posted by Enser54

You can't be so definite in your statement. A BP is generally more docile, but other more aggressive snakes with stronger feeding habits may need to be taught that eating[striking], is only for this tub, and not while in the enclosure.

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your snake should never associate a hand with food unless your husbandry practices are bad, even if that. a strike would be 95% fear driven. they use thermal, sight and smell to define a food item a hand will be thermally imaged way to big for its meal even if it does smell like food. it does not look like food attached to a human either.

people say if you dont wash your hands after handling the food the snake may strike you. i do not wash my hands after handling the food immediate and have went to handling my BP and putting him back in his enclosure and never even had him flick his tong at me.

I'm just saying, a type snake that is more aggressive by nature may be more necessary to do it with, I don't know as none of my snakes are aggressive so I don't do this, but for others it may be the case.

I use aspen substrate, so I use a separate tub. All my snakes are in their own custom-built wood enclosures, so it's easier for me and they do just fine. In fact, they seem to know that when I put them into the tub ,it's go time. They never ball up or act scared. They usually look right at me as if to say, "ok, now where's the food". I put a f/t in, and bam! usually right out of my fingers. Except for my big female. She's srill on live, and I can't seem to break yer yet. But that will come in time. Just like the others.

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Originally Posted by Enser54

You can't be so definite in your statement. A BP is generally more docile, but other more aggressive snakes with stronger feeding habits may need to be taught that eating[striking], is only for this tub, and not while in the enclosure.

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I don't think ball pythons can be taught anything. That is my personal opinion. There is no reason for a bp to associate the opening of it's tank with Being fed. I don't mess with my snakes on feeding day though.

YouTube - Hook Training with Reticulated Pythons

I am sure this guy knows more than either of us, and he says that the hook "lets her know", thus she has been taught/conditions to associate certain things with feeding, and certain things to say this is not time for feeding.