Just need to vent about this Ball Python...

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

This method will normally WORK if done properly ...
I wait until evening as they're nocturnal of course . I let the rodent thaw out in the reptile room so they get the smell ..
Many will only strike if the the room has dim/ low lighting !
Then I warm up the mouse / rat with a hairdryer and offer with tongs IMMEDIATELY whilst still warm . If refused simply repeat the heating and offering as many times as needed. .
A couple of mine will only strike feed from within their hides so I dangle the warm rodent in front of the hide's entrance - usually works but if it fails simply reheat the rodent with a hairdryer and immediately offer again whilst it's still warm continue until it's grabbed ...
Incidentally , if it shows no interest at all not even a tongue flicker maybe it's best to leave for a week or so.

Worrying CAN be part of being a Royal owner although I have a pair of HC ALBINO Royals that feed every single time ( every ten days or so ) .. but I also have a huge Pied Royal who hasn’t eaten for me since I bought him a few months ago .. he still looks amazing , he’s active and sheds well and isn’t losing weight so I’m not worried ( just frustrated) .,

I’ve never had dealings with a very small youngster with no weight on them ..


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I've specifically left her on live because it's all she's taken for me. The breeder told me she was eating F/T like a beast for him weekly, so I'm at a total loss. I'd never call a professional breeder a liar, but I'll be damned if this snake doesn't make me want to.


I'm praying that maybe I'll get a little of the "Complain loud enough and You shall receive..." since I've finally blasted my woes out for those who have the highest chance of care to read. Haha.



@Shayne - I feel your pain. It's so hard for me to not drag her out and get pictures of her as I haven't REALLY been able to show her off. I'm hoping that every time she eats that it's the start of a good habit and I'll get to show her off, but alas....

She's almost translucent as light in color as she is, but she's got enough pale and shades that she's a beautiful looker if you can see it.

So guess who didn't eat for me this week...

Yeah...

*curse words in frustration*

:(

Okay so try one last thing . . . cut off the tail of a frozen rat, thaw it, and set it near the entrance of the hide. See if the snake is suddenly more alert and interested. If so then offer one a couple hours later after the snake has worked up an appetite. I find that thawing them right next to the enclosure tube-light on top of the enclosure allows them to be the perfect temperature -- and the smell of thawing rat also probably drifts down a bit.

But then again, BP's will be BP's and I swear they give us a hard time for their own amusement.

2 months after my last post, with a regular feeding schedule I finally found some live ASFs locally to me. I bought an adult male and 2.2 weanlings.

She's gone through a blue cycle and had a good shed, last night I noticed that she was out and about in her tub so I looked and she had made a poop.

I cleaned up the poop, took her hide out to wash it and threw in the ASF. At first she ignored it, so I left her to go wash her hide and when I came back she had coiled and killed the ASF. I turned off the lights and left her, and she ate.

This will be the 4th meal she's taken from me. I pick up more ASF adults in a breeding colony in 2 weeks. I'm going to do a similar offering with a rat of that size next week, but if she doesn't take it I'll be going back to ASFs.

At least she's saved herself from starvation for another period.

In closing, I'd like to note that everyone else still eats like a pig.

Paul

:frustrate Congratulations! We feel your pain...:frustrate For what it's worth, BPs seem to enjoy hamsters too...I know from experience, I used to raise & sell them, & any
with temperament "issues" were culled as snake dinners. Russian Dwarf hamsters are pretty easy to breed, & social with each other...NOT so of the reclusive Syrian
type hamsters (aka Teddy Bear), they're a pain to breed, they're cranky with people and other hamsters alike, lol.

Full disclosure: hamsters are a higher fat diet though, so not thought to be the healthiest for snake maintenance. Just another option though. I've heard ASF's are
awful to breed...just what you need, lol.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

:frustrate Congratulations! We feel your pain...:frustrate For what it's worth, BPs seem to enjoy hamsters too...I know from experience, I used to raise & sell them, & any
with temperament "issues" were culled as snake dinners. Russian Dwarf hamsters are pretty easy to breed, & social with each other...NOT so of the reclusive Syrian
type hamsters (aka Teddy Bear), they're a pain to breed, they're cranky with people and other hamsters alike, lol.

Full disclosure: hamsters are a higher fat diet though, so not thought to be the healthiest for snake maintenance. Just another option though. I've heard ASF's are
awful to breed...just what you need, lol.

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I hate hamsters with a vehement passion. Literally the worst rodent on the planet. If I get desperate again I'll try that route but I for sure don't want to breed them.

In regards to ASFs, I'm getting a beat up metal rack designed for mice that I'm going to look at and "disassemble" as I repair it. There is a local fabrication company that works with a CAD guided laser cutter and has an industrial bender that could easily help with the fabrication of a bin and rack system. I do the IT for their server and their laser system.

But Mice and ASFs were on the menu just to continue my worship of Capitalism. Oddly enough feeder rodents sell pretty well, all in all.

Best,

Paul

I have completely given up stressing over my BP’s eating habits. One of mine would only eat every 3 or 4 weeks for his first year, now he would eat every 2 days if I offered. I had a female that never missed a meal for a year and a half, now she eats once a month. I have 6 of them and it is like hitting the lottery if they all eat on feeding day! Never have that worry with my retic or burm!


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ASF will add weight faster then any rat will. All my BP an young BC/BI get ASF. Your braver then me feeding a snake a live adult one as ASF are ten times more vicious then rats. Build your own rat rack here:
http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/rat_rack.html

Use 1/4" wire as ASF hoppers will climb out of 1/2". I use 1/3 (2/3 when replacing males). You can't add a male to a colony (or females sometimes). Just leave some first litters in the colony for replacements. Cheap Tractor Supply Co food food works great for feed. The new style mixing tubs need wire over the nail hole or the ASF will eat their way out.

Compared to Norway rats ASF grow slooooooooooooow. One mature ASF has more protein then a large rat. .

You found what your snake likes, get the weight on then change over to F/T. An ASF colony having a litter of 15-20 every 30 days will fill the freezer fast.

Good luck!



If you have a picky snake for some reason a stinky male rodent will get a strike before a female (from what I've seen).

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Originally Posted by pbenner

I hate hamsters with a vehement passion. Literally the worst rodent on the planet. If I get desperate again I'll try that route but I for sure don't want to breed them...

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It sounds like you've only dealt with Syrian hamsters, or else inbred Russian Dwarf hamsters? Because the latter are NOT biters, they're cute & friendly...I worked with them for years & sold many to pet stores. I even guaranteed their temperament, even if one was mishandled & not at all at fault, & I only ever replaced one or two out of SO many. That said, I hate to have the prolific cuties be snake food...so rock on & feed your ASFs. Good luck. :rolleyes:

Same here. My baby, hatched 8-12-19, is making me crazy! Our other 4 eat like Champs! No muss, no fuss. This one, who hasn't yet reached 100g, just will not eat. She's afraid of hoppers, so I went for multiple fuzzies, nope. She gathered them up into a pile and curled around them like they were her eggs. I ended up adding them to my ASF colony since one of my ASF'S had just birthed a litter(our first litter! Yay!) She took them in, no problem. This week, I tried a hopper again, thinking maybe the fuzzies were too small for her to recognize as food. Nope. She made friends with it. She won't touch f/t or freshly killed. Aaaaaagh!