Switching them from Live to Frozen!

[BurmGirl23]

Ok, So i'm looking to switch my ball pythons over from live rats to frozen rats, as i'd rather feed frozen then live! As i'm scared the rat will bite my ball python and kill it... my friend just had this happen!!!

I'm always there watching while they feed, but snapping the rats necks is just , not what i like doing!

So can anyone let me know some tips to switch them from live to Frozen/Thawed ? I tryed feeding them today frozen, but all turned their heads away from it and curled into balls!

Or any good tips on feeding live ? Fresh Killed? anything to get them to eat....

So Any tips would be wonderful!

Thanks

[mainbutter]

First things first.

Try offering a P/K or a F/T rat. Just try it, if your snake is happy and not stressed and already eating well, chances are it will not give you any troubles taking P/K or F/T

[BurmGirl23]

First things first.

Try offering a P/K or a F/T rat. Just try it, if your snake is happy and not stressed and already eating well, chances are it will not give you any troubles taking P/K or F/T

I've already tried F/T ... That didn't work and the rats were dry and warm.. all just turned their heads!

[lps2]

I started Aldous on F/T but soon I found that the Pet Store in town was horrible with shipments and they didn't have any in stock, after a few days I got worried and decided I had to feed him something so I started feeding him pre-killed and he will never go back. I tried offering him a F/T one again once the store got some back in and he just turned his head. So, it may be difficult to get your snake to eat frozen/thawed... but they may still eat pre-killed. If safety is your concern that should do the trick.

I, at first, felt bad about snapping the mice's necks but that quickly faded whenever I stepped back and just thought of it as feeding.

[Ophis]

We just switched 6 of our BP's over to f/t and 4 of them took it fine, however 2 of them denied it at first so we warmed the rat up with a blow-dryer and they took the prey. since then we never had a problem. Feeding f/t is also a lot more time consuming so be prepared to spend at least 5-10 min with each snake you are feeding. good luck

[h00blah]

so far i've been really lucky, my norm started on f/t
my pinstripe took f/t first try lol
my sisters albino was on live b4 i got him, but took f/t after first offering =]
my spider is only eating live, but hes still young so im not gonna try to experiment ;p. gonna give him some size.

if urs has some girth on him/her, try tough love, just offer if they say no, wait a week and offer again.

[Artistry Exotics]

I'm working on switching all of my snakes too. My two adult red tails were easy - but they also came to me pretty underfed and hungry. I haven't tried yet for my two young Nic boas - they'll get their first try this Wednesday.

For my two sub-adult ball pythons, I fasted them for a couple weeks. Then I scented the room with my pet rat, and I also had a Kritter Keeper that had housed a live feeder for about a week. I thawed the mice out thoroughly and made sure they were nice and warm, especially around the head and chest. I put the snake in the Kritter Keeper, and then put the mouse in too. Instead of dangling them by the tail, I used the tongs on the scruff of the mouse's neck and made them "walk" around the container, occasionally towards the snake, occasionally away from the snake. Eventually they got really interested, tongue-flicked like crazy, and bam! That was that. It was actually easier than I thought it'd be.

The tough one to switch will be my adult ball python. He's a picky eater anyway. I'd tried him on F/T before and he refused, although it might have been that I didn't get the rat warm enough or other errors on my part. I plan on trying again soon though.

[BurmGirl23]

See i've tried everything that you guys are suggesting! With no luck... the ball pythons just whip their heads in and hide...

I've done the "walk" with the dead rats.. scented, made sure their head/chest was warm, ect ect ... everyone just turned their noses!

my male bee is 1800 grams
female is 2200 grams
mojo is 800 grams

I'm going to do live to eat them eating, then switch it over again, well atleast try too

[ballpythonluvr]

I just got my male BP to take a frozen thawed small rat for the first time. I waited until he was good and hungry to do this. I waited nine days from the last feeding and he took it very well. I also made sure the rat was warm enough to entice him into eating it. What I had to do was just lay the rat in his enclosure because he got very scared when I did the dead rat dance. I hope you are able to get your snake onto f/t. Good Luck and don't give up!

[Artistry Exotics]

BurmGirl, are you trying to feed them in their enclosures or in a separate container? If you're trying to feed in a separate container, try putting a hide in there with them. My little baby prefers to strike the f/t fuzzy when it's "walking" past the door to his hide. I also found that my picky eater doesn't get so scared of the live rats if he gets to strike at them from the door of his hide as well. Feeding in a separate container just stresses some snakes though, so that could be part of the problem. (Just to note, I currently feed outside of the enclosure just because I've got mine on Eco Earth. I plan on taking it all out and putting them on paper towel or newspaper and then they'll be able to eat in their tanks.)