Switching from live to frozen food

[g00dluckchuck]

Hello all,

Up front I want to point out that these are just my opinions on what has worked for me in my short time owning a ball python. I am by no means an expert. We all make mistakes. I am learning, and I wish to continue learning.

I recently procured a male, 600 gram, albino ball python from a breeder down in south Florida. "Nannerz" had never before taken a frozen/thawed meal; he was strictly live feeders. As of yet, I refuse to feed live rodents to my reptiles. After a month and a half, I got Nannerz to make the switch from live to frozen/thawed. I'm elated, especially in light of all the negativity out there regarding the feeding habits of ball pythons.

Here is what I did to facilitate the switch.

(1) Thaw the mouse in the evening.
(2) Dip the mouse in chicken broth.
(3) Dry the mouse using a hair dryer to dry and warm the mouse.
(4) Place the mouse well inside the snake's hide, in the snake's day-to-day cage, away from human view.
(5) cover the cage using a towel or another object to block out the light.
(6) wait overnight and return in the morning to find the mouse missing (for some people, wiggling the mouse with tongs is effective).

I tried different several different variations before arriving at this particular arrangement.

In my opinion, the steps that seemed most effective at getting the snake to actually take the frozen/thawed mouse, instead of ignoring it, were: (a) during feeding, leaving the snake in its day-to-day cage and not in a separate feeding container; and (b) placing the mouse inside the snake's home and covering the cage with a towel.

These steps I just mentioned seem to keep the snake in his comfort zone during feeding. Put differently, why would I place the snake in some unfamiliar bin during feeding time? That would seem only to upset the snake. By leaving the snake in its day-to-day tank, the snake remains at ease and, thus, more likely to take an unfamiliar meal. Once the snake becomes accustomed to frozen/thawed, then I may move feeding time into the feeding bin. Nonetheless, as a general rule, I think it's best to take one step at a time when dealing with a "picky" eater.

Similarly, placing the mouse inside the snake's hide, away from human view, and then covering the cage with a towel, comport with the snake's natural desire for secrecy. Snakes are very private, secretive animals. Thus, giving the snake his secrecy seemed effective, even at the cost of not wiggling the mouse in order to emulate a live feeder.

A few more words on switching from live to frozen.

First, I heard that making the switch is really a matter of time; that is, it's a waiting game. This may or may not be true; there may be some snakes that simply refuse to ever eat frozen/thawed, but I have yet to encounter one. The only way to find out is by actually waiting. If the snake eventually does not switch on his own, then (again, in my opinion) force feeding a frozen/thawed mouse is the next best idea. By force feeding properly, the snake may realize that frozen/thawed is not so bad after all, and in the future the snake will be more likely to take frozen/thawed.

On the other hand, using a live mouse for a snake that won't eat frozen/thawed seems too much like throwing in the towel or just prolonging the switch. This is not to discount the ingeniousness of feeding a live, only to be quickly followed by a frozen/thawed. Do what works for you.

Second, and this has some overlap with the thought in the paragraph above, when I switched my adult ball python, I went with a smaller rodent. My snake is certainly capable of eating a "small rat." Thus, for the first several frozen/thawed feeding attempts, I used small rats. These attempts were unsuccessful. They may have been unsuccessful because the snake was intimidated by the size of the unfamiliar creature. I then down-sized to "adult mice," and that is when my snake finally ate the rodent. This was a good idea for an additional reason: in the event that my snake would not eat the adult mouse, I could much more easily have force fed him this smaller creature than I could have force fed him the small rat.

Any feedback is appreciated.

- Chuck

[h00blah]

i bought 2 month old BPs and they didnt eat f/t so i had to feed live for a while. i just offered f/t for about 3 feedings after about 2 months of watching them eat [so i know they'l eat..] and they took. my thawing method is to just put the mice/rats in a little sandwich bag, then fill a large cup with very hot tap water for 10 minutes.


i must have been really lucky to never had to struggle with the switch =D

[bigballs]

If the snake eventually does not switch on his own, then (again, in my opinion) force feeding a frozen/thawed mouse is the next best idea. By force feeding properly, the snake may realize that frozen/thawed is not so bad after all, and in the future the snake will be more likely to take frozen/thawed.

force feeding is a very stressful procedure and trying to facilitate the switch by force feeding is more likely to turn your ball python away from frozen thawed prey and not on to it. in future feedings, the snake will be less likely to accept f/t prey as it would most likely associate the f/t prey with the stressful event. i wouldnt suggest force feeding as a method of converting your ball python from live to f/t.

[Enirei]

force feeding is a very stressful procedure and trying to facilitate the switch by force feeding is more likely to turn your ball python away from frozen thawed prey and not on to it. in future feedings, the snake will be less likely to accept f/t prey as it would most likely associate the f/t prey with the stressful event. i wouldnt suggest force feeding as a method of converting your ball python from live to f/t.

Yeah, I watched a video of it and it just seems like very last result if they were on death's door. I could see assist feeding may be a possibility (get the food stuck on their teeth and let them finish the rest). But I think that could still traumatize the snake.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Yeah, I watched a video of it and it just seems like very last result if they were on death's door. I could see assist feeding may be a possibility (get the food stuck on their teeth and let them finish the rest). But I think that could still traumatize the snake.

6 years old thread, pretty sure by now they may have figured it out.