The challenge of switching to f/t

[Diaspora]

Hi there,

My baby is a little over 2yo and has always been fed with live mice and recently live rats.
But last time she didn't want to feed and the rat started to bite her. She didn't get hurt since I always stay to be sure she eats it and is safe.
But of course since then I decided to switch to f/t. Unfortunately she has no interest at all to feed. She gets close to the rat and then passes it by to get out of her tank.
I let the rat unthaw to ambient room temperature, then heat it up first in a zipped bag in warm water and then with a blow dryer.
I'm wondering if I should stick to wanting her to start to feed on f/t or switch back to live ones? How long can/should I wait before going back to live rats ?
She hasn't eaten for a couple of weeks now, she doesn't lose weight and is still very active.

Thanks for the help!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Best thing to do is to thaw at room temp near the enclosure, not only does it ensure that the prey is thawed slow but it also help scenting which entice the snake too eat.

How long can it take, if it is a healthy (good body weight 2 years old) it can take a few weeks or a few months even a year because you have to practice tough love, if the f/t is not eaten do not offer anything else, of course you also need to use good judgment and know when to draw the line.

[Diaspora]

Best thing to do is to thaw at room temp near the enclosure, not only does it ensure that the prey is thawed slow but it also help scenting which entice the snake too eat.

How long can it take, if it is a healthy (good body weight 2 years old) it can take a few weeks or a few months even a year because you have to practice tough love, if the f/t is not eaten do not offer anything else, of course you also need to use good judgment and know when to draw the line.

That's what I did. And I know she smelled it, she got out of her hide and looked for it. But once she notices it's already dead.. she's like

I asked because last time she was hungry (I was away for 6 months and was still being fed mice once a week and of course that wasn't enough) she attacked me and my family three times (until getting live rats)

[Zincubus]

Hi

The secret to feeding your Royal / Ball python in my humble opinion ....is to make sure he's/she's hungry , so don't feed too often ....every 7 or 10 or 14 days whichever suits him/best best .

Always feed in the evening , ideally when dark ....

I feed all mine in their vivs and put piece of card in front of their hides . My Royals all strike from within their hides so I dangle the mouse in front of the hide entrance

Defrost the mouse / rat and then quickly offer the mouse using tongs .
Waggle the mouse in front of the hide entrance , if there is no response ....heat the mouse with a hairdryer for ten second and quickly offer again , repeat this procedure until it takes the mouse /rat .
This method rarely if ever works providing the snake isn't in shed and even then some of my Royals still take the meal .

[Sandi1961]

I tried something new last night that I gleaned from a book on ball pythons. It worked really really well...I took an under tank pad style heater and put my thawed rats of various sizes on the pad to warm, I turned them once or twice then took only what I wanted off the pad at a time. Even my finicky girls slammed them immediately. No rewarming, no getting soggy...

[Zincubus]

I tried something new last night that I gleaned from a book on ball pythons. It worked Preally really well...I took an under tank pad style heater and put my thawed rats of various sizes on the pad to warm, I turned them once or twice then took only what I wanted off the pad at a time. Even my finicky girls slammed them immediately. No rewarming, no getting soggy...

Now that IS a good idea ...... I've got a spare heat mat I can plug in at feeding time ...maybe I'll still blast with a hairdrier inbetween tries if they don't get it the first time ...

[Sandi1961]

None of them even missed with the first strike...and my sub adult desert pastel even slammed hers and this is only her 2nd f/t in her life!

[ballpythonsrock2]

I tried something new last night that I gleaned from a book on ball pythons. It worked really really well...I took an under tank pad style heater and put my thawed rats of various sizes on the pad to warm, I turned them once or twice then took only what I wanted off the pad at a time. Even my finicky girls slammed them immediately. No rewarming, no getting soggy...

Thanks for the tip. I think the pad would work better than the hair dryer, because its gets the rat/mouse warmer. I like to get the feeder up to 100's or 90's anyway.
( I Measure with a infra-red ) I haven't tried a pad yet, but I use a heat lamp. I put the mouse on tin foil and put a heat lamp bulb with a dome over the top of the mouse, turning it, when you get the mouse or rat up to 100 plus degree I grab the mouse/rat by the back and keeping it horizontal bring it nose to nose up toward the snake. I quit hanging the feeder by the tail. The idea is to fool them. If they know it is dead some won't bite. But if you can make it act like a live one would act that often times works much better. It is sort of like fishing. Lures are made to make the fish think it is a live bait. Hold it by the back or shoulder area and move it around like a live one would act. I use long tweezers to do this.

[ballpythonsrock2]

Hi

The secret to feeding your Royal / Ball python in my humble opinion ....is to make sure he's/she's hungry , so don't feed too often ....every 7 or 10 or 14 days whichever suits him/best best .

Always feed in the evening , ideally when dark ....

I feed all mine in their vivs and put piece of card in front of their hides . My Royals all strike from within their hides so I dangle the mouse in front of the hide entrance

Defrost the mouse / rat and then quickly offer the mouse using tongs .
Waggle the mouse in front of the hide entrance , if there is no response ....heat the mouse with a hairdryer for ten second and quickly offer again , repeat this procedure until it takes the mouse /rat .
This method rarely if ever fails to work providing the snake isn't in shed and even then some of my Royals still take the meal .

I agree with all this.

The only exception is I like the heat light lamp better than the hair dryer, but the hair dryer is ok. I bought a hair dryer for this, but ended up going more with the heat light in a dome idea more.

[Zincubus]

Yeah if the heat lamp can heat the mouse up INBETWEEN each attempt of offering then it sounds like a great way of doing it .
I use the hair-drier as it's just so convenient ...