When to make the switch

[alliemulraney]

I recently got my first ball python. He is 4 months old, but he is still pretty small, only 58 grams (born at 66g and arrived to me at 54). I was told he ate f/t but when he arrived, it was clear from his feeding chart that he had never taken a f/t meal, only live. I attempted to feed f/t three times with the snake showing absolutely no interest whatsoever, and he was losing more weight (went down to just under 50g). I broke and bought a rat fuzzy and he scarfed him up. I fed a rat fuzzy again this week with no issue whatsoever. My question is, when should I attempt to make the switch over to f/t. I cannot keep buying live, it is very difficult. I have to drive 45 minutes every week to buy a live feeder, which was why it was so important to me to get a well established f/t eater. So I guess... I am basically just curious when I should try and make the switch and what methods have worked well switching your hatchlings.

[cchardwick]

If I were you I'd wait for a few more feedings until he gets a little size on him, then feed a live followed by a frozen thawed about 10 minutes later (not sure he can take two back to back at this point). Usually once they get in that feeding mode for the first one they will take just about anything for the second round. Doing a few back to back feedings should work to eventually transition over to only frozen thawed.

[alliemulraney]

If I were you I'd wait for a few more feedings until he gets a little size on him, then feed a live followed by a frozen thawed about 10 minutes later (not sure he can take two back to back at this point). Usually once they get in that feeding mode for the first one they will take just about anything for the second round. Doing a few back to back feedings should work to eventually transition over to only frozen thawed.

Thank you! That's kind of what I was thinking but I am new to this and I wasn't sure if I waited "too long" if it would become more difficult to transition. He's so small though and I would rather take a road trip every Sunday than have a sick snake!

[redshepherd]

Thank you! That's kind of what I was thinking but I am new to this and I wasn't sure if I waited "too long" if it would become more difficult to transition. He's so small though and I would rather take a road trip every Sunday than have a sick snake!

It would theoretically be more difficult the longer you feed live, but at that weight, it is necessary to get him eating and put on some weight before trying again. Eventually, when he's nice and pudgy, you can offer a warmed f/t every 4-5 days or so and he can go with skipping a couple meals no problem.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Considering the size, the weight loss, I would feed him what works untill it reaches 100 grams, that will give you a little wiggle room once you attemp to switch, because switching is not always an overnight thing and may take a little tough love which requires good body weight.

[Regius_049]

Thank you! That's kind of what I was thinking but I am new to this and I wasn't sure if I waited "too long" if it would become more difficult to transition. He's so small though and I would rather take a road trip every Sunday than have a sick snake!

My experience has been essentially what redshepherd suggests: The longer you wait, the more difficult it is to switch them over in my experience. However, your snake is pretty young and this observation mainly applies to adult animals (i.e. 2-3+ years old). You could easily feed him live food 5-10 more times (between 1-3 months) and be pretty confident in still being able to switch him over. 58g is really tiny for a 4 month older snake, so I would join the others in their advice to get some size on him.

Ideally, I would get both a F/T and a live and try the F/T, if he takes it, great. If not, you have a backup. This is more expensive, but with frozen rats being pretty cheap these days and you'd only be doing this for a short period of time, you'd likely save money in the long run (by getting him to F/T asap).

[alliemulraney]

Thank you all!! I couldn't believe how tiny he was when I weighed him the first time! Hoping to get some weight on my little pipsqueak!