Feeding my baby. Problems i think...

[Colin Vestrand]

i've only had my snake for a week, but he was supposedly the best feeder out of all the babies the breeder had. they said they fed him every thursday morning so i tried yesterday and he was completely uninterested. nobody in town has live pinkies because they all say it's 'unethical' or 'inhumane' but the breeder said he only feeds live... would this have a huge impact? it was like the snake didn't even see it there (or smell it).

my main question is, how long should i wait to try again? also, i tried to feed it in a cloth bag, should i try something else? i have a spare 10 gal aquarium, should i try that? any other tips? out of the 5 or so sources i've read, i'm getting conflicting advice.

thanks, i love this forum!

btw, this is a spotted, not a ball.

[tigerlily]

Moved to general python.

How did you offer the frozen pinkie? (what process did you use for defrosting and heating?)

[iceman25]

Ok, here goes. First you need to give him some space. Make sure your temps and humidity are up to par and do not try to guess. Use a digital Thermometer to gauge your temps and don't trust those little dial thingies. The margin of error on those things are too large of a percentage to get an accurate reading. Once your temps and humidity are set, leave him alone for two weeks except to change the water. Put a whole lot of crumpled newspaper inside so that he feels secure(This is a trick by Adam of 8BallPythons). Do these and then try feeding him. Good luck

Raj

[Colin Vestrand]

i thawed the pinky in warm water...

two weeks? wow, ok. he should be very hungry by then i guess, haha.

temps and everything are good. i'm using a digital infra-red thermometer (precision instrument borrowed from work) so i know it's accurate. he's got two hides in a 55-gal tank as well as some other structural items, so i'd think he'd be good there too.

[iceman25]

Ahh whoops, did you say it was a ball python?

[Colin Vestrand]

spotted, not a BALL! haha

[iceman25]

spotted, not a BALL! haha

My ADD must be in high gear today

[Colin Vestrand]

he didn't eat again... do you think it's because i'm trying frozen and he used to be fed live?

[JimiSnakes]

I had trouble, back when I had Pythons, getting them to eat FT too. I used to dip them in chicken broth and then put the FT in a shallow tupperware container big enough for the snake to get into and then flop the snake right on top of them. Gulp every time.

Some say that BP are shy animals and need a week or two to adjust, but I never had any such issues with them, which is not to say it is untrue. Pythons in general can be very picky eaters most of the time and a FT mouse doesn't have the same smell as a live one, thus the Chicken broth helps them a lot.

~Jim

[Colin Vestrand]

good tip! chicken broth?? i'll give it a go if i can't get someone to sell me live pinkies... this snake (spotted python) really is not shy at all. he's a little freaked out when you first pick him up but it really takes him just a moment to settle right down. or if you put your hand out he'll crawl right up on it.
the place i got him from said he was slamming live pinkies so i would think that the FT's are just not doing it.

i checked out your gallery, i really like that snake! rosy boa?