Ughhh the first meal

[Highyeena]

So it's been a week since he has been here, and rats arrived so I tried to feed Nick. Before I go on: No I haven't been handling him, I tried chicken broth, smaller enclosure, braining the rat and making sure it was thawed correctly and warmed up properly.

He was interested, VERY interested especially when the chicken broth was on it and I thought "Haha now I got ya." but each time he turned away after sniffing it for nearly a dang minute.

Problem is, he's been feeding on live rats his whole three months of life so I cannot just expect him to be like "Oh yeah sure I'll fall for this!"

Anyone got any tips weening him? I can't get live rats, no place nearby has them.

I did one last ditch effort of leaving the rat in his rat in his warm hide and he went in there, as I am typing this he has come out after a while of being in there and is now perched on his branch in his viv. Idk if he has eaten it I will check when it won't stress him as much as I probably have coming back at him with strange thing that smells like food.

[Highyeena]

He did not eat the rat... haaaa...

[Highyeena]

Mkay, gunna let the rat kinda sit under his light, keep warm let him relax a bit and chill and try again a bit later. If he doesn't take it I'll wait maybe like five days and try again, nothing that'll push him too hard but enough to make him maybe consider eating the food item due to hunger.

He is currently looking at me like "Jokes on you, I won this battle." Well little man you will eat the rats I spent money on or so help me. You may have won this battle, but you have yet to win the war.

[Tonald Drump]

Ok, first off, maybe try convincing Nick his rat is alive by moving it around like a rat would. Secondly, are you absolutely sure the temps are correct? And, as for chicken broth, not sure how that affects it but maybe try mouse broth instead?
I feed live tho so can't be held accountable, I guess we'll have to wait for the veterans to get here

Sent from my vivo 1601 using Tapatalk

[JRLongton]

You need to experiment.

I've converted two BPs from live to frozen thawed. The first one was fooled by my "dance of death", lots of jerky movement like a live rat.

The second was terrified by the dance and struck out of fear, not hunger. She needed a perfectly motionless presentation so she could slowly creep up and then attack.

Keep tying as you suggested, every five days. You'll get it.

[EL-Ziggy]

You say he's been with you for a week? How often are you offering him food? If he refuses a meal wait 7-10 days and try again. If he refuses a 2nd time wait 2-3 weeks and try again. He'll catch on eventually. I've tried scenting and chicken broth and sometimes they ate and sometimes they didn't. The only things that have always worked for me are time and patience. The hunger ALWAYS wins.

[RXLReptiles]

Normally I'd agree with El-Ziggy on longer wait times between attempts, but the OP said that he's only 3 months old, so he can't be very big at this point. I'd recommend the sticky-ed thread by Deborah for getting a new baby to eat, just disregard the live feeding part, as you can't get live rats.

Found here: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-hatchling-101

The other thing I would include is try the hair dryer trick to warm up the rat immediately before offering.

Also you said that he had been eating live before, was he actually eating live RATS? Or was he eating live MICE?

If he was eating live mice you may be able to trick him by scenting the thawed rat with used mouse bedding from your local pet store. They shouldn't have any issues giving you some, but you may get some funny looks until you explain why you need it. Using this method was what got my super pastel baby to eat, and now she will AGGRESSIVELY take a F/T rat, no hesitation, no issues.

Lastly, don't stress yourself out too much. He's in a new environment, and it may take more than a week for him to adjust. The fact that he showed interest at all means that the battle is half way over. Just keep husbandry solid and offer in different ways until he takes and then stick to it. Each of mine have their own way they want to eat, so if I want them to eat, I play by their rules.

[Highyeena]

Hey came to answer questions.

My temps and humidity are good, I stay on top of that and have probs and a temp gun.

I used chicken broth cause I am not new to feeding reptiles and learned the chicken broth trick a while ago, thought it woulda got him.

As for a hair dryer only guys live in this house so no hair blower available, guess I could get one and make the excuse of "I wanted to try some new styles."

Yeah I know only a week, but as stated he is young and needs to eat else he may get underweight and I do not want that to happen. I have patient though and as I said he was interested so just a matter of waiting and seeing, hopefully next time he'll take it. I'll try to get a hair dryer in the next few days. Till then gunna leave him be to relax.

Oh and yeah I did try moving it around like it's alive. He followed and was interested but just didn't wanna strike it.

Thanks for all the responses!

[Highyeena]

Oh forgot to mention, yes he was eating live RATS before I got him, I made sure to buy rats so it would be familiarity.

[RXLReptiles]

Gotcha, I figured I'd ask as I had to swap my super pastel from live mice to f/t rats.

Amazingly she made the switch with only one scented feeding.

But here recently the BP's I've picked up haven't been eating like BP's, by that I mean they actually eat, and have made the transition from their previous homes to here really well. So I'm not the best source for info on problem eaters anymore as all mine like to eat apparently. Lol

Either way, best of luck to you and your new noodle Nick.