Feeding Question

[caccha1]

I picked up an adult ball python from a reptile show about one month ago. The breeder told me she has taken both live and f/t. I have her in a 40 Gallon with heat around 90 degrees and humidity around 50%. I’ve attempted to feed her a small f/t rat three times, but no luck. She approaches the rat, but won’t strike it. I’m wondering if the breeder wasn’t truthful and she’s only been fed live. I’ve done some research and read other posts regarding feeding issues. I’m not sure if I should be more patient and continue attempting to feed f/t weekly, maybe switch it up and offer a smaller f/t prey, or just attempt a live feeding. However, I’d really like to get her on f/t. She doesn’t seem to have lost weight. Am I just being too anxious? Any tips or thoughts would be appreciated.

[Joci]

Just a guess (I don’t know how you’ve been preparing the f/t prey) but maybe your bp doesn’t recognize the f/t rat as food because the rat is too cold? Back when I first got my bp, I had trouble getting him to actually strike and eat until someone here suggested that I heat the prey more.
I would suggest letting the prey thaw on top of her or enclosure if possible so that she can smell it ahead of time. After it’s thawed all the way through, you can submerge it in some very hot water for around 30 seconds, or blast it with hot air from a hairdryer for the same amount of time. This is the method that worked for me

[caccha1]

So far I’ve tried thawing the prey in hot water without a baggie. I thought maybe she didn’t like it wet so I tried thawing the prey in a baggie also. This morning I noticed that she pooped, so possibly she just wasn’t hungry or ready for a meal. I’ll give the hair dryer a shot next time. I’m going to try and exhaust all possibilities before I try live.

[Zincubus]

So far I’ve tried thawing the prey in hot water without a baggie. I thought maybe she didn’t like it wet so I tried thawing the prey in a baggie also. This morning I noticed that she pooped, so possibly she just wasn’t hungry or ready for a meal. I’ll give the hair dryer a shot next time. I’m going to try and exhaust all possibilities before I try live.

This method WORKS if done properly ...
I wait until evening as they're nocturnal of course then thaw naturally in the snake room , sometimes on a heatmat and sometimes put the rodent/s in a sealed plastic bag and dunk in really warm water ( if I'm short of tirme) . A couple of mine are super sensitive and won't take anything dunked in water - presumably they don't smell mousy enough ?

So then when I'm due to feed , I make sure the viv is unlocked and there's some card on top of the substrate to minimise bark ingestion ... Then I get the mouse/rat by the tail in some tongs and give the rodents head / top half a 10 to 15 second blast with the hairdryer ( hottest setting ) .... then IMMEDIATELY dangle it in front of the snake . They're usually ready and waiting .... Mine all now prefer to strike from inside their hides so I dangle it in front of the entrance for about 15 seconds but no longer as it cools down quickly , if there's a hint of interest such as head movement or tongue flicking then that gives me confidence and I repeat the procedure .... Hot blast and immediately offer ..... repeat as often as it takes ... If there is simply no interest though , either it's going into shed or not hungry so leave it for another 7 days or so .

( couple of mine eat every two weeks even though I offer every week just in case)





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[slseals1969]

Here's my method and I have had very very few issues with either of our snakes in the two years we have had them. Take out of the freezer the night before and put in the fridge in a baggie. When it gets closer to time, submerge in the baggie in the straight hot water or of the faucet for twenty minutes. Take baggie out of the water and microwave the water alone for two minutes, in my microwave that gets the water to about 120-125. Put rat/s back in the water and go feed snakes.

Just one question about your setup, your description says temp is about 90. Your average temp should be about 80 and you need a hot spot at 90. 90 ambient is a bit high. You might be able to move your heat source to one end and achieve that. In our glass 40, we shoot for 80 ambient with a heat lamp and get the 90 hot spot with a under tank heat mat on a thermostat.

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[WhompingWillow]

If she's an adult female in good body condition I wouldn't worry at all about a month without eating. She could still be adjusting, could be on a bit of a fast. How much does she currently weigh? One of my itty-bitty 90 gram carpets didn't eat for 6 weeks after I got her but is now eating fine and had not lost any significant weight.

As others have said, just make sure your husbandry is on point and that you're offering no more than once a week.

[redshepherd]

Can you post pictures of your setup? Many ball pythons need to feel security and clutter in their enclosures (dark hides mainly) in order to have a feeding response. Otherwise some are too stressed to eat. Awhile ago I experimented with one of my males with an awesome feeding response who had never missed a meal, by removing his hide from his enclosure. He did not eat the following week. I put the hide back, and he ate the next week lol.

Tanks with all transparent sides can also be stressful for some ball pythons, so I would cover up three sides with black paper if you could.

[Valyndris]

As far as thawing goes, for an adult ball python eating medium rats, I take the rat out of the freezer at around 12pm and let it thaw till around 7 or 8, well whenever the snake wakes up, for a small rat maybe taking it out at around 2pm would be fine, as long as it's not cold at all by the time you want to warm it in hot water. I then thaw it in very hot water, the hottest my tap can go, for 10 minutes to make sure it's fully thawed and warm to feed.

My ball python went on a fast for 7 months and didn't resume eating till my husband tried to feed him for the first time. Some snakes need motivation, what my husband did that I didn't was that he was a little bit more "aggressive" with the rat. He would touch the snakes neck and body with it as if the rat were attacking him. That triggered the feed response and he struck at it and ate it. I always felt bad touching the snake with the rat as he'd back away and look stressed out but with a little persistence my husband got him to eat with this method.

Also like WhompingWillow said, she might still be adjusting to her new home, especially if she was in a rack system going to a vivarium/terrarium, it might take a little more time to adjust. Well, I hope with all the advice on this thread, you can find a way to feed her that works for you and of course her too. Good luck on getting her to eat.