Introducing Dexter

[Midwest]

Dexter had his 2nd meal today. Another live rat pup that was quite a bit larger then the one last week. The shop only had one last week and this week they had more so I got one that was closer to the size of the as Dexter. Once he took it from the tongs I had to leave and my son checked about 10 minutes later and he already had it down. Last week he had the squeeze on for over 20 minutes before he started swallowing it. Today as soon as he finished it up he moved into the hide on the hot side. I am not sure if I will do one more live feeding or go ahead and try F/T next week. I was originally planning three weeks but so far he has eaten so good I don't feel he is stressed to much.

I am going to order some of the black hide boxes like I see a lot of people using. I am just not sure which size to get. He still tends to not use the hides too often, this is only the third day I have seen him in them in a little over a week. He prefers to curl up behind them under the fake leaves with his "chin" resting on top of the hide. I am going to try the other hides to see if he takes to them better. I really think since most of the floor is warm he just finds a secure spot under some leaves and hangs out there.

[ballpythonsrock2]

.......I am going to order some of the black hide boxes like I see a lot of people using. I am just not sure which size to get......

I think once you get them (the black reptile basics type) both you and your snake will like them. Because they are easy to remove and clean (you) and your snake will like them for the darkness and security they provide for the snake. I have learned by wrong decision that snakes don't like bright inside hides. Hides that allow the light to pass through the walls or hides with big open doors.

I would say as far as size go I would get a medium. But eventually you will need to go to large maybe but I wouldn't until it becomes obvious that you need to go to large. On reptile basics it say's mediums are OK for under 700 gram snakes. You could go ahead and order the medium's and the large that way you will have what you need now and will be ready for when he is over 700 grams. It might make it cheaper in the long run due to shipping to get both sizes. Amazon also sell these kind of hides made by Pangea.

[SilentHill]

love his name!

[Zincubus]

love his name!

Dexter is one of my fave series ... the theme is also my ringtone and the slow version is my alarm call


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[Midwest]

So Dexter had his third meal last week, a live rat that was a little larger then is "recommended" by a few grams but it was my only option. That was his third meal with us. Tomorrow I am going to a local lab that breeds rats and getting frozen pups from them. Now that he has three meals I am going to try to switch him over. So far with the live he has been an aggressive eater, taking the rat within seconds of it being lowered to him in the tongs. I also weighed him tonight and he has grown from 215 grams on November 10th to 256 grams today. I was surprised to see him gain that much but I don't really know what to expect. Hopefully he eats the F/T as good as he has live...... I have also let my son handle him a couple times this week since he had his third meal. Only for a couple minutes a day.

[Bogertophis]

Crossing my fingers for him to make an easy switch to f/t...just remember it's all about the prey being warm & offered the right way: evening, dim light, not too
much motion from the tongs, & make the rat seem to be going past your snake, not directly "at" him, & then when he takes it keep still & don't be a distraction.

Sounds to me like you've been doing pretty well...I know how hard it is NOT to handle a new snake too much. Especially for the younger ones.

[Midwest]

Well I call tonight a success. I left the rat in my barn today to thaw at about 40 degrees. Tonight when I came home I put it in a pan of warm water until it was about 80 degrees body temp. Then I took it out of the bag and blasted it with the hair dryer for about 10 seconds. At firts he came right toward it in a striking pose. He examined it for about 5 minutes but never did strike. I heated it again and the same thing he just kept moving all around it so I decided to just set it on top of his warm hide for the night. I watched from a distance for about 5 minutes, he never moved away from it but I left the room. I peaked my head in about 20 minutes later and he had it in his mouth about 1/2 way gone so I left him alone.
My only other issue is maybe finding another source for frozen rats. The place I went to today had a very nice website and seems like a professional place. They had them bagged and ready for me. Their website showed rat pups 20-30 grams. When I got home I weighed all of them and only a couple were over 20 grams, most were around 16-18. I only bought 15, since he weighed in last night at over 250 grams I feel like these wil be too small. If I can find a reliable source for some that are closer to 30 grams I might just get some and feed him the few I got that are over 20.

[dr del]

Did you remember to do the zombie rat dance after heating?

[Midwest]

Yes I tried to make some subtle movements just enough to make it appear alive. No matter where I moved it or how I moved it he followed right next to it, poised to strike he just never did. I am not sure if maybe it wasn't warm enough or what. Or it could just be that it was his first time with F/T. Either way I am glad he ended up taking it. I wish I could have seen it, I am just curious if he just started eating it, or struck and squeezed it or what since it was just laying on top of the hide.

[ballpythonsrock2]

Yes I tried to make some subtle movements just enough to make it appear alive. No matter where I moved it or how I moved it he followed right next to it, poised to strike he just never did. I am not sure if maybe it wasn't warm enough or what. Or it could just be that it was his first time with F/T. Either way I am glad he ended up taking it. I wish I could have seen it, I am just curious if he just started eating it, or struck and squeezed it or what since it was just laying on top of the hide.

Your right it might not have been warm enough. Have you tried using your infrared gun to get a measurement while you are heating it with the hair dryer. By the time you get the dryer put down and the door open it looses heat fast. That is why I like to get mine up to about a 100. By the time you get it in it will have cooled down a LOT.

Also with mine lately I have had to make it very dark inside before offering. That seemed to make a big difference in how fast it hits it. I think it's because the more dark it is the more they rely on that heat signature. IMO I like to see whats going on too, but I think the less we can see the better they seem to like it.

Seems like even BP's are all different somewhat. All mine I have had almost never would eat like yours did. Some BP's seem to eat it just laying there. But some BP's won't touch it if it's just laying there. I guess you have for the most part find out what works for each snake and go with it.

According to the chart you could still use the lower 16-18 g weight feeders. I would start with the smallest and save the bigger till the snake gets bigger or use the bigger and save the smaller to feed two once your snake gets to 350 grams you might be able to use 2 of the smallest because weaned rats can be hard to find sometimes. But then again some snakes will eat more than one but some won't. The one I have now would eat 2.