Feeding

[Ziggy31984]

Has anyone ball python ever kill a rat then decide not to eat it ? Just curious had a 1 xs small rat before hand he takes med the xs small rats is all they had and not more then 2 I offer when there that small I know power feeding isn’t good I’m just baffled


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[bcr229]

Yep. It's rather fragrant when they drag the carcass under a hide and you don't find it for a day or so.

[Ziggy31984]

A friend boa did that but to the other side of the terrarium saying get this nasty fresh kill out I want live lol


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[Ziggy31984]

This is the first time he did that with me


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[Nutriaitch]

a different feeding question.

I see ads all the time for different types of frozen prey (mice, gerbils, rats, hamsters, chicks, quail, etc.)

Ragnar has eaten only rats so far in his life.
Is there any benefit or reason to ever offer something else that is available out there?
Or conversely any detriment to giving him something different?

just curious mostly because of seeing all the others out there.

[Bogertophis]

Personally, with a ball python, I would not "rock that boat"- if rats work, feed rats. BPs can be fussy eaters, & if you give him something else, he may like it better & refuse rats. Especially if you offer hamsters, ASFs, gerbils, but it can even happen with domestic mice. And most of the other options are less readily available & cost more, so "do you feel lucky"?

I've had all kinds of snakes, very few were as fussy as the BPs I've had, & since I used to raise all kinds of rodents, I also used to feed a variety to many of my snakes, but trust me, it's usually counter-productive with BPs. Unless you just enjoy tearing your hair out?

There ARE nutritional differences in the various prey options, but not enough to make it worth your while to switch things up. A BP's natural diet in the wild is mostly ASFs, but both mice & rats are close enough, though since they're c/b, they're all likely higher in fat content than any wild prey would be, so that's one reason to avoid over-feeding captive snakes (& avoid feeding old breeder rodents- way too much fat). Adult male BPs do best (usually) on small rats, while female BPs usually do best with mediums (once they're fully grown).

Now if you ever have a pet rat snake or bull (gopher) snake, they enjoy a variety of prey & don't play "hard to feed" (as long as it fits).

[Ziggy31984]

I have heard one snake only eat quail,baby chicks and something else
I so offer ziggy hamsters as a special treat like for a birthday,Christmas and thanksgiving no issues with the exception of hunger strike or the rat has got a bit bigger in size because of it


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[Mr. Misha]

Personally, with a ball python, I would not "rock that boat"- if rats work, feed rats.

I totally agree with this. Rats are easy to get and widely available. You don't want to get stuck on something that's expensive or only available for a handful of vendors.

Plus, as Bogertophis said, don't fix what isn't broken. You want this to be as easy as possible. I would highly encourage all keepers to try to switch their BPs to frozen. Once it happens, keeping becomes much easier. You can easily purchase a mini fridge to keep the rats.

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[Nutriaitch]

I totally agree with this. Rats are easy to get and widely available. You don't want to get stuck on something that's expensive or only available for a handful of vendors.

Plus, as Bogertophis said, don't fix what isn't broken. You want this to be as easy as possible. I would highly encourage all keepers to try to switch their BPs to frozen. Once it happens, keeping becomes much easier. You can easily purchase a mini fridge to keep the rats.

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appreciate all the info.
both of my BPs only get frozen rats from a local breeder. I use him because
A. he’s local and i like doing local business. and ive seen his setup so i know what im getting.
B. i can specify exactly what sizes (instead of hoping what i order online comes in the right size) i want and order pretty much as needed without needing to buy/store in bulk.

but like i mentioned in my post i often see ads for different places online that sell a variety so was just kinda curious about the pros/cons of it.

[Zincubus]

Yep. It's rather fragrant when they drag the carcass under a hide and you don't find it for a day or so.

So true !!

I feed my nine snakes the same night and I watch them start to constrict the dead rats( heated by a hairdryer ) but then I move onto the next one .

Occasionally I hear a scream from the wife when she gets the whiff of a discarded rodent !

She shouts ..

“ Michael .. something has died in the snake room !!!! “


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