Switching BP to frozen/thawed

[Earl]

Tonight I tried to switch my Blood and BP over to the frozen rats and only the Blood would eat. He was easy but my Ball is being a picky fellow.

Are Ball Pythons a little tricky to switch over?

All I did was thaw the rat in room temp. water for 30 minutes and did the zombie dance for him. He showed a little interest but just kept trying to come out of his enclosure. Any tips you all might have would be greatly appreciated.

[frankykeno]

You might want to get that rat up a little higher in temp. Room temp isn't giving it much of a heat signature at all really. A bit warmer water, then a fast blast with a hot hair dryer on the head and belly of the rat should help (these are the two areas in a live prey item where the heat signature is highest).

Also give it till next week. With a skipped feeding the snake will be a bit more hungry and more likely to try something new. It takes awhile to switch them over sometimes (and some will never switch but it's worth a try).

[XIII]

I've been fighting my ball for the last 4 weeks trying to switch her over. She's taken 2 out of 4, but skipped a feeding between each, so by the second week (and fourth week) she was a bit hungry.

I've heard that dipping the mouse in chicken broth drives BP's crazy. I've also heard that if you take a razor blade to the back of the mouses skull and get some brain slime oozing out, that drives them crazy as well.

I gave both a shot, and she didn't seem to care for either.

[Kagas Kritters]

I just switched my ball over to f/t. She refused it the first time and I let her go without eating for a week. Then the next week I made sure to warm it up real good and she ate it. She is wild caught too, so I am glad she switched over so fast.

[Tainted Glory]

I think the means of defrosting the rodent is key. I always use very warm water and let the rodent soak for a good 10-15min prior to feeding. Once its soft, I dry it off (very important that its not wet), and feed. I've actually never had a problem switching my snakes from live to F/T.

[Earl]

Ok cool! Thank you everyone!

[Flagg]

When I switched my BP over recently, I fed her a couple meals of freshly killed and then tried frozen/thawed. She took them all easily, and she'll switch from ASF rats to mice as well with no apparent problems.

[Earl]

Ok I got my BP to eat one! I thawed the rat like I did before then put it in warmer water for a few minutes and bingo!

You guys rule.

[stangs13]

I think the means of defrosting the rodent is key. I always use very warm water and let the rodent soak for a good 10-15min prior to feeding. Once its soft, I dry it off (very important that its not wet), and feed. I've actually never had a problem switching my snakes from live to F/T.

Not true at all. I feed all 8 of my snakes WET F/T rodents. It actualy helps everything slide down easy. They eat just as fine, no refusals. Adam feeds live to his snakes, but when she arrived, a week later, I gave her a F/T rat, and no hesitation, BAM! F/T ever since, and no refusals.

[Blue Apple Herps]

Not true at all. I feed all 8 of my snakes WET F/T rodents. It actualy helps everything slide down easy. They eat just as fine, no refusals. Adam feeds live to his snakes, but when she arrived, a week later, I gave her a F/T rat, and no hesitation, BAM! F/T ever since, and no refusals.

I've found that it can be a factor. If I'm switching to f/t, I'll make sure it's dry. All of mine will take a dry f/t, but not all will take a wet one. It really depends on the snake.