Normal Feeding Behaviour for frozen/thawed?

[nca1979]

I'm a relatively new ball python owner here, had him now for almost 3 months, and so far things have been great. Got all the temps correct, 2 hides, etc, etc.

My ball python has fed perfectly for every week I've had him.

But I just wanted to ask all of what kind of behaviour your ball python shows when feeding, particularly on frozen/thawed.

Sometimes upon me lowering the food into the cage, he will slither on out of the hide, sniff around, coil back, and strike fast.

But other times he slithers on out of the hide and slither almost right past the food as if he didn't see or sense it. He then has to continue sniffing around and eventually ends up finding it after a short amount of time......

Is that normal? Or is there something I'm doing wrong?

At first I thought his eyes were injured, but he responds normally when handling and everything else, so it can't be that.....

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

[mtxsub7]

I think you aren't heating it up enough.


Put the mice or whatever in a bag and keep it in container of very hot water and then after 35 mins take it out and put it underneath the lamp on top of the tank, then after about a minute throw it in the tank and it should attack instantly





wallah



also im from MA, too.. brockton, ma

[nca1979]

thanks for the fast response!

ok, i'll try heating it up differently for sure.....

now that i think about it i think the first few times i had left the frozen/thawed in hot water like you said, thus the quick strike....

but the past few times i just had been running it under hot water instead for a short amount of time.

i'll try that, thanks for the input

[ilovemylizard]

Heating will help...I had a very large female that would seem to be 'blind' if the f/t rat was room temperature...she could smell it, but couldn't figure out where it was...she would strike wildly in all directions, trying to find it...

[nca1979]

Yes, that is exactly some of the behavior I've seen!

I think the last few times he has given up the striking all over the place, slithered out and just taken his time, which i why he probably moved right past it.......

he's probably thinking to himself that i'm playing games with him or something.....

ok, next week no more room temperature frozen/thawed!!!!!!
i'll make a better effort to heat it up properly now....

thanks all

[Mike Cavanaugh]

warmer then room temp will help... but be sure not to cook it.

[Eddie_Z]

When I had my little girl, i would thaw it in the hot water and then I would dry it with a hair dryer in the doorway of the room. This would get her all riled up and ready to go and once I would stick the rat in, BOOM she would strike. I pretty much always knew that if she wasn't waiting to strike that i was not warming it up enough!

[nca1979]

yeah, i'll definately make sure not to cook it, i've read about the messy stories of what microwaves, etc do to frozen/thawed....

too bad i fed him yesterday, i'm already looking forward to feeding him again!!!

how often do you all feed them, i've read quite a few different ideas. i've been going every 7 days....but do any of you go every 5 or 6?

[eternalfrost]

BP's see in infrared as well as visible light(thats what the pits on their jaws are for) that means they can 'see' heat. they use this to find places to regulate their body temps as well as to hunt.

as said, make sure the mouse is nice and warm, well above room temp, especially the head.

mine will strike at F/T but rarely tries to constrict it.

[bsd13]

My experience is pretty much the same as everyone else. If it's heated properly he'll take it right away. If not I've seen him crawl right across it and hardly pay it any mind.