Breaking The Habit

[Little B-Py]

How should I go about breaking my 2 balls from assist feeding? They won't take a f/t by dangling it in front of them. What are your methods? I already know it is a bad habit, that is why I am asking.

[roosterman2173]

I would first try a live rat chub and leave it in the tub over night and see if they take it and then after a few meals try F/T.

[Little B-Py]

rat or mouse? they are eating medium mice now.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Why are you assisting them?

Have you tried everything before deciding to assist them? (Husbandry adjustment, preys etc)

Have you try live?

What is the background on those snakes? You hatched them, bought them?

Have they ever eat for you?

What is their setup like?

[roosterman2173]

I feed rats they are easier for me to breed. I would try a rat chub. A big rat chub is about the same size as a mouse and it want hurt your snake.

[Little B-Py]

I am assisting them because they will not eat a f/t medium mouse on their own and haven't since I have owned them. Hissy's cage is correct when it comes to temp, hides, humidity, etc and Oakley is currently in quarantine due to an injury of unknown origin. Oakley will be downgraded to a 10 gallon aquarium setup similar to Hissy's to help regulate temperatures. I have not tried live because I had read many times that there was a chance of hurting them and I did not wish to cause harm to them and stress them out. Oakley was received from a friend who bought him from the same store we purchased Hissy from.

[Little B-Py]

I feed rats they are easier for me to breed. I would try a rat chub. A big rat chub is about the same size as a mouse and it want hurt your snake.

I don't breed so where would I purchase rat chubs? What is a rat chub anyways?

[SatanicIntention]

Get them housed properly, wait a week or two by leaving them completely alone and then try live medium mice AFTER pre-scenting the room for 30 minutes to an hour.

Why are you assist-feeding them? There's no reason to...

Get them both in plastic tub enclosures, 15-32qt, no bigger. Get the temperatures where they are supposed to be(92-95 warm side, 82-84 cool side, 50-65% humidity). Simple set ups equal ease of heating, keeping the enclosure clean and having a snake that feels secure in its home. Yours do not right now. They are stressed from you shoving mice down their throats, stressed from having freezing cold enclosures and improper hides, stressed from feeling too exposed from the glass walls of their tanks...

I have over 45 Ball Pythons and none have to be assist fed.

[BPHERP]

I always equate ball pythons to cats, and boas to dogs;

Balls, like cats, do what they want, when they want, how they want, regardless of what you want.

Boas are like dogs...throw something in the cage and they don't mess around.

Anyways, I would place something relatively harmless in the cage, that is live, and let them warm up to it over a few days, in peace and quiet.

BrandonsBalls

(no offense to cat lovers, but everyone knows they are the fickle, independent sort.)

[Mike Cavanaugh]

I am glad you made this post. In order for us to help you, you really have to give us a whole bunch of info. Trust me. If you put in the time and effort to give us every last detail you can think of, we as a community will help you fix this. Here are some starter questions. Please answer all these AND whatever other info you can think of.


1 How long have you had these snakes?
2 are they kept together in the same tank?
3 Where did you get your snakes from?
4 How old / big are your snakes?
5 What is your setup / temps / hides / substrate / way of measuring temp and humidity / humidity % / type, size of enclosure
6 What exact steps did you take before resorting to assist feeding?
7 how often are you feeding?
8 What exactly are you feeding, and what is your procedure when feeding (before trying to assist feed)
9 How much are you handling the snakes?
10 When is the last time they shed? How did that shed go?

I know it will take some time to answer all these quesitons, but answer in as much detail as possible, and be willing to hear the replies. I promise you we can turn your snakes around.


Mike