My snake Finally ate Frozen! (and how do I keep her going)

[heh1987]

So, the first two months I had my ball she wouldn't touch anything frozen and I tried everything I could thing of. Reluctantly I decided to try live. She took to that instantly and has eaten live probably 6 or 7 times. Today I went to the pet store and got a hopper and I was having a really hard time catching it and it kept trying to bite. I decided I had had enough of the live feedings and was determined to make frozen work. I had 3 small frozen fuzzies from petsmart I had bought a while ago. I thawed them out and rubbed them against a tuna bag and got them nice and dry. While I was doing that I put the box with the live mouse on top of my balls cage to get her riled up. then I rubbed the mouse along the inside of the mouses box.

She hesitated a little with the first mouse but bit pretty quickly I fed her two more. The second one I didn't rub on the mouses box. and the last one I didn't do anything too.

I know she got excited because the live mouse was in the room, but do you think she will continue with the frozen?

[SNIKTTIME]

Time will tell every snake unfortunately is different on this subject. The good news is that your snake accepted it so keep trying, one is a good start anyway.

[iCandiBallPythons]

It's not a hard as some people think, just keep doing what youre doing.

[kc261]

Most BPs that are fed the appropriate sized meals and are properly housed with good temps, humidity, and hiding places will eat pretty consistently and without being terribly picky. Now that you've got her started on f/t, it is likely she'll continue taking it without too much difficulty.

It is likely that at least part of the reason your snake refused the f/t at first because she wasn't secure enough in her new home yet. Most people recommend making changes gradually and/or one at a time with the BPs, because they seem to do better that way.

A few tricks to keep her going on the f/t are to be sure you give plenty of pre-scenting time so she knows that food will be coming. Also, just before you offer the food, give it a good shot on the head with a blow dryer.

Finally, a little tough love will sometimes work when other things don't. If the next time you offer f/t, she refuses, just let her go hungry. If she is healthy, missing a feeding or 2 won't hurt her at all, and might get her hungry enough to accept the f/t again.

[heh1987]

What exactly pre scenting and how do I do it?

[iCandiBallPythons]

pre scenting is letting the food item thaw in the same area as the snake(s) are kept. I thaw mine in very very hot water, the vapors will fill the room and most of my BP's will already be at the fron of the bin waiting.

[dsmalex97]

Heres a story that I think will brighten your spirits.

My snakes all hated frozen. So I had to buy live all the time it was really annoying. I would try f/t and it never worked. I tried everything. Feeding in a separate bin, in the dark, you name it I tried it! So a year went by and I figured hey, another try wouldn't hurt. BAM!! Hit it just as hard as a live one. A big thing I think that helps is once they grab it tug and make some kind of movement to create panic to further feeding experience more believable. Now they eat it f/t every time!!! I think just getting them on a nice regular feeding schedule accompanied with good husbandry and then just trowing a f/t in the mix out of no where and you won't have a problem...ever. I'm going with this method just because of how stubborn my snakes were, and how easy they switched over.

If I were you and I'm sure some might disagree but I think that feeding a live one the next couple of times would be a good idea, and then going with thawed completely. Thats just me, I'm crazy...