second feeding week

[exotica0095]

ok last week we fed our ball python at night and it worked after heating it with a lamp


this time i took out the mice at 8am and tried to feed him at 130 after heating it with the lamp he does not seem interested at all


could he be in a shed? or about to go in one? I noticed one of his eye lids has a tick or a spot on it but thats the only thing i can think of that says he might be in a shed

should we put the mice in the freezer and try again tonight?

[BPsRule]

ok last week we fed our ball python at night and it worked after heating it with a lamp


this time i took out the mice at 8am and tried to feed him at 130 after heating it with the lamp he does not seem interested at all


could he be in a shed? or about to go in one? I noticed one of his eye lids has a tick or a spot on it but thats the only thing i can think of that says he might be in a shed

should we put the mice in the freezer and try again tonight?

BPs can be finicky eaters sometimes. If you just fed him last week then he just may not be hungry right now. If he would be going into a shed, his eyes would be getting cloudy, his belly may turn a little pink, and his skin will have a glazed over, dull bluish look to it. You said it looks like he has a tick in his eye?

[stevepoppers]

They're nocturnal. Offer at night.

[exotica0095]

so re freez and try it again? yeah he looks like he has a spot on his eye

[luckycharm318]

Try thawing in a container of the hottest water that will come out of the faucet for about 15 minutes before you want to feed. Also try heating with a hairdryer after thawing in the hot water for about 30 seconds and then present it to the snake. He may not be hungry or the mouse might not be hot enough. Wait til 8 or 9 o'clock, don't leave the mouse sit out though, that's a good way to grow bad bacteria.

[Kaorte]

If its been sitting out for 5 hours then toss it.

Try again next week. Offering meals too close together can just result in more and more refusals.

[dr del]

Hi,

And if you can get a nice clear picture of the eye you mention that might help us give specific advice about that too.


dr del

[fire-eyes]

Ball Pythons have heat pits and thus "see" in heat. It's the row of holes along their upper lips. If you already knew this, I'm not trying to talk down to you.

The point is that I have found presenting warm food helps. The way I accomplish this is to bring some water well below and not to a boil. If you want to get picky, I go for 155F for a decent sized frozen rat, and 130F for a small rat or mouse. The point is to thaw them out as well as heat them, but not cook them.

When you pull it out of the water, just be sure to have some paper towel etc to catch the water dripping off. I have not had problems presenting this way while the food item is still wet. I get extremely powerful hits in this way, the first of which really surprised me. I wasn't used to my little BP being so aggressive!

[exotica0095]

the mouse was pretty heated by a lamp at close range when we fed it i am thinking it must of been cause we fed it in the morning because i wasnt sure if we would be home at night


when we held the mouse up to him he would slither in the opp direction

[dr del]

Hi,

Did you remember to pre-scent? It really helps when they know food is in the area. The advantage of the hair drier everyone keeps going on about is that it (as a side effect ) sends a lovely warm blast of food scented air around the area.

You also have to be carefull when offering it not to get it too close to them and spook them out of feeding.

Think of it this way.....

If you slap me in the face with a cheeseburger you will almost certainly get a reaction - but it probably won't involve me eating any cheeseburgers.

Try and present the food at least a couple of inches away from the snakes nose - with a snake the size of your guy 6 or 7 sounds about right in fact.


dr del