i am new here

[bchapman]

hello everybody! my wife and I recently just got our first ball python which we named julius.

he is about 3 or 4 weeks old, and i have not gotten him to eat prekilled prey yet. he ate yesterday no problem (first feeding in our care). my question is - how long will it take to get him to eat prekilled prey, and is there a good way to go about doing so?

another question - how much do these guys weigh when they reach maturity? i havent been able to find that anywhere, all i know is that they get to be about 4-6 feet.

thanks guys! ill post some pictures very soon

barry

[rabernet]

Welcome Barry! Glad that you found us - be sure to check out our caresheet when you get a chance if you haven't already. http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=52


Hopefully someone else can answer your question about converting to f/t as I feed live to my crew and haven't ever tried to convert them. Live works fine for me, so that's what I choose to feed.

As far as weight - I have some females that are about 3 1/2 lbs, but I've seen much higher weights posted.

Again welcome - I hope when you bought your ball python they gave you the warning that they are addictive and you can't have just one!

[Blu Mongoose]

Welcome aboard Barry.

[snaker35]

I just converted my BP to f/t. As a matter of fact she is eating right now . My girl however is not picky at all and has never refused a meal.

Here's how i did it...

1 - bought the appropriatly sized rat frozen.
2 - placed the rat into a ziplock bag and into warm water for about 30 min. (until it feels thawed)
3 - place the rat in the bag on top of the cage and open the bag. leave it for about 10 min . (releases all those yummy rat smells)
4 - I use tongs to dangle the rat in front of her hide until she pokes her head out. and then, BAM...meal time.

Make sure the rat feels warm to the touch. Feed at dusk or make the room dark. Usually my girl will just look at me while I dangle the rat and as soon as I let go of it she strikes it. This last time she didn't even strike it, she just started eating

hope that helps.

[Ginevive]

I have no advice on this topic (never having done it myself) but I wish you luck!

[frankykeno]

Welcome to BPNet Barry, glad you've joined us here and congrats to you and your wife on acquiring a lovely Ball Python for a pet.

If you wish to transfer Julius over to f/t prey I'd advise letting him settle in and eat as he wishes (live I assume) for a few weeks before you disturb that pattern of good eating. Sometimes it's best to go from live to pre-killed then to frozen/thawed if that is your end goal rather than go straight from live to frozen/thawed...in the end it's really up to you which way you want to go. It's also up to the snake as to what it will take...some are pretty specific about how and what they will eat....others are not.

If you don't have a set of tongs or hemostats or long tweezers to feed non-live prey with I'd suggest you run out and get some. Feeding from your hands is never a good idea. If you are using pre-killed, simply humanely kill it and offer it immediately on the tongs while it retains it's body temp. If frozen/thawed - warm it well especially the head and belly area and offer it. Some snakes will need you to "dance" the prey a bit (aka "rat zombie dance" "the dead rat boogie") to simulate life and trigger a strike response - some won't care or even may be put off a bit if you do that. We found when we fed f/t that starting a bit back from the snake and "walking" the warmed prey (by grasping the loose scruff skin) across the substrate worked better than danging it by the tail or wiggling it too aggressively near the snake's face.

Course some of our really aggressive feeders wouldn't have cared less how the f/t prey was offered as they snatch it right off the hemostats before we had much chance to do anything much but crack open the tub LOL.