Switching to frozen?

[camb]

I just got a baby spider that has been feeding on live hoppers and has had two meals were he was a great feeder with the breeder i got him about a little less than a week ago and tried to feed him a frozen mouse last night, he refused it. Should i feed him what he is used to (live) while he is still acclimating, and if not how do i switch him to f&t?

[Dr_Gonz0]

It has only had 2 meals to date? I would definitely stick with live for a few more feedings. If you then want to get it switched to F/T, try then offering it a freshly killed prey item first. They are usually pretty easy to get onto F/T after that.

Robin
H2 Exotics

[xdeus]

Some snakes are just pickier than others. I would let him acclimate for a couple weeks and feed him what he's used to before trying frozen again. When he is consistently eating every week, you can try frozen again. When it does come time to feed him, try to do it when he is actively looking for food... usually right after dusk. Also, you can try prescenting the room or placing some soiled shavings in his cage to really get his appetite going.

Good luck!

[camb]

ok, thanks for the advice. where do you think i can get live hoppers? the nearest reptile shop is 2.5 hours away, and i cant exactly run down there every week. does petco or petsmart have them like in the back room?

[DustinB]

Most general pet stores have them including petco or petsmart. Small pet shops are more likely to have different sizes. I've only seen adults at petco or petsmart.

[TimmyG]

Go with what he will eat btu try to get him on frozen for safty. I just fed mine live because he's been fussy latly and came very very close to getting bit. I hate feeding live, I get no joy from it and I'm sure what little thrill fo the hunt the snake gets is not worth a bit. but hes eating, so hes ok for now. back to frozen next week.

[stinker2009]

Just FYI, I dont know if all petsmarts are like this but I talked to one of the employees who was also a ball python owner and he said that they do not sell feeders. You can feed whatever you buy there to your snake if you want, but he told me that if you say you are gonna feed it to a snake they wont sell to you. Petco has no problem with it though

[ssballow]

The female adult mouse is what I fed my baby BP on friday. It was a big meal, but he is shedding now. He handled it rather well. The males I saw at petco were quite a bit larger. Petland in my area has a greater variation in their mouse sizes. Petsmart only has $9 "fancy" mice.

[sg1trogdor]

I wouldn't even bother with switching. I only switched because it was cheaper. As for your case leave it be until prey items are of a size where they can hurt your bp.

[Lolo76]

Just FYI, I dont know if all petsmarts are like this but I talked to one of the employees who was also a ball python owner and he said that they do not sell feeders. You can feed whatever you buy there to your snake if you want, but he told me that if you say you are gonna feed it to a snake they wont sell to you. Petco has no problem with it though

Yeah, I've gotten feeders at Petco, and they didn't care that it was for my snake. The problem is that they have no variety on sizes (adult mice and small/med rats only), and charge more than stores would for "feeders." Luckily I have other options around here, but if you don't Petco should be sufficient for now.