Question about feeding new bp

[BuckeyeBalls]

So we got out bp Saturday the breeder feeds every 7 days (sun night/mon morning) Its about time when he would normally get fed.

Iv heard not to feed him for like 2 weeks after you get him until he is fine with the new environment. Well he mostly hides up under and hide on the heating pad. Well now hes out looking around well he sees the dog and just raises his head up and stairs at the dog like hes hungry lol.

So should i attempt a feed or still just wait?

He eats live were gonna try a f/t and pre sent room/cage then kinda hold it in front him him and add a little shake and hope he takes it

[joepythons]

So we got out bp Saturday the breeder feeds every 7 days (sun night/mon morning) Its about time when he would normally get fed.

Iv heard not to feed him for like 2 weeks after you get him until he is fine with the new environment. Well he mostly hides up under and hide on the heating pad. Well now hes out looking around well he sees the dog and just raises his head up and stairs at the dog like hes hungry lol.

So should i attempt a feed or still just wait?

He eats live were gonna try a f/t and pre sent room/cage then kinda hold it in front him him and add a little shake and hope he takes it

Its actually 1 week with no contact or feeding attempts.So try next saturday,he will be fine .I would not try to switch him until he has eaten several times for you.Why stress him out even more?

[BPelizabeth]

ditto to above

[BuckeyeBalls]

Its actually 1 week with no contact or feeding attempts.So try next saturday,he will be fine .I would not try to switch him until he has eaten several times for you.Why stress him out even more?

Well idk about feeding him live. Hardly a snake expert and i hear it and injure the snake if it bites him

[Elise.m]

There is a risk of the snake getting bit, but it's very minimal. One of the admins on here has fed live over 4500 times, and she's only had a handful of injuries.

[bsash]

You should leave the snake alone for the week, do not handle or try to feed. The snake will be fine with out food for one week. For the first two or three times you feed you should give it live if that is what it is used to. The only way the rat/mouse is going to injure the snake is if you leave them unattended. After you have established that the snake will eat for you, then you can switch to frozen/thawed if you would like. The only reason you should wait to switch is that if you do so now, being in a new environment, with new/different food, it could cause the snake to refuse food, or even become stressed enough to fast for a few months, which is not what you would want.

When and if you do switch to frozen/thawed, after soaking in warm water to thaw, you should blow dry them dry, really concentrating on the face to make it the warmest place on the body, so the snake will most likely strike the head. I say this because most of the ball pythons I've had that were switched from live, would not eat them wet, or even towel dried for that fact. Some of them I even had to scent with used mouse/rat bedding to get them to eat it.

No matter what way you want to feed, it will still be okay, but if you stick with live, just never leave them unattended. Good luck to you!

[joepythons]

Well idk about feeding him live. Hardly a snake expert and i hear it and injure the snake if it bites him

You observe everything until he wraps it up.Those that throw in a rodent and leave the room are the ones that usually have the snakes get injured.If your snake was in the wild they do not have drive up frozen thawed rodent shops .They know what they are doing

[cinderbird]

i agree with the 1 week no handling no feeding. BUT you can try on the first attempt to switch prey types. With every animal i've ever gotten that has fed live its entire life, i switched to F/T the first feeding i had it. Why? Because its easy for me. If there was a refusal, i'd give the animal a week and in that time get it its preferred prey item. If its live, i'll pick it up a mouse. The absolute KEY to this though is PRE SCENTING. trying to switch a live feeder to F/T feeder without prescenting is not a good idea.

^ the above is my personal experience

[seeya205]

They wonder around alot in a new cage for a few days! It is not hunting! It is stressed! I would wait at least a week if not two and feed live for the first couple feedings! Babies like to hunt their prey! Cover the sides and top of the tank. Make sure your temps are 80-84 on the cool side and 90-94 on the warm side. Use a digital thermometer with a probe to measure the temps on the ground. The ambient(air) temp should be at least 75. You need two identical tight fitting hides with one small opening on each. One hide goes in the warm side and one in the cool side! If it feels secure and warm then it will eat! Your humidity should be 50-80%! Good luck!

[BuckeyeBalls]

Hmm well hes been in his hide all day. Its about 11:35 and hes been out roaming around. cool side is like 83* at like 66% humidity. the cool side is like 79* with 58% humidity.

I know the hot side has kinda high humidity but iv been adding a bit more holes to bring it down. Would try to bring it down more but hes out wandering around and when i take a peek in the side of the tub to see temps (no opening it) and if he sees me he like makes a S with his neck and just stares at me like he wants to eat me lol. After all tonight is his normal feeding night.

So in the morning should i work on trying to lower the humidity or is 66 good for now?