Becoming a lazy eater?

[AkHerps]

Alright, so Petrie has now eaten f/t 3 times, I would still feed live, but the mice are nasty and unhealthy at our only pet store. Well...the first feeding of f/t was his normal ferocious, strike and constrict. But these last two times, he's getting really lazy and pretty much strikes a little bit and hardly constricts, he just starts eating. Is this normal when feeding f/t? It's so....lame. haha

[cordell]

Kinda takes the excitement out of having a snake! I would never feed f/t unless a medical issue forced me too. If I were you I would start my own colony of mice

[AkHerps]

The mice here won't breed? I don't know how to explain it, but no matter how many you get, or how many different methods you try with different mice, they won't produce babies or do anything. Petco said their mice aren't sterile, but...even if they mate, nothing happens.

[sarahlovesmiike]

My girl is lazy about eating PK too. I've been feeding live since they went back on feed this year, but whenever I have needed to kill a refusal (due to lack of housing) she takes them without even constricting. It's kinda funny. I dangle it and she grabs its nose and starts swallowing.

I'm with cordell though, I started breeding so I wouldn't have to feed FT anymore. I don't like taking instinct away from such already lazy animals. I would only feed PK to a snake who was afraid of live or previously eating PK/FT (and I'd probably switch them). Pfft, I even feel bad about not allowing them breed. I guess I'm just sensitive LOL.

[onna_shinigami]

I had better luck getting a fancy male from Petsmart and a few females from Petco. Never had any issues with them producing. The male I even got for free, he'd become too agressive to keep with others so they had him up for adoption. I just kept him seperate from the girls, left him in long enough to be sure they were pregnant than back to him home or in with the other girl. I gave up after several months between the smell and mice was just not cutting it.

For us it's cheaper to do f/t than buying live. My male is known for going off feed and horribly picky about his color of rodent. So black, brown, dark gray are out, but fine if they have white spots on them. I believe medium rats here run about $6-8 and the ones we get in bulk run $1.49 a piece.

[WingedWolfPsion]

There's nothing wrong with this at all--just means your snake is smart for a ball python, and isn't fooled, lol.

It's not about the 'excitement'--FT is safe and convenient. Keep the snake on FT. If you want it to get a bit more exercise, wiggle the rodent a little after he starts to wrap it--he'll grab it harder.

[maverickgtr]

My female does this. I've never even seen her strike. She does intently stare at the f/t mice we put in her tank. I think she's "scaring them back to death" and then she'll hover over them and stare at me and my bf to make sure we're not going to take them from her. THEN and only then will she eat. I've never seen her strike. But I think she's afraid of live because she has severe scarring on her tail from the people that had her before. The place we got her from said it looked like they left too large of a rat in there with her and it ate off the end of her tail and chewed on part of her back. The vet said it's not going to affect her pooping or breeding but that it was very close to being incredibly bad. I'm glad she was surrendered/seized.

[AkHerps]

Colored mice are illegal here, and our only store is Petco. Every time I get feeders they die in a couple days or within 2 weeks because well, like everything else there, they are extremely unhealthy and riddled with who knows what.

I do wiggle it. If he got live occasionally, do you think he would still be lazy with the live? hmmm....