When should I feed

[rgang]

I got my snake this past Thursday and have not done anything with him. I have been letting him settle in. My question is when do you think I should try to feed him first? He last ate a rat pinky this past Monday at the breeders. I was thinking tonight or tomorrow? I don't know if my local places have rat pinkies so maybe try a hopper if they don't? I can't wait until the firsts are over so I don't over think everything.

[ramstralia5]

I feed my ball hoppers a week after I brought her home. Petco sells frozen mice and rats. I jst run the bag with the mouse under warm water until it thaws. I grab my ball and put it into a different container then introduce the hopper. I use tongs to simulate movement and she usually strikes in a few secs.

[llovelace]

feed monday, if no rat pinks are available, try the mouse hoppers. Good luck

[RetiredJedi]

I feed on Tuesdays. I take the f/t out of the freezer and put it in the fridge when I leave for work at around 6:00am. At about 5:00pm, I take the mouse out of the fridge and put it on the counter somewhere to get it to room temperature. I get ready to feed at around 8:30pm but moving stuff out of the enclosure i.e. hides, water bowls and cover the front of the closure to get it dark in there but not too dark to where I can't see in the enclosure. I take the f/t and heat it up with a blowdryer on low heat low power for about 3 minutes. By this time the snake knows it time to eat because it's the same routine every time. I use a pair of feeding tongs and present the f/t and usually it gets hit after about 3-4 seconds. While the f/t is wrapped up, I sit back and wait for my BPs to swallow it. Once I see it's completely down, I slowly replace the hides and water bowl...so far so good.

[rperry03]

Try feeding him when you want him to be on a schedule. I feed mine every sunday. If you want him to eat on Monday nights and plan to feed every 7 then try tomorrow, if he doesnt take wait till next week.

Rat pinks are hard to find because they grow quickly. How big is your baby? It would suck to go to mice when he is already on rats.

[RetiredJedi]

...It would suck to go to mice when he is already on rats.

Not only that, it is "tricky". My snake was offered mice three times. The breeder told me had been eating rat fuzzy and I could tell my BP was interested but the minute he smelled it he didn't want it. So I found a shop that has rat fuzzy and the second he smelled it he hit it.

[rgang]

I called a pet store near me that has a good reptile room and the staff seems to knowledgeable and that have rat pinks so I plan on picking one up tomorrow and I will give it a try. Right now he is eating live so I plan on staying with that for a month or so then trying to switch over to F/T so I don't have to worry about my snake getting injured at feeding time.

[rperry03]

Unless I missed it, what breed of snake, age and size?

[rgang]

Well Vader just ate a small rat pup so I am very happy. I feed him in a tub then moved him about 15 min after he swallowed the rat.

[RetiredJedi]

Well Vader just ate a small rat pup so I am very happy. I feed him in a tub then moved him about 15 min after he swallowed the rat.

Congrats...