Gerbils for regular feeding?

[Jeo123]

So my snake has been on a bit of a hunger strike. She at a regular sized meal in August(Rat), managed to get her to eat 2 live mice in October that were a bit on the small side(combined smaller than the rat).

After that, she refused to eat all winter and even as recent as last week. One of the guys at PetCo who owns a BP said Gerbils are great for getting them to eat again. So yesterday I picked up a gerbil and she went for it instantly. Obviously this was a huge relief to me since she's been losing weight(down from 950g to 800g). But now I'm trying to figure out what to feed her going forward.

It seems like she doesn't want to take rats(the august feeding was only the third rat she'd taken) and mice seem like I'll need to feed a lot since they don't get that big.

Other than the cost, is there a disadvantage/risk to feeding gerbils on a regular basis? I was considering breeding if she proves to be good about eating them.

[Maixx]

Here is a good thread talking about feeding, with discussion about gerbils.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ghlight=gerbil

[coldbloodaddict]

Gerbils are fine for them...It's your wallet they will hurt!!! LOL

Most people use Gerbils as a last resort because they are expensive and some Balls get stuck on them...No biggie if you don't mind breeding them.

[Tony4snakes]

I breed my own gerbils for a picky mojave female. Things to keep in mind. The females will kill each other so what's worked best for me is keeping one female with one male. I then keep each litter together in a grow out tank. If the females grow up together they won't kill each other. I average litters of 5 or 6 so keep that in mind. Besides that, go for it. It is a pain to breed them so if there is anyway she will take rats again I would try. Good luck!

[Rob]

They love gerbils buuuuuut........they are like $20 each, they will attack your BP, its next to impossible to get them off gerbil once they have had a taste. It's snake crack

[Slim]

Gerbils are like crack for ball pythons. Once they get hooked it can be impossible to get them off. If you go down this road you'll need to be prepared to feed her gerbils for the rest of her life.

[Slim]

It's snake crack

LOL. Yeah, what Rob said!

[Rob]

If your animal refuses rats again, try asking your local shop for some gerbil bedding and scent the rat with the gerbil bedding. Unless you don't mind spending that kind of money on feeding your snake, I'm sure your pet won't mind lol

[MasonC2K]

I switched a young one from mice to rats by getting the mice scent on the rat. I imagine you could try the same here. Get the gerbil scent on the rat.

[Jeo123]

Well, I still have a few frozen rats, so I'll see if I can get her to eat those next time. If that fails, then I guess I'll have to consider what to do next.

Thanks everyone.