When to offer first feeding?

[hypnotixdmp]

When do you offer your first feed to your baby balls?

Ball Pythons
0.2 Normals (Coilette and Mary Jane)
1.0 Spider Morph (Zeus)
1.0 Pastel (De Sol)

Boas
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Stella)
0.1 Hog Island BCI (Kiyoko)
0.1 Dumerils Boa (Gloria)
0.1 Yellow Anaconda (Serenity)

[3skulls]

I have only offered food to my baby Carpets as of now. Still waiting on my BPs to hatch :p

I have read a number of different things on different snakes.
For sure, wait until after first shed.

Some people say they try right after others have said within that first week after the shed.

Now with my Carpets, I just waited until my baby feeding night. The ones that had a few days after their first shed ate. The ones that shed that day or the day before didn't want anything to do with it.

BPs could be different but I think I'll wait until after a few days, after their fist shed.

[GPreptiles]

I offer first meal 1 week after they shed .

[PghBall]

I also wait 1 week after they have their first shed. Then they are offered a rat fuzzy .

[JD Constriction]

I'm stealing this from a Facebook post I had about a week ago but hopefully this helps?

My Hatchling Feeding Recipe
---------------------------------
Its that time of year again and I wanted to share my approach for starting off baby ball pythons. I by no means am 100% successful at getting everyone feeding like clockwork, there are always some stubborn feeders, but I will say I feed all of the animals I have produced f/t rats and only f/t rats after the first year very consistently.

After they are all out of the egg (still in the incubator) I clean out the egg box, put in wet paper towel, a deli cup with water, and put them BACK in the incubator. All together in the egg box. I leave them in the incubator (in a well ventilated egg tub) until ALL of them have shed. Checking on them regularly.

After they all shed out I set them up individually in V18 vision hatchling tubs on cypress with a 8 oz water dish and a hide. For hides most of the time I use an upside down white 8 oz deli cup with a hole cut in the side. Also of note I fill the box nearly 1/2 way with cypress, giving them a smaller area to move around and less vertical space. (ie more security)

After they are all setup I wait another 5-7 days before offering a meal. We are now somewhere around 15-20 days AFTER they have left the egg. I like to make them wait. Unless they are super skinny or didn't absorb all of their yolk I think this helps with a number of things.

I think leaving them in the incubator gets use to things moving around them (ie their siblings at first, followed by food later) and then leaving them alone in a tub gives them security after that. Also waiting that long to feed I think ensures a good feeding response as they have fully digested their yolk and aren't being stressed too soon with prey items jumping around their cages.

For a first meal I have mixed it up from time to time but so far one thing that has been very successful for me has been to feed a hopper ASF as a first meal, leaving it in over night. I think a hopper mouse would probably work just as well. This is JUST for the first meal, they never get a second. I have had more consistent feeders take this as a first meal and then move on to rats immediately. The thinking on my part being it gets them interested in feeding moreso than it gets them "addicted" to something other than rats. One meal IMO doesn't affect them. Its all about inducing that first feeding response.

After they successfully eat a live hopper I wait one week to offer again. Some people offer every 3-5 days. I go every week, almost to the day. And here is why. The next meal after a first feeding is a rat pup. But it needs to be BIG. Full coat of fur, eyes almost open, moving around. Almost something you think might be too big for a hatchling to eat. And again, leave it in overnight, check the next morning.

Some people might be afraid that leaving that big of a rodent (relative to the hatchling size) in overnight could cause problems. While I wouldn't recommend a proportional size difference on an adult ball python; due to the rat being a pup, barely crawling and with eyes not even fully open, it is VERY low risk.

I believe the movement and amount of fur (scent) plays a big role in what a ball python will find and eat. Pinkies or rats with just the fuzz are too small, too hairless (not enough scent) and don't move around enough to stimulate a feeding response for a new hatchling. Go big or go home. After eating a meal this size the hatchling looks FULL. Big old belly. BUT with a nice 90 degree hot spot about a week later they will be down to a normal size and will be willing and ready to accept another similar sized meal.

Often I skip the hopper and go straight to the "big" rat pup for a first meal. I don't get as many first time feeders this way but they do eventually eat them. Also there is a finesse to getting the rat pups just the right size. There has been some trial and error on my part. But a good rule of thumb is full coat of fur and moving around. Eyes not open or just barely. The key IMO is fur + movement = feeding response.

From their week after week I feed the same sized pups for awhile. After a few meals I'll start offering live pups on tongs to get them use to being offered food on tongs. If they take live off of tongs that's definitely a good sign they might move to f/t.

Eventually I start thawing out f/t pups of the same size and attempting them on tongs. If they don't strike or are scared of it I will leave it in their tub (sometimes in the hide) overnight and check in the morning. You would be surprised how many snakes will eat a f/t rat off the floor of the tub overnight. Definitely something worth trying if you are frustrated feeding f/t.

That was lengthy but hopefully helpful Something different works for everyone so if a piece or all of the above helps, that's awesome. But if your own receipe works, stick with it!
I'm super excited to start feeding hatchlings and look forward to what I and everyone else hatches this season! Best of luck!

[SlitherinSisters]

After they have all shed I move them into their own tubs. Then I give them a few days before offering prey.