More news from Finland

[firedragon]

As you might remember I had these baby balls from Sweden who won't eat. Now I've sold two more of them, a boy that was one of the best feeders of the bunch along with my own girl, and a girl who hadn't eaten F/T with but who was good enough for the buyer anyway, he knew what he was getting so it's ok. So, three babies left, who haven't eaten with me. Their last meal was on May 14, when they got a live mouse, according to the breeder. Since then I've tried every week with F/T.

With no success. They'd follow the prey but not strike. The temps are ok, the humidity is ok, most of the time their tanks are covered with a towel. They're in my living room (I live in a one room apartment only), thus they are subject to TV and computer noise and music, and I often have my bf staying with me, so there is some disturbance. But I highly doubt it could stress them THAT much. I've practically stopped playing music since I got them and I usually work during the days. No kids around or so. The TV (I don't even watch it everyday) is on low volume and I don't exactly run around my apartment anyway.

I wrote some time ago that I was going to try fresh killed as the F/T didn't work. Well now it seems impossible to get live mice for feeding in Finland, young mice that is, because they're not weened until the age of three-four weeks, and those mice are too big for these ball pythons. Pet stores don't sell live mice for food and I haven't had the guts to ask pet mouse breeders to sell me some live babies for food, because well, would you sell your cute fancy baby mice that you've bred yourself to someone who would feed it to their monstrous pet? So, I ended up getting myself a bunch of mice. And breed them. It's a hell of a business and I'm slightly allergic to them, too. How great. But if they will continue to refuse F/T I have to have live mice ready for them, they are sooo small still, only two months. It's of course my own fault, I should've thought about the feeding issue before I got them, but stupid me didn't ask the breeder what he had been feeding them. I was thinking that if Sweden is so much ahead of us in everything, surely their ball pythons eat dead food too, or something. *bangs head against wall*

The not eating babies are otherwise ok, but their skin is rather loose. They haven't shed during their stay here, but they've been fairly active and healthy otherwise. At least I'm learning lots by having to go through this!

Oh and, pics coming up soon!
-Adrian

[firedragon]

Oh yes, I forgot... I tried rubbing a F/T fuzzy against one of the live mice and offer it to one of the pythons, but that didn't work either. I've also tried the braining thing. Man that was disgusting... The feeding efforts occur after sunset (that's bad luck too, right now being the BRIGHTEST time of the year, the sun not setting before 11PM) in their own enclosures. I've tried different kinds of mousy dances, from slight wiggling to tail dangling.

[JLC]

Sounds like quite a challenge! I don't have any new advice to offer...it seems like you're doing everything that can be done. Good luck with the mousie breeding project. I hope that works and you get these little guys eating! And you can always freeze the extras for future snakes who aren't as picky.

[Marla]

I hate for you that you're having such a difficult time getting these guys to eat, but if nothing else works, try covering their enclosures loosely with a dark cloth for a week, except to change the water once or twice, then offering them the live mice ought to do the trick.

And I love the fact you have the same name as my older daughter.