Morph ID // Snake 7 Months of food tips // Shy eater tips

[ian.nesmith]

So I am a first year breeder, but a long time collector. This year I started back up collecting and have finally decided to breed.


Tonight I picked up a few new snakes, one from a friend (2200g Normal Female, with a terrible temper) and a 150g Butterfly from a breeder. I also got a Black Pewter Female that weighs about 1300g for around $100. Here's my first issue; she's been off of food for nearly seven months now. She hasn't lost any weight, she doesn't look overly unhealthy and skinny, and she is extremely active. I know some ball pythons can go over a year off of food, but are there any tricks I can try to possibly get her back to eating?

If she isn't eating, it's typically not going to happen with breeding correct?

Also, I had a lock up between my Fire Male and Super Pastel female, I've always been told to try and feed them 3-4 days after copulation. So this evening I tried to feed them and the fire took a medium rat very quickly and very aggressively but my super pastel literally showed no interest. Is this something to be super concerned with? When should I put the male back in with her to try for more lock ups?

How often should these adults be eating? I'm trying to feed my juvies weekly. I want to get my Ivory and Butterfly to breeding size ASAP. But the adults are very reluctant to eat and most the time just run away from the rat.


Lastly, just some ID pictures, I just want to make sure the snakes I got were actually what they were sold to me as.

First up is the Black Pewter:



Now the Butterfly (Butter X Fire X Pastel)






Thanks a lot everyone, I know it's a lot but I just want to make sure I'm doing everything I can my first year to make it successful and make some of my money back on rack purchases etc.

[rlditmars]

They look to be the correct morphs.

As far as feeding goes, have you tried feeding live to get the female going again? Another thing you can try, I have a friend who had a female go off feed for about seven months as well. She kept trying to offer her FT medium rats. I suggested she try FT weanlings. She took the weanling immediately. She fed her weanlings for a couple feedings, then bumped to smalls for a few feedings and now is about to get her back on mediums. When they haven't eaten for a while, I think large meals are just a bit overwhelming.

When adults are on feed they should eat weekly just like any other size animal. They may occasionally skip a meal but that's just BP's.

I think you want to get your female eating regularly before you start pairing her. If she isn't packing on weight it probably doesn't make sense to breed her and take a chance she won't have a successful clutch or worse yet, over tax her body.

[ian.nesmith]

They look to be the correct morphs.

As far as feeding goes, have you tried feeding live to get the female going again? Another thing you can try, I have a friend who had a female go off feed for about seven months as well. She kept trying to offer her FT medium rats. I suggested she try FT weanlings. She took the weanling immediately. She fed her weanlings for a couple feedings, then bumped to smalls for a few feedings and now is about to get her back on mediums. When they haven't eaten for a while, I think large meals are just a bit overwhelming.

When adults are on feed they should eat weekly just like any other size animal. They may occasionally skip a meal but that's just BP's.

I think you want to get your female eating regularly before you start pairing her. If she isn't packing on weight it probably doesn't make sense to breed her and take a chance she won't have a successful clutch or worse yet, over tax her body.

Thanks for the reply! I typically only feed live, but tried a medium rat last night. Do you have any tips on feeding frozen? The only snake of mine that will take frozen is my Bumblebee, and she just constricts but never eats them. I thaw them in warm water (inside of a bag) and then warm them well with some hot water right before I feed them. I hold them on a clamp and dangle them or make them look like they're crawling. Is there any other tips?

[Annageckos]

Some snakes just won't take to F/T, but keep trying. I warm the F/T rodents up with a hairdryer right before feeding to get them really warm.

[ian.nesmith]

Some snakes just won't take to F/T, but keep trying. I warm the F/T rodents up with a hairdryer right before feeding to get them really warm.

Yeah she wouldn't take frozen or live tonight. I tried rat, mouse, frozen and live. Really sucks because I wanted to breed her now.