My feeding F/t problem...pls help

[ReptiMoto]

I have had my bp for about 6 months now and he is over 200 grams. I've read hundreds of forum posts just because I love bps and other snakes too. I have been trying to get him on f/t for about 3 months now. He has eaten f/t but then the next week when I try to feed f/t then he just smells it and then ignores it. I'll leave it in his tub over night.... Nothing. Recently I switched him to small rats and pre killed one and he took it. The reptile expo is the only place by me that I can get food from and it goes on every 3 weeks though which is my problem. He just smells the f/t rat and just ignores it completely. I've heard people say that any bp can eventually be switched. Any tips on switching him. I am heating the rat completely, his husbandry is perfect and he is growing. I have only tried scenting by putting rat in stinky mouse substrate but still nothing.

[LittleTreeGuy]

Once you thaw the mouse, try holding it under a hair dryer for a few minutes. that really raises the heat level and will bring out the smell a little too. If he doesn't take it, wait a few days and offer again.

[ReptiMoto]

I've been doing that for 3 months... I'm beginning to loose hope

[CloudtheBoa]

My ball python does that a lot, too. I'll offer f/t and he'll go on strike until he's hungry enough to eat, and then he might eat 1-2 meals of f/t and then start refusing again. The longest I've had him eat f/t was 9 months straight, until I tried to offer a f/t rat, which caused him to go off feed again the buttmunch.

I just recently started offering f/t again after feeding live for a few months, and he's taken 2 meals without hesitation so far, so fingers crossed.

I'd try as many different methods as you can think of (leaving it out, waving it around, heat the head, etc.), and the snake will take f/t as it gets hungry enough that it would rather eat than be picky.

One strange thing I've seen that helps my bp take f/t when he's being hesitant is rapidly twisting the mouse's head roughly back and forth on a piece of cardboard. It takes a few minutes, but after awhile the smell+vibrations piques his interest and he usually takes it. I don't get as good of a result from just tapping it on his bedding or running it through the bedding.

[pastelballs]

I would try perhaps leaving it in the dark. Does he look interested in it at all? My picky eater will sometimes be interested at first, then seem to loose interest and go back to hide.
For her, I wait until it's been dark in my room (when I'm out at work or it's late night, my lights are off so it stays dark for a couple hours) and then heat it up, wiggle it and see if she takes. I actually got her to strike again with this- she had been only eating if I left it in there before. Sometimes though that's what it takes, leaving it in there, covering the tank back up and lights out again.

[Albert Clark]

At 200 gms I think he's still kind of young to switch over. However , if you got him to take f/t before and also pre- killed then you should stick to one or the other. It seems the process for successfully switching can be problematic bc different animals will have varying preferences. Also, the way it's presented is crucial. If you are going to switch be prepared for refusals but stick to either f/t or pre-killed. Some say it's a stepping stone from live to pre- killed then on to f/t. Be prepared also bc some pythons will never switch. Good luck.

[Mada]

first you defrost it in luke warm water, then you pad it dry then heat it up with a hot air dryer mostly point it at the head of the animal, then hold it by the tail with tongs or tweezers and see if the snake will take if not try the shoulder/nape of the neck being careful as frozen thawed will rip if you fling it around by the skin. if that don't work reheat the head area and put it in the tub and close it turn off all lights and leave it for a little while (30 min or more) and check back every 30 min or so. ball pythons tend to be the most active at sunset and for an hour or so so feeding at these times in the evening will give you the best results even in a room with no windows they know what time of day it is. if its not eaten by the time you go to bed you may leave it there but make sure you take it out asap if not eaten by when you wake up. the smell will make you batty other wise and snakes don't scavenge much so they wont eat it once it is bloated.

ive gotten all but my big ones to eat frozen at some point but if i have live in their size range i perfer to use that as i get my live rodents for cheaper then frozen due to breeding em.

[ReptiMoto]

I'll try the head twisting thing next week. He did eat the 1 rat I pre killed. He sometimes shows no interest and other times shows some then looses it.

[ballpythonsrock2]

For the sake of my snake I have decided to stick with live mice. I have pretty much concluded that she just doesn't really want F/T and I see no reason to keep trying to force it on her. And why bother with pre-killed since she would rather do the kill and mostly refuses anything already dead, and has never been injured once with live. She will eat very small rats too, just as long as it is alive and she gets to do the kill. But mice is her favorite, I have zero problem getting her to eat live mice And because of a very limited supply and high cost lately of small live rats, ( and the rare danger they present ) I have decided to just go with the mice. But at 3.99 a mouse at Petco and 2.50 at the local pet store, and her now being over 1000 grams I am now trying to breed my own mice. I have a 30 gal. critter cage that they are in. I hope this goes good. I am now in the process of trying to learn all I can about breeding mice. But if successful it will be a lot cheaper. More labor, but I am finding it kind of interesting. I am using aspen and shredded papers for substrate for the mice.

[AbsoluteApril]

switching to f/t and also switching from mice to rats might be too much. Get him used to f/t mice regularly if he'll take them and once going good, then try switching to rats?