feeding issue?

[cristacake]

Your situation is understandable, I have seen from even big breeders with hundreds of animals that some of them just really don't take well to f/t. I'm sorry you've been having to do something that is emotionally draining to feed your animal, it can't be an easy thing to do.

How are you preparing your f/t mice? like under a heat lamp, with a hairdryer, in hot water...? Maybe if we go through enough factors, we can find something that is bothering your one particular BP and not all the others. I've heard some like only a certain color or sex of feeder, some maybe don't like them if their fur is wet, and a problem I once experienced when I was new was not having heated the feeder up enough.

[Mada]

we put warm water in a bucket once it cools down to 100 drop the frozen rats in it with them being placed in a zip lock bag. wait until they feel complacently thawed then remove them from the bag place on paper towels dry each off individually, then as we go to feed we have been putting them on a shelf in front of our heater getting them to 95 or so degrees in the head area and then offering via tail first, then if the snake doesn't take then via the scruff though i had one rat rip open from this which was not present.

as soon as i get my co2 set up i was going to instead of knocking the rat out pull it out once asleep and try it that way but i haven't find any way to do co2 that i feel is accurate enough to first put them to sleep and then dispatch them, and i have read mixed things on co2 set up's for pinkies where some say that due to their development they live longer with higher co2 then the more developed rats will. though i assume its just harder to tell a sleeping rat when its eyes arn't even open yet.

the only reason i don't want to do completely alive on her is shes one of my larger girls and is eating 6-8 week old rats who when she strikes have harmed her in the past. i know a missing scale isn't the end of the world and she has shed since and it healed/ the scale was replaced fully by the new one, but i still don't want my snake to get hurt just because it was trying to eat. and after that incident she will just try to get away from a fully alert rat. when it comes to a pre-killed she will just either not go near them or be laying on them and not showing interest. as far as holding the rat by the tail or by the scruff she will look at it for 5-10 min acting as if she is going to strike and then she will just give up and try to get out of the tub.

she is in a 41q tub in a 8 tub tower with currently just her and our big pastel girl her humidity sits 60-65% most days unless she decides to spill her water which she does often. temps are typically 89 hot side and 81 cold side with 83 air temp.

as far as the mouser of the group she will eat rats 1-2 weeks then she will refuse and only go for a mouse. but that is our smaller pastel

[PitOnTheProwl]

I'm not reading through all this because I only have one question: Have you seen the damage a scared rat can do?
I'm not talking about while coiled either.

[Mada]

yes i have, that is why i stay in the room i will even pull the food out if i need to re-leave my self. my biggest fear is harm happening to one of the snakes. hence why i took your advise on quarantining new snakes.

[SKO]

This might seem like an odd question since the snake is in a tub, but is there a hide in it? If the snake is that shy, maybe it does not feel that secure in the tub. The first thing I would try is get an appropriate sized hide that fits nice and snug around the snake. Pre kill a rat (cervical dislocation is easy and fast) and leave it in the tub over night. I pre kill the rats for my younger snake and she will wait for almost an hour until she pokes her head out, looks around like she's making sure the coast is clear, and then drags it into whichever hide she is in. It might just be something that simple, but let's go from simple solutions on up.

[Mada]

have not tried her with a hide, was worried after a post i saw on here about a snake breaking its neck when feeding like that. i could try a light weight card board box though and fold the opening outwards so it would have give if she bumps into it. we typically feed Tuesday nights so ill start looking for something now and give that a try.

[SKO]

If anything, the hide will give it a more secure feeling and if it can't down the rat inside it will move outside. I've never heard of that breaking neck story but that seems more like a freak accident. But yeah give that a try. Leave it in over night and see what happens then let us know. Do you know how to do a cervical dislocation?

[Slim]

have not tried her with a hide, was worried after a post i saw on here about a snake breaking its neck when feeding like that

What da WHAT??? Mada, sorry, but that's taking over protection to an altitude unreachable by natural means. It's a ball python, not a Tiffany lamp shade. Please give that snake a hide. Might have a lot to do with the picky eating...

[SKO]

What da WHAT??? Mada, sorry, but that's taking over protection to an altitude unreachable by natural means. It's a ball python, not a Tiffany lamp shade. Please give that snake a hide. Might have a lot to do with the picky eating...

Lol you're on a rampage this morning, I love it.

[Mada]

ok found a head phones box that was small enough to fit in a 41 quart tub with substrate under it and yet large enough for her to fit into even if a bit tight.