My input regarding how to get a STUBBORN ball python to eat

[6037201]

So I wanna talk about how to feed ball python listening to the advice that people give online and versus how I deal with mine. So first off, I'm really happy cuz my ball python took prey item from me for the first time last night around 1AM. Again, I just got him for like a month he did eat for me couple times but both times I had to leave it in there overnight. But the fact that he strike at the prey item last night really tells me that I have build a basic trust between me and him. So the way I do it is that thaw out ur food however you want, as long is thawed out its good. For me I put it in a zip lock bag and submerged it using a tong since the zip lock bag has air it in. If you don't then its gonna flow on top of water. I feel like that's not the way to do it cuz I want both sides of the rat or mouse to thaw out perfectly, not just one side. Then put it under a heat lamp for about 20-27 mins depends how fast or how strong is the heating lamp and your room temp. Most people said leave it there for like 10 mins or so (according to online) but I often found that not very useful because the prey item don't absorb much heat and the heat is gonna go away really fast. Sometimes you get this stubborn ball python that will not eat for the first min when u offered the food but you just had to like wear him down to eat psychologically. The longer warming section really does the trick cuz when I got closed to the mouse I could sort of smell it too(lol). After that turn 80% of the light off in your room, cuz u wanna mimic that environment they hunt in. If you open all your light then essentially what you doing is to warm up the air, and the heat that ur prey item has will just blend in and in my opinion most likely you gonna get two responses either the snake doesn't know where the food is located and simply ignores it or he strikes but missed. Its like the difference between when you see a black car and a white car during a sunny day, of course the black color is gonna give us more of a visual or sense identification. So for me its important to create that dim environment. Also, a lot of people said online that if your snake doesn't eat then wait a week or so then try it again, I disagree cuz what you really doing is that you starve ur snake cuz I don't think snakes are that weak mentally sometimes they don't eat cuz they don't realized the food is there. They don't have the heat source or smell of the prey(they are almost blind). So what happened to me was that I offered the food he starts off resisting it, now its important if your snake is stubborn then you have to be more stubborn to get him to eat. Cuz if you just leave its gonna promote his behavior. So he starts off resisting and I sort of cornered him and he starts to stare at the mouse and that's the moment I knew I trigged him for sure. Then he just took it nothing dramatic. So just be persistent, but don't over do it.

[JodanOrNoDan]

How do I put this... Your persistence is admirable however you might need to read the sticky threads on here and some natural history on this animal. A ball python that is scared to eat and one that does not need to eat are two different things. If a ball does not need to eat, it is not going to eat no matter what you do. During the winter many go off food for months. They are not starving. Once they have enough reserves they will stop eating. I personally like this "feature". I have never heard of a ball eating itself to death. Boas will and will succumb to fatty liver disease if overfed.

How you prepare for feeding depends on what works for you and your snake. Feeding at night is wise. Getting the rat up to the right temp is important. What works for you and your snake works for you and your snake.

[predatorkeeper87]

Alright...so I got a couple things here.

Pestering your snake like that may or may not work, and may stress an already finicky eater into not eating for a longer period of time. Just because it worked for you does not mean all snakes are going to respond that way. I use a blow dryer for 20 seconds after I thaw the rats in lukewarm water for 30 mins, works with my snakes every time. I have one that may or may not take it from me offering it, if she doesn't I leave it in there and its gone within 30 minutes, no reheating or anything.

The next is please use your enter key...its very hard to read your posts.

[Craiga 01453]

I hate to rain on your parade, but one feeding hardly merits an educational thread on how you fed your snake, once...

You contradict yourself by saying you've earned the snakes trust, yet you later say you "wear him down to eat psychologically" and that you "cornered him" and were "more stubborn to get him to eat". So where's the trust here??? Scaring your snake into striking defensively is hardly an accomplishment.

And saying that you want to talk about how you fed vs the advice from people with years and years of experience makes me think no matter what advice you get you're going to do your own thing anyway. People suggest that you wait a week and try feeding again after a refusal. You disagree and do your own thing because you think a species that regularly goes months between meals with no ill effects is starving after a week (and apparently not that weak mentally).

People with knowledge and experience are willing to offer advice and suggestions based on years and years of experience, research, successes and failures... but, I guess with that one feeding under your belt you know more than the rest of us. There is a wealth of information at your fingertips, for free!! But it only helps if you apply it.

Good luck to your snake, I fear he's going to need all the luck he can get.

[Stormy]

Also, a lot of people said online that if your snake doesn't eat then wait a week or so then try it again, I disagree cuz what you really doing is that you starve ur snake cuz I don't think snakes are that weak mentally sometimes they don't eat cuz they don't realized the food is there. They don't have the heat source or smell of the prey(they are almost blind). So what happened to me was that I offered the food he starts off resisting it, now its important if your snake is stubborn then you have to be more stubborn to get him to eat. Cuz if you just leave its gonna promote his behavior. So he starts off resisting and I sort of cornered him and he starts to stare at the mouse and that's the moment I knew I trigged him for sure. Then he just took it nothing dramatic. So just be persistent, but don't over do it.

If this was true; that you are staving your snake then I better have a talk with my adult ball pythons! The two big girls haven't eaten since October and the boys stopped eating in November; and yes they are offered food regularly.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Interesting way to stress an animal into not eating.

[Vithaxton]

Just dangle it around and make it look like a live mouse! That always works even for my stubborn eaters lol And I like to pull the tail of the mouse or rat after the ball struck and is wrapped around the mouse and act like it's kind of still alive so they don't loose interest in it!


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[predatorkeeper87]

Just dangle it around and make it look like a live mouse! That always works even for my stubborn eaters lol And I like to pull the tail of the mouse or rat after the ball struck and is wrapped around the mouse and act like it's kind of still alive so they don't loose interest in it!


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the zombie dance works for some snakes, it all comes down to learning the individual personalities of the animals really. Be it live only eaters, shy eaters that will only eat when you shut the door on the rack or viv, the gentle eaters that don't strike but just take the mouse from your hand/hemostats, a lot of snakes eat in different ways. If your snakes uncoil a rodent after striking something upset them, pulling the tails generally isn't necessary though I'll admit there are times I do it as well lol.

[Vithaxton]

the zombie dance works for some snakes, it all comes down to learning the individual personalities of the animals really. Be it live only eaters, shy eaters that will only eat when you shut the door on the rack or viv, the gentle eaters that don't strike but just take the mouse from your hand/hemostats, a lot of snakes eat in different ways. If your snakes uncoil a rodent after striking something upset them, pulling the tails generally isn't necessary though I'll admit there are times I do it as well lol.

Yeah some snakes like different things lol Thank god I don't have any addicted to African soft furs though! I hear they're expensive to buy but some balls will only eat those! I also hear they eat them like candy lol And that any ball will eat them! Do you have any experience with those? I'm curious!


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[predatorkeeper87]

Yeah some snakes like different things lol Thank god I don't have any addicted to African soft furs though! I hear they're expensive to buy but some balls will only eat those! I also hear they eat them like candy lol And that any ball will eat them! Do you have any experience with those? I'm curious!


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Hit up your local reptile expos, usually 1 or 2 people have them there haha.

Its what they eat in the wild so maybe there is some type of ingrained instinct that draws them to those if offered, I really don't know. I'm going to be raising them in the next several months but until then I have never fed them to my snakes. I know the little suckers bite hard and often lol and are much more carnivorous than the rats we feed normally.