From live to F/T?

[Bettacreek]

Well, when the baby balls first arrived, they were all on f/t, unfortunately, I did a dummy move and fed live, as at the time, it was easier. I have been feeding live since, because when I tried to feed f/t they would refuse. I'm having a hard time with space/time and keeping the right sized rodents around for the balls, and I've had to buy a lot of them from the petstore. Anyways, I did a quick check of the ball sections here and couldn't find stickies or anything on switching, so I figure I'll post and ask. Does anyone have any specific techniques or advice for getting them to eat the f/t again? I tried small rats and large mice to see if either one would get their attention better. I've also tried making the head of the prey warmer than the rest of the body (not sure where I heard this one), and I've tried doing the whole wiggle dance with the dead critters. I'd really rather not expose any brain matter or anything else gruesome like I've heard from someone before.

[XGetSome]

Few tricks to try, but no guarantee.

Put the ball in a small container, like deli cup, and put you f/t in with the ball, go on a car ride, sometimes the snake will be enticed by movements from the prey.

Some people rub Tuna on the f/t.

People prescent a room, by putting the prey next to snake cage an hour before meal time.

Cutting the prey open, like exposing the brains.

Put the snake in a incubator or room over 90 degrees.

Provide a hiding place for the snake, when they are scared they wont eat.

Hope some of these ideas work, A few have worked for me before.

Good Luck Bettacreek .... patience and dedication prevails...usually :p

[starmom]

Have you tried tough love? Really. Sometimes it just takes a few weeks of not eating for the snake to finally accept the prey.

Always pre-scent the snake area with the thawed prey; this allows the snake to know what is coming and to prepare for the hunt. I usually thaw the rodents all day long near the snake cages and racks and then open the bags in the evening for a good hour before I feed.

Always warm the head of the prey; I use a blow dryer.

I'm not sure whether I would switch prey and also switch to f/t. If you do switch prey, sometimes rolling the prey around in the bedding of the former prey works.

[Darkice]

I have one ball that refuses to eat F/T. But i found out if the snake doesn't see me he will take it and eat it. So i wait and make sure he is in the hide and i dangle just the mouses face in the opening and he strikes and coils instantly.
But if he sees me its over.
Snakes are not as smart as people. Dont let him win.

[Bettacreek]

Yesterday I tried prescenting the room. The snake in question didn't seem to notice. After the rest ate, I tried prescenting the room with live mice to see if I could spike her interest. She was interested, but only flicked her tongue at the frozen mouse and pretended to be interested for a few minutes while I dangled it there. She didn't take it. I'm going to try again in a few days, same technique. Maybe if she's hungry when I do it, it'll take her that one step further to eating it. Thanks guys, I appreciate all of the input, I see I have more options if this fails.