ayone else have this problem and how do you correct it?

[codykrr]

ok i have a ball python, she is about foot and a half currently and very healthy...but i can get her to eat frozen or prekill she will only eat live....anyone know how to gradually switch from live to frozen?

 

[ballpython2]

ok i have a ball python, she is about foot and a half currently and very healthy...but i can get her to eat frozen or prekill she will only eat live....anyone know how to gradually switch from live to frozen?

one way to do it is to starve her because you can't really starve a snake that isn't hungry to begin with. so if it doesnt eat this week and you usually feed it every week skip next week and try again the week after that. and it should be hungry enough by then to eat whatever you feed it. just make sure it has water at all times. ball pythons have been known to go without food for at least two months by choice as long as they stay hydrated.

or next time use a stunned (rat/mouse) so this way it will be moving around a little bit but not in full motion.

or you can pre kill the rodent and use some tongs to make the rodent dance as if it was still alive until it strikes the rodent.

if you touch/bump the snake on the nose with the the rodent it will frighten the animal and he might not take it all.

so try one of those and see how it goes.

Some times snakes eat more often if they are fed every other week because it gives them enough time to digest the most recent food they have eaten and it gives them time to get hungry again.

 

[Mushroom Spore]

if you touch/bump the snake on the nose with the the rodent it will frighten the animal and he might not take it all.

This. Never get aggressive when doing the rodent dance, especially not with a BP. They aren't brave snakes, and they'll just feel attacked and scared. You need to put the dead rat or mouse about 4-10 inches from the snake and just...twitch it, or drag it AWAY from the snake very slowly.

Prey temperature is also very helpful. Their heat sense is very keen, and if your prey isn't fully thawed or if it's only room temp, that's an entire sense they can't use to realize that they have food in front of them. Once you've left your meat out to thaw (I usually go 6-8 hours for my snake's small/medium rats), put it in a sealed ziploc bag and put that in your sink and run a little trickle of hot water over it for a while. When you can pick up the bag and feel the rodent's warmth through the plastic, it's warm enough.

DO NOT GET THE PREY WET. This species is a little food-neurotic, and some of them won't touch wet prey items.

If your snake is shy you can try leaving food in the enclosure overnight. My boy went through a stage when he was very young where he would ONLY take mice that were too small for him (I think he was on something ridiculous like three hoppers per meal at one point), and only if I left them in an open-ended cookie box in his tank overnight. I was using reptile carpet at the time, so there wasn't any risk of impaction by accidental ingestion like there would be with his aspen shavings now.

You can also put the snake in a closed shoebox with the warm prey item and just put the whole thing back in the enclosure, lock up the enclosure again, and go amuse yourself for a few hours. That's how I feed mine now, and he does pretty well.

 

[ballpython2]

Was you agreeing with me or saying i was wrong spore? lol...

 

[DrJ]

DO NOT GET THE PREY WET.

I soak all my rats in warm water, directly. Never had one ball refuse them...

As for switching from live to frozen, I usually start them off by getting the rat very warm, so that it feels warm to me. Then I go either one of two ways from here. I always feed in a seperate container so these suggestions revolve around this method:

One way, the best I've found (though a little more risky), is to put the warm rat into a kritter keeper of fairly good size, and then get the ball out of its cage (might want to wash your hands or not handle the rat directly...still, sanitize or something to reduce any smell on YOU). With the ball still kinda balled up point its head in the opposited direction of yourself and hover it over the dead rat. While doing this, move the snake slowly back and forth, so it appears the rat is "moving" under it. This has been most successful with me, but I will warn you, if you move your hands at all, you may get bit...so it is risky, but it works.

Two, put the ball into a fairly good size kritter keeper, and give it a few minutes to settle down and relax. Maybe put it in a dark room, like the bathroom. Make sure the rat is WARM, and use tongs. I generally use 10-12" tongs. Dangle the rat in front of the ball, but don't smack it or anything. It is okay to nudge the side of the ball...like the side of its main body or neck, just not too close to the face. If the ball starts to sniff it and push on it, make it wiggle just a bit and react to the pressure the ball is giving it.

These two methods generally work for me, and I have not had to starve a ball for weeks at a time to achieve the switchover. For starting out, the first few meals should remain as dry as possible, as that may help...I'm not too sure. It could be debated. But, just to play it safe, thaw the rats in warm water while in a zip-lock baggie.

 

[Dillon]

Mine just had to be starved into the transition

 

[codykrr]

thanks...but im not going to starve her by any means at all.....i have tried damn near everything under the sun too....(not my first rodeo with picky snakes)....i have usually had succeful conversion within 2 months at most,,,,not her its been about 7 months and still only eats live.....ive done the stunned mouse (still twitching) and it ate that and thats where i leave off.....if i kill it and wriggle it in front of her (not by her face) she refuses it. i have left prey items in there overnight and nothing. completely thawed my mice nothing.....never fed wet thawed mice though i use the zip lock method myself. i always make sure the temps of the thawed mice are adequate too....its not a huge deal that she is picky...but i breed feeder mice for my snakes and when i have too many i kill them with the dry ice co2 chamber meathod...ad then freeze them....just to make life a little easier for me...(32 miles one way to closest pet shop)....i am determined to keep trying but i also noticed ever so ofter she will take a pre killed(not frozen) and constrict it and as soon as that happens she releases and hides again....isit possible she isnt eating because of the lack of aheart beat?...

 

[Dom]

When people say "starve" it doesn't literally mean starve. Just try withholding a few or several meals.
A few things you might want to try
1. Don't feed it for a month.
2. Warm the prey item up warmer than normal temps.
3. Cut the nose open so the snake can smell "blood".
4. If it's grabbing the thawed mouse and then letting go grab the mouses tail with some tongs and jerk it around slightly to give the snake the impression it's actually got a food item in it's coils.

I've dealt with wild-caught balls and bred, hatched, raised them and they all get onto dead food using the above methods.
I've never had a problem with wet food, infact sometimes the snakes are more inclined to eat wet than dry.