questions i was hoping to have answered bout my ball?

[toker]

Just for the record, the "day 1" argument doesnt hold water. Every rescue I have taken in has been fed live its whole life. The last Ball I took in was over 7 years old. First try, BANG he nailed that f/t rat so fast it gave me a rush

The rescue before that is a 8ft RedTail, the owner told me there was no way she would taken anything dead, wouldnt happen. You guessed it, first try, done is done.

Its all about how you do it, and honestly, its a rush to have a 4+ft snake nail the rat off the tongs... lol

	Frozen/Thawed A rodent or other prey item that is frozen and then thawed to be fed to a reptile or other animal.

[JuliusSqueezer]

Adrya...Here's the thing. What I do with skittish wild caught balls may not work for some people. It's always been a set in stone thing that such animals should be left alone and never handled until they are feeding. The problem with that is it leaves them unsure of my intentions. Snakes don't really do the whole companion thing. They have no concept of interaction with other species other than "can I eat it?" "can it eat me?" or "ok it won't eat me but I don't want stepped on either" ...Survival related issues. The trouble that you have to overcome with fresh w/c ball pythons is this. They are most definately motivated by movement. I can't deny that. They might be attracted by heat and smell..but in the end, it sometimes has to move to trigger a quick feeding response. So just wiggle it on tongs right? not so easy. They tend to sometimes cower down..not because they are afraid of the food but because of what's looming over them (me). So, I take a little time actually handling them for a few days in a nonstressful manner. Every movement is deliberate and with no hesitation. No petting or poking...just reach in and get them out. Let them crawl around on me awhile and then gently put them back. Eventually the snake should stop thinking of me as a threat or at least decide that I'm probably not going to eat him. After doing this a dozen or so times over a few days, I may or may not offer food for a week or may feed them soon after...varying results. I come in my snake room with several f/t and warmed rats and leave the container near the new ball python or emerald or boa or whatever I'm working on at the time and I feed a few other snakes. Sometimes I will see the new guy watching and even striking at the glass. This is a good sign I very rarely have trouble getting them to take a frozen thawed rat that first time offered. Sometimes though they can be stubborn and hold out a few times but I never give in and offer live and I've never had one starve to death.

The w/c I was mainly refering to though was snakes I catch. Mostly pitvipers. I had to start off an eastern diamondback that I caught this past summer on live but just for one feeding. Frankly, I was thrilled that a w/c eastern ate anything at all. They can be quite challenging. Copperheads, cottonmouths...they just eat. I think I could toss a cat toy in and they would eat it.

Back to the balls...I think a large part of people's problems with feeding is overheating. Cool them down to a range they are more comfortable with (mid 70s to low-mid 80s) I keep mine at with a 75-83 gradient which is what is more inline with the temps they actually spend the majority of their days in the wild at despite what many caresheets state. Since I started keeping them cooler, I don't have near the problem with hold out feeders and they become more active instead of huddled in the coolest spot they can find in an overheated cage.

	Cottonmouth Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) - Also known as a Water Moccasin.

	TOS Term of Service - the rules for participating on redtailboa.net

[Heidi]

Bret, this is great to hear for me. Courtney has had her cage set up for a few days now and thought she was having a hard time with the heat. The cool side is not getting over 77 and she was worried. Her highest temp is 91 at the basking spot with the hot side at 84 ambient. Is this okay? I was worried that Courtney would be stressed with it not eating right away and spent a long time explaining it to her so she wouldn't be concerned. Now that I got the little girl delivered today though I'm not sure that will be a problem. She is all over her cage already.

[JuliusSqueezer]

As long as she has plenty of room to escape the heat, I don't see a problem expanding the gradient and offering more choices. Once in a blue moon she may even like to sit at 90 degrees for a little while. But I rarely ever see ball pythons seeking temps like that. Most of their range in Africa is quite hot. Some of it along the coast isn't though. But the ones found in the hotter climates tend to avoid heat all day in underground burrows and come out in the cool of the night. We tend to check the climates of an area where our pets are native and don't factor in things like shade and burrows and write caresheets accordingly. Fortunately, ball pythons are extremely resiliant to impropper care so people get away with a lot of fluctuation and varying setups. Watch your snake. If it spends most of it's time on the cool side, the hot side may be too hot. If it hugs the heat constantly, then perhaps the other side is too cool...or you have a gravid snake. Congratulations. Speaking of that, regardless of how your balls are set up, if you do indeed have a gravid female, she should have a 90 degree basking spot available.

[snakebitten69]

well i will add on! i too feed my balls live rat pups and have try the last 4 feeding to get them to eat f\t food! with no luck i feed roxxy last nite and tryed somthing new! i drilled a good size hole in her feeding shoe boxs and put the rats tail thro the hole and did the rat dance with it! she struck it and wraped up on it me and kelly was so happy. been trying for a month now. to find out she spit it out and would not eat it! i left her in the shoe boxs in her cage for a hr with no luck! and letting her go hungry i just cant do! but i look @ it as rat pups cant see or bit os it not to bad now. i will keep trying well see how it works out

any idea will be tryed so feel free to clue me in!


and spotty will only eat mice after his regurg! and that toke 3 weeks but i will get him back on rat pups asap!

[Heidi]

Thanks Bret. She is amazingly giddy about getting her new pet. I'll be leaving in about 45 minutes to bring her to her and I'm already going to miss her. You'd never know by the way she is acting that she was shipped from California to the Carolinas. I have her in a very small tote now though to minimize stress until she gets home.

Snakebitten--How long did you leave the rat in there? An hour? I know some ball pythons don't like to be moved to eat. Maybe feed her while she is in the hide of her cage. Dangle it right outside the door or just leave it there and leave overnight. Even try covering the cage. I don't call it an unsuccessfull attempt until it has sat overnight and still not eaten.