Special Circumstances

[BoaVixen]

I have an adult ball python, she was wild caught by a police officer who kept her, very poorly, for a few years. He kept her in a cage with dirt, no heating apparatus, and would leave a live rodent in the cage with her night and day if it wouldn't eat. Three months later(the rat has been in there the whole time) we get her because we have 5 others and know pretty well what we are doing (we as in my boyfriend and I). She refused to eat for 3 weeks. We put the rat in the cage, stunned, and she would ignore it, or be afraid of it. It was only a medium rat.

She will not eat unless the rat is live. It has to come up to her face and sniff her nose before she eats it. So what do youi expect me to do? She refuses to eat anything but a very animated, live rat.

[Chubbz]

use a dead one and with tongs wiggle it right in front of her face

[ssjsmits]

dip a f/t rat in chicken broth, with tongs of course I did that with my royal that didn't eat for like 6 months. Worked like a charm.

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

[BoaVixen]

We have dangled stuff in front of her for 5 minutes. She won't take.

[Stargazer]

Does she have scars on her from previous rat bites or scratches? If so, it would be to her benefit to try to switch her over. There are many tricks that are documented in this site. She could also be just adjusting to her new surroundings. Three weeks is not a long time for an adult ball to go w/o eating. If dangling doesn't work, I would next try leaving it in or near her hidebox with lights out and cage covered. That works for my finicky boa.

I have heard of a few snakes that have a very swift and accurate strike, and have never gotten injured. But why take the chance unless nothing else works.

[BoaVixen]

She has no injuries and she didn't eat for about 4 months. The three months was the same rat in her cage. yeah, that isn't very long but now she eats only if they are live. So what is she telling me? That she only wants live? Or that she only wants to eat every two weeks? Or should I find a new method?

Our small snakes only eat live. But once they get to medium rats we prekill, but we can't with her yet, she ignores it if it isn't breathing and squirming of its own accord.

[Stargazer]

I've heard it's very hard to switch ball pythons over. There are so many tricks, though, that I would certainly try all of them first before giving up. You could try just stunning the rat to where it still twitches. (I personally cannot kill or stun a rat). If all else fails, it is probably better for her to eat live than to starve, especially if she has no injuries.

[Chubbz]

some balls perfer certain colors....try mixing it up a bit