Special Circumstances

BoaVixen · #1 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:03 AM

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 · #2 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:21 AM

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

Smits · #3 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:35 AM

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.

BoaVixen · #4 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:36 AM

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

Stargazer · #5 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:37 AM

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 · #6 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:42 AM

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 · #7 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:46 AM

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 · #8 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:48 AM

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

BoaVixen · #9 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:54 AM

i'll try. I was wondering, should I feed her every week or every two weeks since she is full grown? I wonder why they like different colors?

thank you for everything so far!!

amercnwmn · #10 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:55 AM

Every other week, an appropriately sized rat is fine..

Chubbz · #11 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 02:58 AM

i heard from ball breeders that they feed their adults every 7-10 days

Stargazer · #12 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 03:01 AM

I would think for an adult ball that every week is too much, but I'm not a ball expert. Sorry, I'm too lazy to look for the link, but you can do a search on this site for "switching to f/t" or "feeding live" and see what pops up. There are many recent threads that are packed with suggestions for switching them over.

munge · #13 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 04:02 AM

they could be fine eating weekly or 10 times a year. same goes for most snakes. the heat signature of a frozen/thawed rodent is different in comparison to a pre-killed or live rodent. try a pre-killed rodent and try holding it by the scruff of the neck with forceps/tongs and moving it around like a rat would move.

pre-killed rodents will suffer from rigor mortis and not be edible after a few hours, so you could take a frozen/thawed and leave it over night to see if the snake will take it.

give it a nice hiding place that it will actually use if possible. sometimes they live their privacy, sometimes it's related to the color of the rodent, the size, etc.

try smaller prey, black rats, whatever.

a bite is bound to happen sooner or later with a live rodent. a rat's teeth can shred an eye, cause infection or even death

BoaVixen · #14 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 04:09 AM

I am aware of what damage a rodent can do. Our 8 ft red tail had keepers that were too afraid of her to feed her. they put a few very large jumbo rats in her cage and left them. I am surprised she is alive. she has very very bad scarring, and for such a beautiful animal it is a travesty. The scarring goes away very slowly and not much has changes in the last three sheds.

I know the damage, that is why I am asking for help. I will try the suggestions. it seems like a combination of feeding less frequently, a different color rat, and stunning with movement by tongs will be good. Only time will tell.

Any other suggestions?

munge · #15 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 04:13 AM

you could always find a way to breed toothless rodents.

BoaVixen · #16 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 04:52 AM

yeah, sure.

morti · #17 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 12:16 PM

I haven't read this one in detail, but if it hasn't been suggested already, see if you can find African soft furred rats in your area. Ball pythons love 'em.

BoaVixen · #18 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 03:16 PM

yeah, we tried hamsters and she loves them but they are prettty expensive... and having to go through the "you will take really good care of this animal..." speech everytime could get to be a little difficult in the keeping-a-straight-face department.

Allysen · #19 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 07:02 PM

We have a big old previously wild-caught ball python girl that refused anything but live food before we got her. With her, the trick was going down to the petstore, asking very nicely for some soiled gerbil bedding, thawing out a f/t rat just before bedtime, letting it soak up that lovely gerbil funk, heating it up until it was warm, but not hot to the touch, with a lightbulb, opening her cage as slowly and quietly as possible with all the lights in the room out, placing the rat inside of her hide, and leaving her alone all night. Totally did the trick!

One of our other ball pythons that came to us from an owner who swore up and down she'd never eat anything already dead responded very well to braining a f/t rat, which is where you use a razor and expose the brain a little bit (Actually less gross than it sounds). I barely even set the rat in before there was total striking and coiling, and we only had to brain once. After that, she took them normally without missing a beat.

Even though ball pythons have a reputation for being picky, I think it's just a matter of finding the right trigger for each individual snake. With all of mine, once they eat f/t once, they're pretty much good from then on out. Only need the special treatment the first time, and then it's like something in their little snakey head clicks and they go "OH, so it IS food!" and become little food champions.

BoaVixen · #20 (**permalink**) 08-22-2007, 07:45 PM

Now those are really cool stories. wow, ball pythons are weird.... but you gotta love them for it!

I have heard a few similar ones from a few pet stores that took in rescue ball pythons. I think its high time we started trying them. We just tried to feed her yesterday so we are gonna wait a few days to make sure she is actually hungry.

Thank you!

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