So I've never had trouble feeding my little ball... he usually jumps on his food IMMEDIATELY after I start to dangle it in the feeding tank. But a couple of weeks ago I switched to buying frozen rats, instead of killing them myself. I make sure they thaw, and I warm them up in a bowl of hot water before offering them to my snake. But he doesn't even seem interested in them at all! I'm wondering if he can tell that they aren't f/k? The rats are also slightly bigger than the ones I was feeding him previously... I am going to go to the pet store later this afternoon to get a smaller one. Other than that, any suggestions? i know balls sometimes go through fasting periods, so if he weren't such a good eater, I wouldn't be concerned... thanks in advance

How much are you warming them?

They need to be at a temp higher than room temperature.

Also, are you trying to feed it wet? The python may not like that.

After thawing it, try warming it up under a hairdryer until it is dry, and has a pretty high temperature.

You may have to wiggle it around a little or tap his nose or tail with it, but he should eat if he's used to dead prey.

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"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

Punctuation. It saves lives.

I warm it up in a plastic bag, and I warm it up in water that is hot to keep my fingers in. But yea, i feed it to him dry, definitely warmer than room temp, etc. I wiggle it around by the tail, all the things I usually do when I feed him. I just got back from the pet store... I'm trying something a little bit smaller. i'll see if he takes it tonight :-\.

You could also try a much smaller meal than he usually eats then while he's eating that one, offer the frozen/thawed rat as soon as the tail end of the previous meal starts to disappear. Sometimes they just need a little bump towards eating bigger sized or frozen/thawed prey. and if that doesn't work you can always skip like 2 weeks feeding and then offer the frozen/thawed food. Skipping a few weeks will not hurt him at all.

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yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear

Sooooo he ate the mouse. I think he knows the difference between f/k and f/t, or maybe he gets hungry when I put him in the feeding tank, because that's where I keep the mouse/rat until it's time to eat. Maybe he smells it? I would really like to start feeding him f/t--CHEAPER! any ideas at all?

Next feeding have one of each item ready.
As the snake is swallowing the regular, using forceps, just place the new item in behind so that it just follows the first one in.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

hmm I don't have forceps... and would that be too much food for him? i don't want the poor guy to explode ;-).

where do they sell forceps anyway?

thanks

Any hobby shop or place that sells tools.

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

It won't be too much food. Just use a smaller prey item and have the bigger one that you are ready to use at hand for when the smaller prey starts going down. Snakes can eat things bigger than the widest part of their bodies. And if he does eat both of them he may not want to eat next time so don't be surprised. My snakes all eat adult mice. They used to eat every week when they were on smaller items when they were younger but now sometimes they will eat every other week. They can go for a longer period of time on a larger sized prey item.

He will get used to the larger size prey so you won't have a need for the little stuff anymore!

Frozen/thawed is DEFINITELY cheaper. At least I think it is. I order my mice in bulk online.

__________________

yes i am a she ^_^

~My Babies~

1 Rosy Boa (male) Chaos
1 Snow Corn (male) Blizzard
1 Anertherystic Corn (male) Bullet
1 Senegal Parrot (male) Shadow
2 dogs (male) Spot and Bear

yea, he's a pretty little guy still... i think about 4-6 mo. old maybe? i'll try the double whammy next week when I feed him again thanks guys