My ball python is now eating rat crawlers. I've been told that it is safer to transition him to killed prey so that he's not a risk for injury from larger prey. How do I do that? I really don't want to kill the prey myself. Is frozen thawed just as healthy? How do I get the size I need?

The anwser is somewhat difficult. If you can get your BP to take FT. I would start by trying fresh killed rats first and see if their taken for 2-3 feedings than try Frozen. I haven't had luck keeping my Balls on frozen prey every now and again they decided they'd rather not eat unless its live.

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Frozen thawed is just as good as the "real" thing, in terms of nutritional value. My babies had only eaten a couple of times when I got them, but they had been fed live prey and I was worried about transitioning them to f/t.

A couple of tricks I have learned: warm up the thawed prey with a hair dryer so that the snakes can "see" them better. They are much more likely to go for something that is the same temp as live prey. Also, if you don't already have any, get yourself some tongs or hemostats, hold the prey by the tail with them, and put on a show for your snake. I've had great luck with putting them on the floor of the feeding box and wiggling them around with really short jerks. Sometimes they like to go with the "dangle" method, too.

As far as getting the size that you need, any pet store that sells f/t prey should keep a variety of sizes on hand. I use the charts on rodentpro.com to figure out which size my snakes need (10-15% of their total body weight), and then just go to the pet store and ask. I usually tell them what size I need (i.e. fuzzies, hoppers, small adult, etc.) as well as give them the weights they should be. I learned that one the hard way. I asked for adult mice (which they told me was what their baby ball pythons were eating), and they gave me these rediculously gargantuan mice. That's what I get for not checking the merchandise before I pay for them.

As Titus suggested, fresh killed may be a good option to start with, too. Some stores will kill live feeders for you if you ask, or so I have heard.

Good luck!!

Frozen/thawed is alot easier and safer than using live, plus the freezing process will kill any little nasties that may have been on the mice/rats.

When I switched mine over, I had started with live, then prekilled then finally frozen/thawed. My snakes took the switch easily, but corns usually are a little easier to switch over than balls are. As suggested you may just have to use some tricks.

You can order frozen prey at most pet stores I believe. Also you can do it online. I use RodentPro and just order in bulk so I can store what I don't use. I have found (at least in my area) that ordering online in bulk is much cheaper than driving to the pet stores and ordering the same amount of mice there.

And yes, some stores will kill the prey for you and some won't. I guess you'd just have to ask. I used to work in a pet store that did it for you if you asked them to.

If you do decide to go the frozen/thawed way eventually, make sure the prey is heated up completely through. If there are any leftover cold spots in the prey sometimes it rots in the snake's stomach and can cause regurges.

Good luck!

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