I Guess Im Lucky

*****I do not want any more posts about live vs f/t. That is not the topic of this thread. THANK YOU*******


I keep reading about how most BPs are very picky eaters. Mine is the complete opposite. It doesn't care how big, small, or the color of the food.....it just wants to eat. Since he started eating for me (side story) he has never refused food.



Side story..........

I will try to make this as painless as possible.

I got my Ball Python from a co-worker Sher. Her son in law got him when he was a hatching and took good care of him till he was about 32" then lost interest. Sher went to visit one day and noticed the Ball Python was in bad shape and not taken care of....no water...it had not eating in about 2 months ....nothing but substrate and an empty bowl in the cage. The heat was provided by a 60 watt light bulb. And the Ball Python was lifeless and partially on his back.

[Oh yeah...there was 2 live mice left to roam in the cage too.

Sher filled the water, places him in it and watched him more or less come back to life in just a couple of hours. She then just told them she was taking it PERIOD. She loaded the 50 gal aquarium in her mustang and went to work. She did all of this and she is scared of snakes. I guess sometimes our passion for doing the right thing overrides our fears.

When I got to work she told me the story and said she was looking for a home. I jumped at the chance.

I got it home and being my first snake I jumped on the pc and started reading everything I could.

I didn't have any probs handling him. He wasn't skittish at all.
I tried many failed attempts to feed him. He just was not interested. I noticed that his tongue was blunt...not forked. I spoke with a vet and she said due to that I may have to force feed, I never tried it. I knew that the stress of being severely dehydrated was probly why he wasn't eating.

One day I noticed that he was very active...like looking for food. I dropped a mouse in there and immediately nailed it. He quickly worked up to, now, med rats. He has stayed a very active eater since.

He really fattened up and is now a little over 38" and healthy.

I'm very happy with the out come and I am still learning a lot.

I now have a second snake. A hatching corn (normal) that my gf got for my birthday this last December.

His tongue healed....somewhat. its not forked but it is pointed now. My biggest question is the last 1/8" or so, of his tongue is white.....not pink like the rest. Anyone have any info on this?


BTW....I am currently researching what I want for my 3rd snake. I am really leaning toward a Columbian Boa but not sure yet.

It might just be scar tissue, but maybe talk to your vet to see what he/she thinks.

I just want to say that is a beautiful normal ball, I dont think they get as much credit as they deserve.

Are you by chance feeding live prey?
If so it is really a good idea to transition to killed, or frozen thawed, for the safety of your snake.

Theres a pretty good chance that a mouse took the tip of his tounge off. Live prey will fight for its life injuring, or killing the snake. It only takes one good bite over the spine or head to kill.
Frozen mice are cheap in bulk, usually free of parasites, because freezing kills them, and you dont have to feed , house, or water them. They are just as if not more nutricious than live, because they are raised for the sole purpose of being food.

I do feed live. Please no bashing as I have read about all of the pros and cons and I choose to still feed live.

His tongue was like that when I got em and the vet said it was most likely due to the severe dehydration.

Thanks for the complements and I agree.

Certanly no one, myself included, is here to bash you. I always thought the cost and ease of storage would be a huge sellng piont for feeding f/t.

I feed mine f/t and he still attacks like its alive, coiling and every thing, As long as its warm he goes for it.

Might I ask as to why you still feed live?, just for my own curiosity.

Thats interesting about the dehydration, Ill have to research that myself, for it dosent really make sense.

Thanks for not bashing but I do see a LOT of it for feeding live.
Reason? I like things to be as close to nature as possible.
I do feed my corn f/t but only cuz there is not a supply of live pinkies in my area. It's a pia as I tend to forget about the pinky gettin thawed out and get busy or leave and I still have a pinky in a cup of water.

Originally Posted by target1911

Thanks for not bashing but I do see a LOT of it for feeding live.
Reason? I like things to be as close to nature as possible.
I do feed my corn f/t but only cuz there is not a supply of live pinkies in my area. It's a pia as I tend to forget about the pinky gettin thawed out and get busy or leave and I still have a pinky in a cup of water.

Thawing a mouse would be a minor inconvenience, as far as im concerned, as compared to housing live prey, making sure they are fed appropriate diets, and or buying live prey constantly to feed. Espessially not knowing how those mice were fed, which usually isnt well, so are nutritionally unbalanced.

Also snakes in nature die from secondary infection, or primary trauma from a prey item fighting back. The idea of captive snakes is to provide them with optimal enviroment to live lives that surpass that of thier wild counterparts.

Internal and external parasites are another concern, mites are very hard to get rid of in the captive enviroment, and can spread to your whole collection. Intestinal worms can very easily take over if the immune system is comprimised,and can be fatal if left untreated.

Trust me, vet bills add up, why make more work for yourself, or incur unnessecary vet bills that could be avoided by feeding appropriate prey.

Also, your snake does not care whether it is live or dead, like I stated, my snake still attacks like its alive, because it is a response that is very instinctual. He will not be sad that he did not kill a mouse himself, because snakes do not think like that, they just are not capable of that higher level of thinking.

The reason I mentioned the missing tongue being caused by prey is because, you stated that the snake was housed with mice, and there are quite a few documented cases of snakes taking bites to the tongue sheath, and much, much worse.

You have very valid points......of which I am already aware of. I am thinking of changing over but not till I get my own place. Thr roommates don't like rats in the freezer with the people food. :-/ but I have been considering it

Please stop using shorthand in your posts. It is a direct violation of our rules which can be found here. These are the same rules you agreed to when you joined. Thanks for understanding.

I'm sorry about that. It's a hard habit to break. :-/

Originally Posted by target1911

You have very valid points......of which I am already aware of. I am thinking of changing over but not till I get my own place. Thr roommates don't like rats in the freezer with the people food. :-/ but I have been considering it

Ah, yes, roommates, they can be bothersome. Maybe wrap them in a paperbag? Or try explaining that it really isnt any different than the dead chicken or cow peices in the freezer, ya know?

Until you get your own place, there is instructions on how to design a co2 chamber to euthanize the mice before feeding. You can use a cannister, or some people use dry ice.