1. live
2. get a large mouse frozen (appropriate size for my Snake is a medium or small rat with a 4.5 in girth)
3. just try to feed my snake every week...

iam just scared my Snake will die.... so confused on what to day...

maleeh

p.s. my Snake is in the 2 foot range

Do number three and feed it every week on the same day of the week. If you get in the habit of feeding every Sunday then you will automatically feed on Sunday or what ever day is best for you. If the snake is in shed on a feed day, just wait until the next feed day to feed it.

As for light, even though ball pythons are nocturnal, they do benefit from a light cycle of some sort. Whether it be a light in the room on a timer, or natural sunlight from a room window, something like that. I have my window in my room covered up by blankets to keep drafts out(winter gets drafty in this old junker of a house, lol), so I had no light in my room all day and night. For a while I kept my snake’s cage in the dark thinking "oh well, bp’s are nocturnal, it won’t bother them". But I started to notice a change in her behaviour. She started to have erratic sleep schedules, and would be wandering her cage at random times. I asked some people who know their stuff with ball pythons, and they recommend I have some sort of light source to keep my bp on a light cycle of some sort. Since then, I’ve just had a heat lamp with a day time bulb hanging high over my bp’s cage, so it’ll shine some light in the tank, but not dry it out with too much heat. She’s back to normal now.

As for offering a smaller sized prey item, it’s up to you. I’d say try an adult mouse and see if that peaks his interest. I’ve heard of people’s bp’s switching over to rats, then suddenly going on a hunger strike, only to break it with a mouse.

1. take snake out of hidding spot and put on bed
2. pull out rat
3. use tongs to fed rat to Snake
4. put snake with rat swallowed in cage
5. leave alone for 2 days

One thing I didn’t see in your steps are any warming of the rat just before feeding. In my feeding steps, just before feeding, I put the rat under a heat lamp for a few minutes to get the rats body temperature up. Then when I’m ready to offer the rat to my bp, I put the rats nose right on the light bulb of the heat lamp. This gets the tip of the nose real warm so my bp will recognize it with her heat pits. She usually strikes right on the nose when I do this.

1. How do u dangle your rat (do u hang it by its tail and move it up and down, do u simulate its walking by dragging it across the substrate, ect.)

2. Can You Refreeze A Rat??

Maleeh

2. try again in 3 days

3. Any suggestions on how to BREAK the hunger strike??

From: Roxmysox99 on 01/09/05 at 2:16pm

Message:

Thanks so much for the tips and suggestions but i have 2 more questions.

1. How do u dangle your rat (do u hang it by its tail and move it up and down, do u simulate its walking by dragging it across the substrate, ect.)

2. Can You Refreeze A Rat??

3. Are My Temps Off (Day Hot=88.9 / Day Cool=75.2 and night is ALMOST the same)

So i should feed like this:
1. thaw and warm up rat
3. Dangle in front of prey when snake is hiding in cage.
4. DONE

Maleeh

P.S. I use tongs for feeding

P.S. Should i use a UTH (only heating source now) for night And my Heat lamp for day?? this will provide higher temps... I also already have a Heat lamp that i dont use...

My Reply:

1. I place the rat in the tongs at mid body, rest it on the cage floor(with a sheet of newspaper laid down so my bp doesn’t eat any substrate), and wiggle it a bit to get her attention. She usually has it snapped up before I even get it to the cage floor though, lol. I think it’s because of my warming techniques.

2. You can refreeze a rat once, yes. But generally it just makes things worse because once it’s thawed once, it starts to decompose. Then refreezing it and thawing it again makes the stomach lining thin and makes it more likely that the gut will bust when your bp constricts. It’s no problem really. As long as the bp gets all the rat and guts down. It’s just messy and smelly, lol.

3. Your temps are sorta off I guess. The warm side isn’t too bad. Generally the warm side should be between 90-95 degrees. But some people keep it at 88-90 and do just fine. Your cool side is a bit low though. The lowest I’d let the cool side get is 80 degrees. Some people say 78 is okay, but I’m not too sure about even that temperature. Try and bump your temps up a bit if you can. Shoot for 90-93 warm side, and 80-85 cool side.

I can’t really say there is a certain way to feed the snake frozen thawed. But I can tell you my method that works for me everytime. I get the best feeding responses with it:

1. Place frozen bagged rat in a bowl or dish. Fill dish with hot tap water. Since the rat usually floats in the water, weigh it down with an object. I use a glass. Refill water every 10 minutes, or when water becomes luke warm. Keep replacing water until rat is fully thawed.

2. Go to snake room. Take the thawed rat out of the bag, and place on a dish of some sort. Put two books or anything with a bit of height on either side of the dish, and place heat lamp over top of them to heat the rat to a good body temperature. Heat it for a few minutes. As you’re doing this, prepare for feeding. I do this by removing my snakes hides from its cage, laying a sheet of newspaper down in a feeding area in the cage, then placing the snake on the paper. Once the snake is on the paper, she knows it’s feeding time. Then I go back to the rat. Put the rat in tongs at mid-to-lower body, and place the rats nose directly on the heat lamps bulb for 5 seconds. This will cause the snake to see the nose as a focal point with the heat pits, and will have a bigger chance of striking right on the nose perfectly.

3. With the tongs, place the rat on the newspaper, and wiggle it gently while having the rats head facing the snake at all times to ensure a nice strike to the head.

4. Jump as the snake strikes the rat with such force, that it almost knocks the tongs out of your hand.

5. Watch snake eat. :)

It might sound like a lot, but it’s only a lot when you describe it. I’d say generally, from thawing, to feeding, it takes me about 30-40 minutes. Mainly because I leave the rat in the hot water thawing out for a bit longer than needed since I’m always watching something on tv, lol. The heat on the rat really seems to entice the snake to recognize it as food and strike it eagerly. I’ve had some feedings where my ball python turned around in her cage, lunged up in the air, and took the rat from the tongs as I was just about to place it in the cage. It might just be my ball pythons feeding response, or the method of feeding I use. I dunno. You can try it though. Good luck!

-Cody