Feeding Wild Caughts

[dumje]

I have 8 female wild caught adults. I am going to prepare them for next year and hopefully breed them to a Pastel male and maybe an albino male..both to be aquired.

I am looking for suggestions on how to get them to eat.

Anybody have any experience in this?

I am going to pick up some gerbils in a couple of weeks but I do not want to have to rely on Gerbils.

[Double "D" Reptiles]

Try using dark colored (wild appearance) live mice at first fed at dusk or a little after. May want to use a red or blue light to see by that won't affect their routine. As quickly as you can get them to feed on something live and moving, go to stunned yet kicking, then to fresh killed and eventually you CAN switch them over to frozen/thawed. Just be ready to take some time on this. Also, this process makes it pretty darned easy to switch them onto whites and upsized to rats, whether white lab or chinese hooded.

You may need to provide them with hide boxes while feeding as they often will prefer to strike/feed from cover.

David

[dumje]

thanks David

I have the hide spot for them. I use a ceramic pot upside down. I nake the hole bigger with a hammer. I also put a heat pad undder the tank.

[MGReptiles]

Sell them and buy some CB's they are so much easier. I have had the imports and Ch before and it just isint worth it..But that just my 2 cents

[Clay Davenport]

I have 8 female wild caught adults. I am going to prepare them for next year and hopefully breed them to a Pastel male and maybe an albino male..both to be aquired.

I assume, since you are inquiring about getting them to eat, that these snakes are recent imports.
Balls normally require an acclimation period which may take from 1-3 or more years before breeding activity will be seen.
To plan to breed them next year, let alone all 8 of them, is extremely optomistic, and IMO, highly unlikely.
You have issues of parasites to be treated, getting them on feed and stabalized with adequate fat reserves, and the breeding season will be starting in 6-8 months.

You're actually not gaining anything but aggravation really by going the cheap route with WC adults. By the time you get them acclimated and ready to breed, you could have raised up 8 captive born females with little trouble at all.
That's why WC adult females are $50 and CB or at least captive hatched adult females start at $200. You can breed the latter when you get them, but you'll invest alot of time in the WCs just to get them established, let alone breeding.

[BallBoutique]

Make sure they feel safe...hide box
Use dark rodents.
Use gerbils only if you need them.

[cka]

JMHO why not buy some cb or ch hatchlings...spend the few years (along with what ever morph male(s)) you want to breed and get them established as good healthy eating big girls :*)

[dumje]

I appreciate your concerns and opinions about the Wild caught vs. import debate. If you must know we have some CB also.


My question is about how to get them to eat. I have had imports before and was maybe thinking some people knew some things that I do not.

So please no more posts on the WC vs CB issue

thank you

[geckogod2]

try feeding them in paper lunch bags (maybe consider grocery store paper bags for large snakes).. as long as they feel secure and relaxed enough they will eventually feel comfortable to feed on their own..just keep trying like once a week or two...