not eating-

OK, so I tried switching my baby ball from live to f/t mice. She is about 14-15 inches. She took one back on 10/4, but hasn't again yet. She bit one a few days later, but didn't eat it. She is visibly slimmer, but I don't know if I should break down and offer a live mouse, or just keep offering f/t? For how long?

If she just ate 2 weeks ago, I wouldn't be too concerned, especially if she has taken a f/t mouse in the past. Keep trying every 5-7 days with the f/t, making sure that it is nice and warm. As long as she was in good shape before you started trying the switch, 2 weeks isn't that long to go.

You could try giving a freshly killed mouse as kind of a more "in-between" step.

If the snake does better and prefers live prey, than feed it live "responsibly" - Aint nothing wrong with feeding live...

Originally Posted by Mike P.

If the snake does better and prefers live prey, than feed it live "responsibly" - Aint nothing wrong with feeding live...

Ditto. Sometimes frozen is just more trouble than its worth (at least for me).

Although if you absolutely won't feed live, then you need to ensure that the frozen prey item is completely thawed and heated to 98 degrees -- the body temp of a living mouse. You also need to use tongs and wiggle it a bit to simulate motion and trigger her hunting response. If she's biting but not constricting, then it's a defensive reaction and she feels scared/threatened. You can also try making sure it is very warm, then leaving it in her hide overnight, allowing her to eat when its completely dark and there is no one around.

Originally Posted by geckogrl6

OK, so I tried switching my baby ball from live to f/t mice. She is about 14-15 inches. She took one back on 10/4, but hasn't again yet. She bit one a few days later, but didn't eat it. She is visibly slimmer, but I don't know if I should break down and offer a live mouse, or just keep offering f/t? For how long?

What was your reasoning for making the switch from Live to F/t? And as cat has already stated 2 weeks is not a long time to not eat. I know I do tend to get a bit panicked when they miss a meal but it should be ok. I have 4 ball pythons that will take either live or F/t but they are aggressive feeders.

starting to cool down here in bama, my balls havent ate in about 3 weeks , mine usually eat more sporadically whne it starts cooling off

Thanks for all the replies guys! I have been warming them and wiggling with tongs, she's not interested. This is a young snake, should I keep offering for another week or two? She is prob less than 6 months, 15 or so inches. And she seems more active, not less. My leos tend to get slower this time of year, is this normal for a bp? I was trying to switch her partly bc its easier on me and partly for her safety. That's also why she's not on rats. I don't worry too much feeding a live mouse, but I don't want to do that with a rat. I thought about leaving one in her hide, but unless there is a reason I don't know about, I'm sticking with feeding her in a seperate tank.

Live mice are just as dangerous as live rats.....really. All of my BP eat live rats (except for a couple that only want to eat ASFR), but you do have to be more careful feeding live. With just a couple of snakes, I would probably make the effort to switch them to f/t personally, but live feeding has worked fine for me also, as long as you do it responsibly.

And well.....I never feed in a different enclosure. That could very well be a large part of the problem. Balls need to feel secure to eat, and moving them around to feed is just asking for problems. People always try to say that feeding them in the same tank will encourage them to become accustomed to it being feeding time whenever you open the enclosure, but that really makes no sense, IMO. As long as you are opening the enclosure regularly (as you should be) to check, spot clean, water, handle the snake, whatever....they are NOT going to be conditioned to have an immediate food response by being fed once out of every several times it is opened. I'm not sure what reasoning you have for "sticking with feeding her in a separate tank", but I just don't see the point myself.

Give her a couple more tries on the f/t, and yes, try leaving it under her hide or in her tank overnight. Do NOT EVER leave a live rodent larger than a crawler rat in with her overnight.

She had no problem eating in a different enclosure when they were live. Don't I need to make sure she doesn't eat the substrate? Also, I'm using the same tank to feed both my snakes- do I need to worry about IBD or perhaps the smell from my male boa is intimidating her from eating?

Originally Posted by geckogrl6

She had no problem eating in a different enclosure when they were live. Don't I need to make sure she doesn't eat the substrate?

You can place the f/t on a deli cup lid to keep it off the substrate.

Also, I'm using the same tank to feed both my snakes- do I need to worry about IBD or perhaps the smell from my male boa is intimidating her from eating?

Is there a reason to think that your boa has IBD?