Have a quick question, I’ve got a male BP he was a really good eater, never denied a f/t rat…until recently…he went into shed a month ago (nice perfect shed) after his shed he quit eating f/t so I waited a while and offered again and still nothing, he shows interest but then just curls up in a ball, last week I picked up a live rat (same size as the frozen ones he normally eats) I monitored him with the rat and he ate it like a champ. I offered him a f/t rat today and same thing curled up in a ball and refused it. I’ve got 4 other ball pythons and none of them have refused to eat. I know he’s not on a hunger strike because he ate the live one last week, any advice to get him back on f/t?
Maybe try scenting it? at some places you can get frozen thawed rats that are scented like live rats, that’s something I’ve heard breeders do a lot, or it’s something kind of gross but if you’re up for it, there’s this thing I forgot what it’s called, but basically poke a hole in the head of the rat and the brain oozes out it makes it very enticing to the snake.
It’s called braining.
I remember in the 90’s when this issue came up all the time. Some people just gave up feeding balls anything but live. But I had heard it had gotten better
I had a female do this. Try thawing the rat not in water. Just sitting out and warm under heat lamp. A wet thawed rat smells different. She was on live like a month then took ft again but won’t if they are thawed in water
She just likes her rats fluffy!
Also you can thaw in a plastic bag(ziplock) in water then when thawed empty the water and fill with hot water and put it back in for a few minutes before offering. Like @spottedbull says; fluffy(not wet) rats, this one is also warm!
Also I assume you are tease feeding it with hemostats or something, I recommend grabbing the loose skin inbetween the shoulder blades not the tail for reluctant feeders, smaller looking and more natural presentation. I’d be a liar if I told you all mine are always on frozen, sometimes they switch like this and most of the time they will go back, some won’t though. The good news is live or frozen your snake is eating! Good luck👍
Yep, I always use ziplock bags.
Yea I’ve been using Ziploc bags with water, read a post on reddit saying to thaw it out in the fridge few hours before feeding and heat up with hair dryer and if they don’t eat you can refreeze it. Can you refreeze rats??? If I unthaw in the fridge for a few hours would it stink real bad??
I’ve never used a hair dryer to warm a rodent. I have thawed in the fridge. I didn’t notice a smell. But I normally thaw on the counter in tap temperature water. Then warm them up with hot water from the tap.
That’s exactly what I do. Worked like a charm up until his shed.
I have heard of tarantulas changing their attitudes after a molt, but not a snake.
Hey @sinisterpythons! If I am feeding a medium or large rat I unthaw it in the fridge overnight in a couple of ziplocks. And no it won’t stink.
Before I offer to my guys, I lay a single ziplock bag with the rat inside on a heat mat and warm it up to room temperature and then I feed, no muss no fuss. And as @banereptiles said, I grip the rat in the middle of the body with the tongs. However, I turn the rat upside down so its nose points up.
I would not scent with anything. If he ate the live rat then there is no need to scent. There is one other thing though. How often do you feed him? My female went off feed for months because I was feeding her a medium ft rat once a week and it was way too much so she took herself off food. Now I feed her every 2 to 21/2 weeks a medium ft rat. She eats every single time now. When you offered your boy the live rat he probably wasn’t that hungry but the fact that the rat was live probably peeked his interest…….
So, I would not offer him more food for a few weeks, if you want to try get him back on ft, and then offer him a size or two smaller ft dry warm rat.
As far as refreezing, I have done it before but I never refroze a rodent twice. However, you will get tons of pros and cons on this so I am not going to condone it.
Best of luck to you @sinisterpythons!
I’ve heard the general rule is you can refreeze a rodent once, but not after it’s been heated up. Basically if you thaw it in the fridge, realize you can’t feed it off before it would go bad, you could refreeze. I don’t personally do this, but others say you can. Never refreeze after you heat it up, bad bacteria has already started to grow and multiply.
Thank you @nswilkerson1! I remember someone here saying something like this about the bacteria and yes this makes so much sense. It may be costly but it’s best to just dispose the rodent to be safe…….
Mmmmmm sous vide rodent!
Seriously though I’m going to use this. I feel silly for not thinking of it
Never refreeze rats, just like you should never refreeze meat, it messes it up or something, but it makes it inedible I guess
It sounds like it is changing it’s eating pattern. As they get older, they tend to not eat as often. As already started, leave it be for a couple weeks then try again. Once it starts eating again, switch to every other week for feeding. Might even have to go a little longer between meals. If you tried breeding it, this can also effect it’s eating. Then again, it could just be on an eating strike. No real reason this happens, they just do it out of the blue.
Not entirely true.
Is It Safe to Refreeze Raw Meat and Poultry that Has Thawed?.
USDA says it’s safe to refreeze after thawing. You lose some moisture and quality, but it doesn’t make it unsafe or inedible.
I appreciate all the feedback! I wish I could reply to each of you and thank you, but next time I go to feed I’m going to try the fridge, before I just put it in a ziplock bag in water. He’s 286 grams currently and I’m feeding him every 7 days. I’ll try preparing the food a little different next time, on a side note my other ones eat like a champ!
I also personally find weekly feedings to be a bit much. Once my babies are over 200 grams or so, I’m usually feeding every week and a half, to 2 weeks. Seem to help with getting them to consistently eat as well