Is there any good way of getting adult BPs to take F/T when they’ve been on live for a while? Most of my snakes will only do live. I know it’s the circle of life and all, but I breed rats, and frankly, their cuteness and intelligence has caused me to develop an affection for them. I’d much rather start euthanizing them than subjecting them to a pretty rough death in the form of live feeding. I know I’m being a pansy, but I can’t help it. I just feel too bad about it.
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When getting into feeding mode, Ball Pythons key off of three things in decreasing order of importance:
- Rodent scent
- Heat signature
- Movement
If you’re doing F/T, thaw the rodent in the reptile room near the enclosure. Sometimes the rodent scent is all you’ll need to get them into feeding mode. Make sure the rodent is significantly warm so the Ball Python can detect the rodent with their heat pits, and use feeding tongs to distance the heat signature of your hand from the heat signature of the rodent. And lastly, if necessary, wriggle the rodent in the tongs. Scent, heat signature and movement, that’s the recipe.
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Yup! I have used this tried and true method for years! Sometimes I add feeding at night to the mix because darkness seems to help……
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