I’ve floated that theory before years ago. I don’t have exact numbers , but I started saving babies that ate f/t right off the bat as breeders so generations have past with just f/t rat eaters. I don’t breed ball pythons in large numbers now. But I still maintain that fussy eaters produce fussy eaters and great eaters right off the bat produce great eaters.
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It’s very intriguing, definitely filing that away to chew on and research some more.
So I assume we are talking dozens? So not like a single or mere handful of individuals but not thousands as well?
@stuartsamazingsnakes if it’s ok with you I’d like to take this convo and run it past a few friends higher on the food chain than me and see if they have ever thought about it before.
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I think this is very interesting anyone else care to weigh in?
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Do you think this is true based on your own experiences, or COULD be true based off what you know about the species?
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If it could be true then is it potentially useful, is it possible to be “sure” enough about this to use as a selling point, etc.
Reason I ask #2 is it’s possible that even if true it may not be useful/worthwhile or practical to pursue. So is it possible, and could it be worthwhile to work towards.
In the case of ball pythons, I found that they tend to take live most of the time even if they don’t need to feed. When I feed frozen thawed they seem to eat when they need to. This has been my experience. If you can stomach waiting long enough, they will switch over when they are ready. Obviously everyone has a different experience but I have had snakes eat live every time and not frozen but eventually they will feed. If it’s a female, sometimes you can just put a male in there and the process of building eggs will make them hungrier and they will eat anything and I have transitioned snakes over to FT this way. Sure, you don’t want to breed a skinny snake, but they are quite resilient. It’s not like they are feeding every single week in the wild
To be honest, I’ve kept reptiles for 30 years. I’ve also been a hobbyist Fisherman in the same time too. I put myself on a pedestal admitting it, but ball pythons are a LOT like fish. Live bait fishermen have a very high success rate across the board, and guys who “know” how to present artificial baits have the same rate of success. You might even argue that some expert artificial bait fishermen are actually better than the guys that use live bait.
There is a very good reason behind this. Live bait guys (equivalent to live feeders) present their offering and wait for a response.
Artificial bait guys (equivalent to frozen thawed feeders) are quicker to employ methods in their attempts.
A live bait guy will cast once and wait.
An artificial bait guy will doubt his placement of his cast, frequently try other locations, speeds, or colors.
Ball pythons, in my humble opinion, are not any more complicated than some of the intelligent sport fish I chase after. As a Musky Hunter, I find myself often applying my fishing tactics to my reptiles. For those of you who don’t know, Musky, or Muskellunge as they are known, are very often called the fish of 10,000 casts. They truly test your patience.
On that level, I have developed patience with my pets. And it has rewarded me very well.
I fish most often with artificial lures, and that might play into my tendency to offer F/T to my pets. Done right, it offers value and sustainability to my collection.
To each their own. I don’t judge people for their preferences. I have just found a lot of success in my methods and continue to do so.
We have an amazing hobby that evolves every day! If it works, keep it up. I just try to do whatever it takes to keep happy, healthy animals.
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this is very interesting. I am also curious as to what your sample size was, adults, babies and how long did you have them? Do you know if the babies you sold continued to eat f/t and also produced f/t only eaters? were they all ball pythons in your experiment?
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Me too very interested to be texted this on to a few big dogs going to follow up this weekend
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i have a 6-month-old male ball python and he was sold to me on live mice and I have been feeding live ever since, I really don’t like it and i was wondering how to switch him over to f/t
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Here’s a similar thread that you should read through:
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I just bought a frozen mouse the same size as the live and offered it to my snake. I fully thaw out the rodent in warm water(that is important) then use a heat gun to warm the head so that my snake strikes at that first.
Usually takes a couple minutes but they take it. To them its alive as long as its at the right temp.
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