Ball Python Help Needed By Experienced Owners...?

Question

Hello, I just bought a 8 month old male ball python....he is a very sweet snake, but I have never had one, and need some advice. I want to feed him frozen mice because I can't feed him the live ones...how can I make him eat them? Also, how much will he weigh as an adult, and how long does it take to reach adult size? Any other advice or tips you can offer would be much appreciated...Draco thanks you as well...

Answer 1

First, you have to find out what he was eating before you owned him. Ball pythons are conditioned to eat certain prey, and it may take some work to get them to change. If he was eating live mice, then feed him live mice. After he has eaten a few times you can try to get him to switch to frozen/thawed or rats.

Before you even attempt to feed him, make sure his enviroment is adequate for Ball Pythons. Essentially, they need a temperature gradient from 80-82 degrees on the cool side to 90-92 on the warm side. The best heat source is an under tank heater (UTH) controlled by a thermostat or a light if you must, but do not use a heat rock as they will burn your snake. They also require at least one hide, but preferably two. Balls can get stressed easily and if they get stressed they won't eat. Plus, you shouldn't handle them too much until he starts eating regularly as that will contribute to his stress.

If his environment is right, and if he had been eating frozen/thawed mice, then offer him a meal once a week. Let it thaw out, get it warm (usually you can soak it in hot water from the tap for about 10 minutes after it is thawed), then use tongs to dangle it in front of him. The best feeding time is about an hour after the sun has gone down and he is sticking his head out of his hide. Just dangle it about 1-2 inches in front of him on the floor of his cage.

If he doesn't eat, just try again next week. Don't try to feed him too often as that will stress him out as well.

As a previous person stated, they can go many months without eating so don't get too frustrated. He'll eat eventually if he has a decent environment.

To answer a couple of your other questions, he will weigh between 4 and 6 pounds as an adult and it will take about 3 years before he is considered a "mature" snake, but he will continue to grow (though very slowly) all of his life which may be as long as 40-50 years.

Please disregard the previous post about only feeding live. It is illegal to feed live in some countries, and many thousands of snakes feed exclusively on frozen thawed rodents all of their lives. They both have their pros and cons, but you have to do what is best for your snake and what is more convenient for you. If you do feed live, just keep in mind that you shouldn't keep the rodent in the cage for longer than 10-15 minutes because many snakes of lost eyes or their lives due to hungry or agressive rats and mice.

Answer 2

We have 15 snakes and 4 of those are Ball Pythons. I have NEVER had a problem with any of them feeding, I feed all frozen thawed. It helps keep the snake less aggressive, plus the rats and mice don't have a chance to bite your snake (accidents do happen). I have turned snakes that eat live onto frozen thawed within a month to 2 months. I would first try live (but make sure it is stunned, you can do this by taking the mouse (a small one will do, pinkies are too small to begin with) in the container you got it in and smack it on the driveway or sidewalk to where it is barely moving, place it in the tank with the Ball Python but, stay there with tongs in case it begins to wake up. Try this a few times then try frozen, place it in hot water for an hour. After that dump that water out and place it in hot water again for a few minutes. The food has to be warmer for Ball Pythons than other snakes. I have done this many times and has always worked. Balls are high stress snakes so I would try my hardest to avoid force feeding.

Answer 3

Ball Pythons can go months without eating and then suddenly eat very frequently. Frozen mice are the best way to go, since ball pythons may not eat the mouse right away and the mouse could bite the snake. In order to get him to eat frozen mice, you'll have to mimic a real mouse. Place it in a Ziploc bag and thaw it in warm water. Take it by the tail and drag it by the snake's snout a few times - keep your fingers out of the way. Eventually, the snake will lose his "strike" reflex, as he won't need to capture his prey. At that point, you can just drop the mouse in front of his face and he'll eat it. Ball pythons grow to a manageable 4-5 feet, and they grow slowly, so you'll have plenty of time to save up for a bigger enclosure.

Answer 4

As an amateur herpetologist (reptile conservationist) it is saddening to read letters such as this. Why did you obtain the snake in the first place if you don't know how to look after it? But, you've got Draco now, so let's get you on the right track!
I am pro-live prey for any reptile kept in captivity, as this is the natural order of things as Mother Nature and God intended it to be. Snakes sense their prey by the infra red radiated by their prey's LIVING bodies, and they react to this radiation, as well as the profile of their chosen prey. Some snakes as so prey specific that they won't eat anything else but their selected prey which fits the profile of the food source the snake finds palatable. Pythons usually vary their diet between rodents - any kind: rats, mice and ever larger rodents depending on the size of the snake - and at 8 months your python should be able to handle a fair sized mouse or a medium sized rat. Just be careful with rats: they can become quite aggressive and bite back at your snake, causing serious harm. If you do not like to see your snake devour a live animal, feed him very recently killed prey. You can hit the mouse over the head with a blunt instrument and feed it directly to your snake. (Please do not poison the mouse - it will surely kill off Draco too once he ingests the poison via the dead mouse!) The radiance of the freshly killed prey species will still be enough to convince your snake that the prey is alive. Pythons also eat birds and even chickens (small chicks perhaps in your case).
Please, what ever you do, do not keep Draco in a fish tank! Fish tanks are for FISH, and snakes are not fish. The problem is that carbon dioxide (as a heavier gas) accumalates at the bottom of the fish tank, where there is very little air circulation, and thus your snake suffocates in its own bad breath. Remember too that reptiles are cold blooded - which means they cannot regulate their own body temperature. Keep the room in which you keep your snake at an even confortable temp: 18 - 22 degrees Ceclius (?Fahrenheit) and if necessary provide him with a heater pad under a towel to lie on in a secluded corner of his cage. Remember too that the cage should be at least 2/3's the length of your snake, 1/4 in height and 1/3 in width. Snakes grow out of their skin and need to shed their skin from time to time. One of the first signs are that its eyes start becoming opague (we reptile chaps call it: "Going in the blue" - as the eyes become blueish in colour). Don't over feed your snake either. The average snake consumes about 1/3 its body weight in food, which should last up to two weeks. yet all snakes need water and pythons actually love a good swim, so make certain its water container is large enough for Draco to take a dipo when it feels like it! You can talk to him as much as you want, just don;t expect him to respond - snakes (like kids) don't have any ears and "hear" by feeling the vibrations. Their nasal opening haven't got any smell sensors either, and they smell by "tasting" the air with their tongues! Enjoy him and learn from him!

Answer 5

why can't you feed him live mice ? that's what they want. i wouldn't be suprised if he never ate your frozen mice. a snake will grow as much as he has room and is fed. i had a burmese python for a long time - two actually but one committed suicide. anyways - we force fed him a few times and it was disgusting and unpleasant and i don't believe it worked very well. they have to want it. snakes eat by using their muscles to contract and break the animals bones for easy digestion. thats one reason why i don't think he'll go for mice-icles. we eventually graduated from feeding our snake rats to rabbits. at this point he got a little bigheaded and nasty to deal with. i would not recommend this but what else are you going to feed an 8' snake ?

also you mentioned that the snake is sweet. well that's all fine and good but that kind of thinking will get you bit in no time. snakes are reptiles - they have no emotion - they don't care about you unless they're hungry. just because a snake is docile today - don't let that make you complacent about the inherent dangers of snake ownership because that's when stuff happens.

Answer 6

First, congratulations on choosing a wonderful pet! Most snakes, along with other cold-blooded animals do not like to eat cold food. The easiest way to feed him is to put a live mouse into his cage. You don't have to touch the mouse, just dump it in there. If you simply cannot feed him live ones (remember this is the natural order of the food chain), you have to warm the frozen ones. No, I don't have a suggestion for that. You also want to take him out of the cage and play w/him even when you are not feeding him so he doesn't associate the cage being open with getting fed. As far as his size, it depends on how often you feed him and the size of his enclosure. I had one that was about 3 feet long. Happy petting!

Answer 7

I own a ball python and I say they are one of the best starter snakes you can have. He is very calm and loves to out of his cage and handled. He is about 4 feet now and probably won't get much bigger. They can sometimes be hard eaters but there is usually a reason for it. They can become stresses out and sometimes won't eat. They will come out of it though. As for your friend I would consider the danger this could present and not do it.

Answer 8

Whatever you do.. do not ever place a heating pad in the cage with a snake(as q ball suggested). The risk of burns , tangling in the cords, or overheating and catching on fire is not worth it.
To heat the snake cage to a comfortable temperature you can use an undertank heater or a mounted light on top of the cage works well, too.
Xyz offered great(and correct) advice.

Good Luck!

Answer 9

I have a ball python, but I don't think we're talking about the same thing.

Answer 10

Here's a link that should be able to help you out, sweetie.
Good luck to both you and Draco!

http://www.kingsnake.com/ballpythonguide/