FEEDING

When you get home put your new ball pythons in its enclosure. Do not play with or handle your new snake for a week. Disturb your new ball python as little as possible only check to ensure it has clean water every few days. This will allow the snake to settle in and feel more comfortable in their new enclosure. After a week attempt to feed your new ball python.

Ball pythons should be fed a rodent roughly the size of the widest part of the snake. You can either feed a frozen/thawed (FT) prey or live prey, which we do not recommended. Live prey can scratch or bite the snake. Live prey items also can carry parasites or diseases that are can be transferred to your snake.

The ball pythons should eat every week for snakes up to five years of age. Snakes over 5 years of age can be fed less frequently, usually every 7-14 days. Try to feed your ball python at night. They are nocturnal hunters in the wild. Ball pythons are notorious for being selective feeders. They can stop eating for extended periods of time for as long as a year or more. If your ball python misses two or three feedings, don’t become alarmed. They can stop eating for various reasons including husbandry, breeding season, maturity, and weather. As long as the ball python shows no signs of illness or loss of body weight over 10 %, you should monitor and continue offering food on a weekly to biweekly basis.

How We Feed Frozen Thawed

STEP 1: DEFROST THE RODENT:

You can defrost your rodent in a few different way:

A) Leave out on the counter and let it defrost till the rodent is soft.

B) Place in the refrigerator for a few days again until the rodent is soft.

C) Place in a container with cold water again until the rodent is soft.

D) You can place the rodent in running cold water.

STEP 2: WARMING THE RODENT:

We warm our rodents using one of two ways:

A) Use Water To Warm The Rodent:

Place the defrosted rodent in hot water. The water should be hot but you should be able to put your hand in the water. The goal is to heat the rodent all the way through, but not cook the rodent. Leave the rodent in the water until it is very warm to the touch usually around 5-10 minutes. After the rodent is warm get another container with boiling or almost boiling water. Hold the rodent by the tail and quickly dunk the whole rodent. Do not allow allow the rodent to stay in the water, just dunk and remove. If you leave the rodent in the boiling water, it will explode and the guts will come out. You do not want to experience exploded rodent, it is gross and smells horrible. You want to dunk the rodent 1-2 times. Next, holding the rodent by the tail submerge only the head in the boiling water for 10-20 seconds. Pat the rodent on a clean dry paper towel to remove any dripping water. Hold the rodent with feeding tongs between the shoulder blades and offer head first to the snake. Thrash the rodent on the floor of the enclosure. Shake the rodent and move it around in the tub slowly. Avoid touching the snake with the rodent. Your snake will start flicking its tonuge and pick its head up. Move the rodent slowly in front of your snake and wait for a strike.

B) Heat Using Light To Warm The Rodent:

Place the defrosted rodent under a flood light or other heat producing light. We have a few videos on building a rodent warmer and using the warmer.