Topic brought up....ad naseum..... "When and how do you know if a Ball will eat?"

Jeff_Favelle · 02-17-05, 06:26 AM

Feeding Ball Pythons is an art form. There's a RIGHT way to do it, and there's MANY wrong ways to do it.

They show you EASY clues when they want to eat (already covered in another thread here on this forum). They also show an equal number of clues when they aren't interested in feeding. Learn to read the snake(s) and you'll have a much more efficient and rewarding feeding regimen.

Open up the cage, head poking out, waving in the air, tongue flicking rapidly, snake looking like if you picked it up, it would bite you, etc etc etc. Perfect signs for a BP that would eat ANYTHING.

Graphic for those who cannot visualize this. Maximize on your screen, as I took this in complete darkness with 2-foot tongs in one hand, camcorder in another, and flashlight in my mouth. yeah, not easy. The things I do to make a point.............

http://members.shaw.ca/jefffavelle/ball_eat1_new.wmv

Jeff_Favelle · 02-17-05, 06:28 AM

Also, notice I didn't fwap (yes, fwap) the snake on the head or body with the rat. Yeah, it works with some, but if you own a LOT of BP's, you'll soon realize that tease-feeding is a dead end with this species. Warmed rat, 1 inch from the nose.

tonyb · 02-17-05, 07:06 AM

do you always feed your royals in the dark?

i need to get some longer tongs i think, mine are only 6" long which leaves about 3" of plastic between me and the rat......

Bristen · 02-17-05, 07:16 AM

LOL! Jeff, that's a great video... I would of loved to see you film it though hehe... you should get one of those lights you can stick on your forehead with a band/strap... this would freeup one hand for stuff like that :-)

Thanks for sharing,
Bristen.

ps: I've also noticed that 90% of the time you can do whatever dance you want, if it doesn't want to eat, it just doesn't want to eat.. I have way fewer ball pythons than you, but I have noticed this before.. I still tease feed for every meal as I feel that my snakes only exercise is to "kill" their frozen/thawed rat so I often make the f/t rat put up a small fight :-)

Artemis · 02-17-05, 07:17 AM

Jeff that was a cult classic right there! Python feeding meets the blair witch project! Time to send it to sundance.

I agree with the longer tongs thing too, Tony. Mine arent all that long either.

Bristen · 02-17-05, 07:23 AM

Tony,

I always feed after dark... I light up the room with a small infra-red heat lamp (something like 75W), which I often dim somewhat so that it is not too bright... this way, I don't have to keep a flash-light in my mouth like Jeff heh!

Bristen.

greenman1867 · 02-17-05, 10:38 AM

Jeff that is an absolutely invaluable video, and yes, although the topic has been brought up many many times, I think it is still worth reposting it to help all us newbs. For example, even though I had read as much as I thought possible on feeding, I was still a bit concerned about my little girl because she is so small she doesn't really have alot of room to lose weight. However in some of the responses from you in fact, I learned something new about "signs" if a BP will feed. I had never read that anywhere before.

Please keep posting to the same tired old questions, for the second or ten it takes to reply you really are helping people out.

All you guys are such a wealth of info you have the ability to help new owners and even help convince them to really get into Herpoculture, but you also have the power to drive people away.

Anyways, thanks for the info, like I said, it is amazing. That video was awesome.

I for one know now that I am making several mistakes when feeding, and have been fortunate that 7 of my 9 snakes don't care how dumb I am and eat regardless. Now hopefully I can do the right things to help the other 2 along.

Shawn

Vengeance · 02-17-05, 11:32 AM

I think Jeff is just looking for excuses for using his new Camcorder, lol

Jeff_Favelle · 02-17-05, 12:36 PM

LOL, you guys are too funny! Jerks.

J/K ha ha!

Tony, yeah I always feed in the dark (or mostly dark). Every snake I own is nocturnal. They'll eat during the day, but most are sleeping. Try to keep it as natural as possible.

Cheers guys! This is one thing they don't teach in all the care-sheets or BP manuals. Yet, to get them to eat, is the most important part! Go figure eh? I'll get a better video this weekend. The adult Ball Pythons are eating like MAD! I had 9 outof 11 do the exact same thing as in the video last night.

Spirit · 02-17-05, 12:37 PM

My ball will do exactly that, but then turn away from the rat and lose interest.

I feed in a seperate container though... it's hard to tell from that video, but do you feed in the tank?

greenman1867 · 02-17-05, 12:40 PM

I was going to make a "new video recorder" comment too, but forgot with all the other stuff I was thinking. Very cool though Jeff, keep em coming

Jeff_Favelle · 02-17-05, 12:56 PM

Same tank. People don't pull Ball Pythons out of their holes or rock crevixes in the wild to eat. Gotta keep it simpe for these guys. Some are monster eaters under all circumstances. Most are picky and need special conditions.

Spirit · 02-17-05, 01:06 PM

I dont neccessarily mind feeding in the tank, but how does one go about doing this?

When I got my first corn, I was advised to NEVER feed in the tank for several reasons, but my concern is ingestion of substrate. The corn will eat in his sperate container, but maybe that's why my ball is being fussy about his meals? He's DEFINITELY interested in it... just won't tag it.

BOAS_N_PYTHONS · 02-17-05, 01:12 PM

JEFF:

Nice video, I feed day and night but have noticed alot with Balls and ETBs the night works better and is worth trying it always.

But I think I saw you slip a $20 in the cage and the ball did what you wanted, lol.

Joking

Tony

Vengeance · 02-17-05, 01:40 PM

Spirit

Feeding in the cage is the same as feeding out, except you don't move your Ball to a new cage. Offering the prey item should be the same, but you Ball get's to eat in what I'm sure he would feel is a much more secure enviornment.

As for substrate ingestion, if your worried about it, there are a couple of options. One being to place a piece of paper over the area you are feeding, problem with that is if your ball drags the item off the paper you run into the same problem. My suggestion would be to change your substrate. Use newspaper or paper towel as then you won't have to worry about substrate ingestion. If you dead set on a particle substrate I would get carefresh as it is one of the only substrates that I know of that advertises the fact it is safe to ingest in small amounts. I used to use care fresh, but I find that newspaper makes a better substrate, easier to controll temps, no worry of substrate ingestion, and meets the needs of my ball pythons.