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Proud of my Ball

4K views 41 replies 8 participants last post by  mplsmommy 
#1 ·
I have a ball python, Ladon, he's always been a picky eater as most balls are. He has always eaten live, if it didn't move he wouldn't eat it. We've had our issues, he had one rat that decided it was going to eat him and he ended up with a quarter size chunk missing out of his back.
Well, this past weekend I decided when I went to pick him up food from my local reptile shop that he was going to try a frozen rat this time. Warmed it up for him, put him into the tub(I don't want him to swallow his substrate) and tossed in the rat to give it some "movement" He smelled it, but was a bit more interested in exploring. Gave it one more nudge for another shift, and he struck it! Took him about 10 minutes to get it down and swallowed.
So proud of him, and happy that I'll be able to save money and time and that he'll be safer.
 
#2 ·
Great job Ladon! :)

Hopefully, simulating movement can excite him to eat the frozen meals more.
 
#3 ·
I just have to find a cheap pair of tongs to use. I actually used the handle of my fish net to nudge it. I'll just have to go to the dollar store and then label it Not for Human Use lol.
 
#4 ·
My Beardie recognizes the tongs as a food (worms) giving implement :p
 
#5 ·
That's cool! I'm surprised I haven't gotten one yet since I don't really like touching rats or having my fingers that close to a hungry snakes food.
 
#6 ·
My teacher use to have a reticulated python in class (had to take it home after it strangled a student o.o) but before it tried eating 13 year olds he had to to thaw his mice and used a pair of raptor gloves, held the rat above it's head and wiggled it by the tail so Winky would see it, see the heat, and grab it. So long as you imitate it's movement he should take it.

And not surprised a rat attacked him xD rats eat smaller snakes in the wild. They have VERY high prey drives. I can't let my rats around my cat because one of my girls had my cat by the throat and was biting into her making her bleed. Most people don't know it but rats are amazing hunters and can even work in groups, in the wild they hunt and kill birds, reptiles, small mammals, and insects. Some even kill and eat fish. I caught Fili sitting on the fish tank with her paws in the water waiting for my betta to get curious and once I gave them a bucket with six live feeder minnows and my two rats dived on in and had eaten them all up before the fish could reach the other end of the bucket. Hard to beat such smart things and with those jaws yeah...feeding live is super dangerous with those things. They can be great pets but so aggressive towards other animals. My friends rats killed both her morning doves once and broke into her gecko's cage because she didn't lock the lid and they ate him too.
 
#9 ·
i love snakes. i admire any large constrictor but id rather not own ont that pushes 6 ft long. the length of the snake isnt as important as the size and trength they can have. something similar to ball pythons is just perfect imo. i like corn and garters snakes though i love the colourful tropical vipers much more.
 
#11 ·
i wonder if i could invent a machine that attaches to the side of a terrarium and will keep a mouse or rat corpse wiggling until the snake decides to eat it. maybe a rotary motor like a desk fan, attached to a semi-slacked cord that would jerk the food back and forth.
 
#13 ·
i've not done a lot of reading on snakes for the last ten years or so, but if i remember correctly they use their heat sense to locate prey at a distance, then when preparing to strike, they primarily guide themselves by vision.
 
#15 ·
yeah. it's best because the light used by their eyes travels faster than heat, and snakes are fully capable of striking fast enough that the difference between the two is actually noticeable to them.
 
#20 ·
Bit like me in that case :lol:

Congratulations, mplsmommy! It must be a lot easier for you now, I hope the trend continues. I've never owned a snake but I find them utterly fascinating.
 
#21 ·
i think if i was gonna have a large-scale reptile, i'd definitely go for a savannah monitor. i love snakes, but lizards just seem to have more personality.
 
#23 ·
Lizards do. I have owned a snake, wasn't my fav pet, never bonds, never cares about humans, in fact I think they are the opposite, they only tolerate us but would be happier left alone. I felt like a horrid burden to mine and felt it would have been happier not being a pet and gawked at. Didn't have much personality and mostly just hid under it's water dish where i put it's minnows for the most part. The only time it was horribly exciting was when it ate minnows. My iguana on the other hand was a freaking clown xD. He was lovable, looooooved being pet on the head and would shake his head to music like he was dancing, chased the cats, when he was little climbed the curtains and looked at you like "Tee hee I am being naughty and you can't get me." He was a spunky large fella and you could tell he enjoyed being with his humans because he came when called and followed us around the house. If we were in the kitchens he was in the kitchen waiting for table scraps. If we were watching movies he wanted to be put on the couch. Use to sit in your lap too and had a cute little face. I would say in the reptile world I am def more of a lizard person than snakes. Snakes look pretty but aren't too interesting, lizards are crazy funny. I'm chomping at the bit right now for a gecko myself or a water dragon. I considered a bearded dragon because I know someone who had one and he was so loving but eh, I love my water dragons and iguana's and gecko's more. A big monitor lizard would be HEAVEN for me but the risk is too high. Those things can rip you apart with their claws and their bites are painful and they get so big a cage would never be well suited for them unless it took up a room. Lizards just remind me so much of dinosaurs too. Looking into even a gecko's eyes I swear I see T-Rex roaring in them. A little piece of evolutionary history. ....I also see the stupid insurance commercial Gecko within the eyes of a gecko and it brings them great shame T.T

I mean that face...eeeeeee
 
#24 ·
Mine is a clown. I don't think any reptile loves it's owner. But, if someone else is holding Snake, he'll desperately try to get back over to me. Good enough for me. I don't need a lot of attention from my animals.
 
#26 ·
Mine didn't like being taken out of the tank period. It just didn't like human interaction and preferred to be left alone. When I removed it from the tank then she would reach out for the glass and try to go back in. Not sure if it's a corn snake thing or what but unlikely since my cousins king is the same way. He's rather be in his bin than around humans. It wasn't for lack of trying either, i tried to make her social but you can't force a solitary animal to like you, especially one that most likely thinks you are a dangerous predator since they are a smaller snake and do have the instinct to be on their guard for birds, mammals, and larger snakes.

I like more social animals which is why I love betta's so much. For being fish they are pretty social animals. My iguana even let hug him. I miss Godzilla, he was even leash trained sooooo cuuuute he was.
 
#28 ·
Really? All my betta are supper friendly, when I get close to the tank they swim up waiting for food, when I put my hand in the water they swim around it until I have to sush them away so I can finish what I am trying to do. Aquarius even swims into my hand if i cup it underwater and chills like it's a sofa for fish xD. Hollow has gotten very use to people, at first when i got him he was skitish and would hide but now he swims to the top when I approach and has even done a few curious nips to my fingers. Nix...she's just a skuzz bucket and follows my hand around her tank like i am going to break something and she's going to have to yell at me for it. If fish can be OCD she is, move anything even a little out of place she spazzes so every time i'm in her tank correcting it (she rips the plants out of the gravel xD) she's watching me like a hawk to make sure i don't mess up what she has done.
 
#29 ·
Really OT, but your pic looks almost exactly like the front of my house Olympia! :p

I really wish I could have a snake, but BF is scared of them :( My choice would be an Eastern Garter or Ball Python.
 
#30 ·
my realistic choice would be a corn snake if i had room for a suitable tank. Bothreichis Aurifer is my favorite snake though price, rarity and especially venomous types arent in favor of my current reptile experience. if i had the money, space and experince id get that pit viper first chance i get.
 
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