Ball Python won't eat rats..

by **boaboy** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:03 am

Hi Taryn7,
I have heard of people getting their problem balls to eat rats by defrosting rats in chicken stock, also if you defrost them with a blow drier, never tried any of these on mine but hear they do work. I had the same problem with a mall ball and all I did was say if he is hungry he will eat and 9 months later he did! Don't worry people I monitored him closely and he never lost much weight in that time and is now at the 1.2kg mark!

by **Bundu Boy** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:19 am

Taryn7 wrote:
Bundu Boy wrote:I was at the show as well and held that big ball, he's actually not that big, Con said he weighed in at about 1.8kg or so and was 8yrs old, females can get as big as 4-5kg, I'd love to see one of those girls!

He told us it weighed over 3 kg..
I would love a 5kg ball

Ha ha, I must have been staring at the pied ball when he told me the weight... and I only registered half.....

by **Bundu Boy** » Mon May 04, 2009 11:38 am

boaboy wrote:Hi Taryn7,
I have heard of people getting their problem balls to eat rats by defrosting rats in chicken stock, also if you defrost them with a blow drier, never tried any of these on mine but hear they do work. I had the same problem with a mall ball and all I did was say if he is hungry he will eat and 9 months later he did! Don't worry people I monitored him closely and he never lost much weight in that time and is now at the 1.2kg mark!

I've read about that also, using chicken stock, may be worth giving that a whirl....

by **Taryn7** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:04 pm

Thanks Boaboy - I will certainly try that if the rat pup thing doesn't work.. I am willing to try anything!
My mom keeps telling me to leave him and he'll eat when he's hungry.. But its really hard just to leave him knowing what a good eater he has always been..

Bundu Boy - I don't blame you - I spent alot of time staring at those snakes.. But since I have never seen a ball that big I was amazed! I would love to see some that are bigger than that... Wow!

by **Taryn7** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:06 pm

Just wanted to add a couple pics of my boy

His name is Ajay

by **Wolf777** » Mon May 04, 2009 9:28 pm

He's beautifull.

by **Taryn7** » Mon May 04, 2009 10:30 pm

Thanks Wolf

by **Bundu Boy** » Tue May 05, 2009 11:33 am

Wow, he's real purdy!!

I love the white he has on his sides, that first pic is great!

by **fredsmith** » Tue May 05, 2009 12:13 pm

Thats very attractive indeed Taryn7... Looks like a real powerhouse of an animal.
I don't know much about balls, but the more I read and see of them the more appealing they seem to become... I can see myself getting a pair of these one day round the corner.
What would this one be called?
I spent a bit of time at the Ballpythons.co.za stand listening to the endless possibilities that can be bred and I'm hooked on the idea of a Bumblebee one day...

by **Taryn7** » Tue May 05, 2009 11:12 pm

Thank you Bundu

Fredsmith - thanks. They are really great to have..
This is just a normal ball..
I would love a mojave but at 7K - probably wont happen

I never thought I would even own a snake in my lifetime so I am truly happy with my boy

by **boaboy** » Wed May 06, 2009 8:55 am

He is stunning!! Who did you get him from?
Gosh if he was a she i would have the perfect male for her, and he is het pied!
Another thing is males tend to go onto hunger strikes during breeding season, and we are coming up to it so that could also play a part?

by **Taryn7** » Thu May 07, 2009 8:14 am

Thanks boaboy..
I got him from Reptilians.. I had a choice of 4 different ones and apparently one of the other ones had better patterns more characteristic of a ball python or something? I dunno - I liked my one more. I'm a girl - my first reaction was oooohhhh pretty. Ha ha.
Het pied? That's awesome! I hope you find the perfect girl for him!
Isin't he a bit young to be hunger striking for breeding? He is just a year old! (Its just a question because I really have no idea)..
I'm pretty sure he is not on hunger strike - just being fussy!
I will get those rat pups this weekend and we'll see.

by **boaboy** » Thu May 07, 2009 8:53 am

ha ha, that's what everyone says with the balls, even the domestic worker where I am staying thinks they are pretty and that means a lot considering she is not the greatest fan of snakes!
Thanks, so do I, have already started looking around, would ideally like to get him a pied female or even a het but I think that's going to mean a lot of saving!
Might be a bit young, but I know males can breed from a year old, or so I was told!! But don't worry as long as he is not loosing any condition he will be fine!

by **Bundu Boy** » Thu May 07, 2009 9:19 am

Yup, males can breed from about 6 months of age, but the more accepted timescale is 1yr or so and above 600g.

Taryn, if your ball is eating mm but nothing else then he's not on a hunger strike, he's just being a fussy one.... what weight is he now?

by **Taryn7** » Thu May 07, 2009 9:29 pm

Bundu Boy wrote:Yup, males can breed from about 6 months of age, but the more accepted timescale is 1yr or so and above 600g.

Taryn, if your ball is eating mm but nothing else then he's not on a hunger strike, he's just being a fussy one.... what weight is he now?

I think he is just fussy..

Last time I checked he was 888g.. I should weigh him again now but he hasn't eaten since I last weighed him.

Ball Python won't eat rats..

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