2009-02-09 [Nyaah*]: breeding mice and all the food animals isnt easy i think! i got my mice from a corny breeder..

2009-02-11 [Cam Static]: No, you're right, it takes quite some dedication. o_O; And the mice eats insanely a lot during a day!
Sucky part about mice too, is that if you forget to feed them 1 day, they will cannibalize one of the "weakest" or youngest.. Mice are nasty. D:

2009-02-15 [Nyaah*]: yea, they are!! O.O

2009-03-15 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: I stick with gerbils. Easy, and smell less.

[Cam Static]
Maybe you'd have some advice on converting finicky eaters? all of my snakes are on pre-killed except for one (Male Ball Python, 2 years), who is resisting all attempts. We have tried giving dead gerbils (a favorite) scenting dead rats like gerbils, dancing the rat around with tongs, heating it up so it has body temp, you name it. Any tricks you have had particular luck with?

2009-03-15 [Nyaah*]: i layed a dead mouse in the hidingplace entrance so there is no coming out without pulling the mouse away.. next day it was gone..

2009-03-15 [Cam Static]: Hm, well, how long have you waited for him to take dead rats? 95% ball pythons will eventually eat, they rarely starve to death if food is offered.

Weigh him, be strong and consistant, and offer him food every 10 day. Don't smack the food in his face, it might scare him off. But - there is a fancy trick you can try to do: Try to gently push the dead rat up against his throat/chin, just as if he was starting to constrict something. For some snakes, it triggers the constriction-move and if you're lucky he will grab the rat and constrict it and eat it. :) a friend of mine showed me that on one of my tricky eater babies, and ever since she's been pounding rats like insane.

Dancing around with the rat doesn't really do too much good, as balls are ambush hunters (and very shy snakes!), and you kind of have to create that "ambush feeling" they get when prey is just randomly walking by where they lie and lure. If the ambush-moment has been ruined, there are little chances that the snake will strike.

AND - do you feed in the cage, or in a box?

2009-03-16 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: oh, he's nowhere near starving, his last meal was December 20th, and his weight is staying consistent, as is his activity level. I'm not sure if he's winter fasting or not.

We have tried feeding in a feeding bin, and in his cage, and have tried Nyaah's box trick, but this on is resisting all attempts. the rest of ours have converted (my female converted after she laid eggs in July - it didn't take any work at all.)

Our male is very shy, so I try to keep the rat at a bit of a distance, because if anything gets too close to his head, he will ball up, and then it's hopeless. We are offering food about every 14 days.

My female has taken prey on her stubborn weeks, using the trick you mentioned (all I had to do was poke the rat into a coil, and she would constrict it, then eat it, without ever striking it. it was odd.)

2009-03-17 [Nyaah*]: i had one case of a female that didnt eat for about 1 year. she was perfectly healthy and everything just didnt want to eat. i had to force-feed her for months or else she would have died. i must say i really gave up on her. i gave her away to a friend who got 2 offsprings of my balls to try his luck and after a few weeks she started eating as if nothing ever happend.. i really was in a snit to be honest as it seemed that she simply didnt like me or something 
seemd like she needed that change of scene or something..

do you feed in the evenning? i had one male that needed to be in totally darkness to eat!

2009-03-18 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: One of my boas is like that, and this male doesn't seem to care when he eats (or doesn't eat) he's just resisting the whole pre-killed/frozen-thawed thing. he may be one of those that slips through the cracks, and we have to let him slide with live prey - I hate it, and I have about another year of trying before I give up on him. If he hasn't eaten in the next two weeks, I will cave and give him a live, and then we are back to trying pre-killed for a few months.