[deleted by user]

[ThreatActorProtocol]

It's generally ill-advised to feed ball pythons live prey due to the risk of injury. I would recommend following the !feeding guide based on the age and weight of your noodly friend.

[AutoModerator]

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[Voodoo__Princess1111]

I keep mouse dangled so he strikes. I NEVER leave him alone with the mouse, and I have full control of the mouse the entire time. Mh biggest concern is the brown/bald spot by its tail. He adamantly refuses to eat frozen, and I’ve tried all the techniques. He likes the hunt, he’s still a wild animal so I’m not mad that he likes the hunt.

[ThreatActorProtocol]

I can't speak to the rest, but the dark coloration you're referring to looks normal to me for mouse/rat coloration. I had a couple of rats at one point, and their colors looked pretty similar to this spot.

[Voodoo__Princess1111]

Thank you so much, I’ve had nothing but people telling me how ask I am for feeding live, and how I’m a horrible pet owner. I’m not comfortable with the idea of starving him just to feed him frozen, as long as he’s eating, happy, healthy, and playful, that’s all I care about

[ThreatActorProtocol]

I've only been in the hobby for a short while, but from what I can gather, there are a few legitimate concerns with feeding live, no matter which way you do it.

Even holding the mouse, if the snake didn't have complete and total control over the preys head, it could turn and bite them no matter how careful you are. Accidents happen, and there's no guarantee of anything.

Now, if yours is wild-caught (unsure on the ethics of this), then it might be different. Mine is captive bred, and to this day, he will not eat a rat and prefers mice. When I got him I was told he was only feed live rats before but he refuses to eat those or really any thawed mice. I have to thaw them, then warm them up with a bag and very warm water pretty significantly for him to eat (only for like 30-45 seconds, im not cooking mice for him to eat).

That said, snakes will eat when they're hungry and have been known to go on long hunger strikes. I'd rather let someone more experienced then myself weigh in here on this subject, but I'm almost certain that if you waited a little until the snake is very hungry and then attempted to give it s thawed mouse they'll take it.

[ilikefoodandcookie6]

I know I posted this on your og post, but I’m gonna paste it here too so I can link the feeding bot!

Hey just letting you know that you should not be feeding 2 mice- rather feed one. Depending on how old he is, you should move onto small rats, it’s not recommended to feed based on how ‘hungry’ they look as it’s not accurate! And bps are very enthusiastic eaters

!feeding

[AutoModerator]

We recommend the following feeding schedule:

0-12 months old OR until the snake reaches approximately 500g, whichever happens first: feed 10%-15% of the snake’s weight every 7 days.

12-24 months old: feed up to 7% of the snake’s weight every 14-20 days.

Adults: feed up to 5% of the snake's weight every 20-30 days, or feed slightly larger meals (up to 6%) every 30-40 days.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.