Bri...Urgent Question for you..

[Psycho]

hay bro I think I might be having a problem with my snakes eating..here are a couple questions..

#1)I am trying to switch from live to frozen pray its not working too good what would you suggest?

#2)I know snakes fast in the winter time but how often should try to feed them?

~~~Psycho~~~

 

[skinheaddave]

I'm not Bry, nor do I play him on TV ... but I will attempt to field your questions.

1] What type of snake? If it has heat pits (boas/pythons) then make sure the prey item is warm. Very warm, actualy. What I do is defrost the items in the sink and then change out the water with hot water just before feeding. Tamara got a ball python that had eaten nothing but live mice its whole life and I got it to eat a hot rat first time.

Regardless of the type, motion can be key. Use some long forceps to dangle the item and give it some motion.

2] Not all snakes fast in the winter time. In fact, we have yet to have a snake fast during the winter. If you are actualy cooling your snake for breeding purposes then you aren't going to be feeding at all. Otherwise, offer food on your regular schedule.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Psycho]

ok thanks dave its like this...


I have.....
1 columbian redtail boa
1 albino burmese
1 ball python
2 amazon tree boas

them are the only ones Im having problems with eating

I also have 1 baby Burm and 1 cali king that eats just fine

I guess any saggestions would be appreciated.....


~~~Psycho~~~

 

[skinheaddave]

Yeah. Heat that food. Even our pythons with endless appetites are sometimes hesitant to take defrosted items that are at room temperature. Even when they do smell them and try to strike, they are liable to miss. Warming the rodents to well above room temp. is an almost surefire way to get them eating.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Psycho]

ok dave im goin to wait another week before I feed...then Im for sure to have some good appetites...I will keep you updated to the progression


~~~Psycho~~~

 

[Phillip]

I'm not Bry either but what Dave said is pretty much on the money. The only one listed that shouldn't go after a frozen thawed rodent that's warmed up might be the tree boa which is a bit more of a motion sensitve eater. The others shouldn't care if it's dead or not while the tree boa may take a bit of wiggling to get a strike from.

Warm them up till they feel like they are just killed in your hand put them in and leave the snakes alone. Patience and giving the snake time to eat without being disturbed is the key.

Phil

 

[Bry]

I'm Bry...and I do play him on TV. These guys have pretty much got it covered. I take my rats out and thaw them for a few hours until they're no longer cold to the touch (room temperature). I very rarely have a problem with it here, as I think thawing it for that long makes the smell stronger to them. But then again, my snakes are probably used to this method, as some of them have never seen a single live prey item in their lifetime. Warming them up seems to be a good suggestion. What I used to do was put rats in very warm water and let them thaw out for 15-20 minutes or so. I had pretty good success, but not as much as leaving them out. What you could do, is put a frozen rat in a plastic baggie, then put the bag in very warm water, as that would help increase the rat's body temperature. Or, you could start giving fresh-killed rats that are still warm, and work your way up to frozen/thawed. For some snakes, it takes a little work switching them over to frozen/thawed prey. But, out of hundreds of snakes I've seen and/or worked with, only one (a Dumeril's boa) flat out refuses to take frozen/thawed.

Bry

 

[Wade]

One trick that's worked for me with pythons is to scent the prey with chicken. The standard way is to buy a can of chicken broth and dip the rodent into it. I found this to work really great to get baby burms to start feeding.

Wade

 

[Psycho]

Thanks guys. I guess it will just take a little patience. I just really dont want to feed live. Especially since the burm looked like he had a rat bite on his back when we got him. The bite might have had something to do with the fact that when anyone went into his cage they'd throw a rat in there for him to "play with". Like he's a real mean snake. If he was and I didn't trust him I wouldn't have let him next to my lil' boy (contrary to what some of you want to believe ) Anyway thanks again...


~~~Psycho~~~

 

[sunnymarcie]

My Ball python would not eat for me when I first got her.
She had been started on live food by the breeder.
I did finally get her to take a mouse that was almost dead,
more like stunned. As long as it is still breathing she'll take it.
Good luck and I hope they eat for you.
Mine has not stopped eating, and I do not think she will.

 

[Bry]

Originally posted by Wade
One trick that's worked for me with pythons is to scent the prey with chicken. The standard way is to buy a can of chicken broth and dip the rodent into it. I found this to work really great to get baby burms to start feeding.

Funny, that method has never worked for anyone I know, including me.

It's not always about the smell or body temperature that gets a snake to eat. The two factors may be perfect, but, it also has a lot to do with the presentation of the prey item. Snakes are weird when it comes to feeding. You just have to figure out what their personal quirks are. Some want total quiet and darkness in order to feed. Some could care less if they were fed in the middle of Times Square. Some may not like the fact that the rat is dangling in mid-air from tongs, some don't care. Some will want you to just leave the prey in, jiggle it, or pull it around the feeding tub for them to chase and capture it. There are a myriad of other unusual reasons that will cause a snake to refuse food, but the ones above are the most common reasons. I once heard of a burm or a boa that preferred to eat rats with the rats' eyes closed.

Just because a snake wants a mouse instead of a rat one week doesn't mean it will never eat rats. Snakes change their minds, just like we do. We don't always eat the same things day in and day out, do we? Although it may be a pain at times, we just have to figure out what they prefer.

Bry - keeper of spoiled snakes

 

[Wade]

It worked quite well for getting my hatchiling baby burms to feed. I was working with clutches of 25 at a time, and there were always a few stubborn feeders in every batch, but chicken (or something scented with chicken) nearly always got them started. Actual baby chicks worked best of all.

I admit that I've only done this with burms (although I suggested it to Gillian here and she reported that it worked for her ball) and I've only had to do it with hatchlings.

You're absoulutely right about the individual differences among snakes. I think my big female burm would probably accept a frozen ham, and eat it on the back of a flatbed truck that was speeding down the highway in the middle of winter. The male, on the other hand, will only accept poultry that is very warm, and he also needs a simulated "struggle" (pulling on it with tongs) or he will lose intrest.

Sliding somewhat off topic...I think that many people get waaaaaaay too stressed out about snakes not feeding. It is a more urgent situation if the snake is a hatchling who has yet to feed, or an unacclimated WC snake, or if a snake has gone so long it's actually becoming emaciated. It's perfectly normal for an otherwise healthy snake to skip meals now and then for no apparent reason, sometimes many meals in a row. Sometimes it's seasonal and they go off feed in the winter, even if the temps a kept up. We've got some older pine snakes that go for 4 months at at a time without taking any food, only to resume feeding again with no changes on our part. I generally don't get worried unless the snake is getting visibally thinner, and with these big-bodied boids that takes a long time. If it is happenining to a previously healthy snake and they're loosing weight, and the husbandry is up to snuff, there may be something more serious at work and a trip to the vet is in order.

Wade