Try to feed snake!!

[BigSam]

Tonight I tried to feed my ball python, I have been feeding him every five days and today was the fifth day. My snake is sheding, will that cause him not to eat? The common mouse was black and he always eats the white ones. He was interested and active, but would go for it. The mouse was getting mean therefore I spilt them. Any comments?:?

 

[neveragain]

wait until your snake has fully shed before you try to feed him.

if you dont have a water dish big enough for the snake to fit its whole body in, then get a bigger dish, the water will help it shed.

 

[Devildoll]

Most snakes wont show interest in food while they are in a shed cycle. You should try feeding pre-killed mice or frozen/thawed mice instead. live mice are very dangerous to a snake. it's better to get a baby adjusted to dead prey than waiting till they imprint on live.

I would wait till he sheds then offer food again.

 

[Gillian]

Sam,
Does your snake have cloudy or blusih eyes? If so, chances are..he won't eat..Give him a few days. As for the prey; true, its a highly individual thing..live versus frozen thawed. Think on this; if you've ever had a rat or a mouse, they can chew through wood faster than a hungry man at a buffet.

Keeping that in mind, a snake is all soft tissue.. As well, parasites are eliminated, when the prey is frozen. My ball python doesn't know the difference, courtesy of the hemostats I offer his prey to him on. BBQ tongs will work, too.
Peace,
Gillian

 

[Lasiodora]

Sam,
The color of the prey will not make a difference. He will tell it is a mouse through chemical detection using its tongue. Like everyone said, I would switch to pre-killed. This will pose less of a risk to your snake and will make your life easier. You won't have to constanly head out to the petshop. You can store frozen mice and defrost them as needed. I recall you saying that your ball python had mites. If you are buying mice from the same place that you purchased your snake chances are that the mice themselves will have mites. You would be risking the reintroduction of mites.
Here are two general caresheets (they don't replace having a good book on pythons, but they will give you an idea):
http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareInfo/CareBALL.html
http://www.vpi.com/8VPICareSheets/Pythons/BallPythonCare/ballCareSheet.htm
Mike

 

[Bry]

I've already told you in other posts that you should get a frozen/thawed or fresh-killed mouse to give to your ball python. Live should only be offered as a -last- resort, regardless of how cool it looks. I'm with Lasiodora, color does not make a difference to -most- snakes. If he is eating whites, then he'll probably eat the colored mice too. Making a point to offer colored mice is just a way of seeing if your snake will eat if it has been refusing the white mice. In this case, it doesn't seem to matter to your snake. Most snakes won't eat during shed cycles also.

What I wanted to point out, is that feeding every 5 days is too much. You will overfeed your snake this way and cause health problems. You should go for feeding every 7-10 days. Snakes in the wild don't eat food as often as they do in captivity.

Bry

 

[BigSam]

Bry and Lasiodora I have a big problem with frozen mice. My number one problem is that frozen mice is way to much work. I also think that that keeping a frozen rat is nasty. Another problem that I have with frozen is that they don't always eat the frozen rat. Then you have a dead mouse and that is really nasty and they stink. I rather deal with live mouse, it's easier, it's faster, and they almost always go for the live ones except when there sheding as I found out.

 

[Lasiodora]

What's wrong with frozen rodents? You keep other dead animals in your freezer don't you? All you need to do is defrost them in lukewarm water. The dead rodents only smell if you allow them to rot in your garbage. Just take the garbage out when you toss a dead rodent. I find feeding live a lot more work. I have to throw in the mouse and sit and watch the snake to make sure he goes for it and that when he does that the snake is in no danger. I do this for my chondro because he refuses dead for long periods. My rosy boa is the best though. I just toss in a dead rat pup and I'm off. She's always done by the time I'm back home. If you choose to stick with live keep in mind that ylou always have to watch the snake until the rodent is dead. You will also find that you may not be able to feed rats. They are more formidible prey and can inflict great damage to the snake. Think about your choice hard.
Mike

 

[Immortal_sin]

my rosy boa just LOVES his frozen (thawed) mice....he will still even *kill* it before eating it. He had always eaten live before I got him, and he switched over without trouble. I feel safe, he's safe, and I don't have to see a rodent struggling..it works out well for all of us. Yes, I have frozen mice in the freezer, but is it any worse than the frozen hamburger?!
I think not

 

[BigSam]

I know to watch and make sure that the mouse doesn't hurt the snake. You siad something about a rosy boa? Is it a mexican rosy boa if so do you like it, how does it act? I want to know because I want a rosy boa a mexican one.
THX you for the infomation

 

[Immortal_sin]

nope, he's a costal phase rosy boa. Same docile personality though....
just not the distinct stripes that are on the Mexican one.

 

[Lasiodora]

I have the same type of rosy. They are the easiest of snakes to keep, but I'd master my husbandry skills with that ball python before getting into others snakes if I were you.
Mike

 

[biznacho]

Sometimes snakes just stop eating for a few months. Min just came off of a 5 month fast. I hate it when they do that. I put a mouse in every week and after an hour if its still alive, and she is showing no interest in the mouse, I take it back out. When she does decide to start eating again she tends to gorger herself, she ate 4 this week. I've tried to feed her small rats but she acts scared or something, she doesnt eat them.*shrug*

thats my 2 cents.

biznacho