Thawing Question

[DDALDD]

G'day guys,

I'm trying to get a 10month old Stimmi to eat. She's only ever eaten once since I've gotten her (bout 5 weeks now). I was curious whether any of you have noticed whether or not the method you use to thaw your mice makes a difference to your snake's willingness to eat. So far I've used hot water. Would letting it thaw at room temp for a few hours make a difference? I'm trying a scented mouse tonight.

 

[Daniel_Penrith]

tried live feeding?? always good to watch and you hear the little mousey squeel...........
LOL on the other side of things yeh def noticed with one of my snakes picky bugger! the water way doesnt work with him...i leave it in the sun or under a heat lamp.....

 

[DDALDD]

tried live feeding?? always good to watch and you hear the little mousey squeel...........
LOL on the other side of things yeh def noticed with one of my snakes picky bugger! the water way doesnt work with him...i leave it in the sun or under a heat lamp.....

I don't think I could do live feeding unless the snake was going to die otherwise. Apart from it being illegal, I'm also a sissy

Interesting that the picky one won't eat wet. Fingers crossed that's all it is.

 

[pythons73]

You SHOULDNT use live mice or rats,you said it has eaten once since yourve had it,how or what did you do,to get it to eat then,try the same if you havent already.Dont panic its only been a few weeks,the only difference thawing it with room temperature,takes longer,than thawing using hot water from the tap,make sure the snake isnt stressed b4 you try to feed it,good luck.....

 

[Tanith]

I've got a couple that won't eat a wet rat. So you could try the heat light approach, and maybe try incising the nose a bit to get a blood smell. That works most of the time.
Sometimes not handling them for a few days before feeding helps.
Good luck with your little guy!

 

[Crazy_Snake08]

I may have a solution for this. When one of my girls went off eating, I tried this new method that I saw on this forum. I even saw a dramatic change in my other snakes, they were much more aggressive to the intial response of the food!!!!! Never had any problems at all.

I'll have look and try and find it for you.

settle

 

[Crazy_Snake08]

Here it is:

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-herps/my-rat-defrosting-invention-82616

This also works well because when I was defrosting the rat on the sink or wherever, they would often stink (a sign of decompostion). My big boy who really gets into his food all the time, NEVER missed one feed in THREE years went off rats for a while!!!!

Since I've used this method, there's no stink and the snakes can smell it a mile away...still fresh. It also keeps the rat very warm!!! Not too mention, the defrosting time has halved as well. You can change the water as much as you want to speed up the process.

Totally up to you...

settle

 

[DDALDD]

how or what did you do,to get it to eat then,try the same if you havent already.

A brained fuzzy mouse, left in the click clack in darkness while I went out for a few hours, got back and it was gone. Tried again that way, no success. I'm not panicking yet, the breeder I got her from has even offered to take her back to work on her if she doesn't eat soon (very kind of her.) but I would like to see if I can get her feeding regularly myself. I've read that after eating scented mice snakes can be difficult to get feeding on unscented, has anyone had experience with this?

Sometimes not handling them for a few days before feeding helps.
Good luck with your little guy!

I don't handle her at all except to clean, and I've decreased cleaning times to give her even more alone time. She spends 99% of her time under the paper towels so I never see her. I basically own a click clack with a bump in it, lol.

I may have a solution for this. When one of my girls went off eating, I tried this new method that I saw on this forum. I even saw a dramatic change in my other snakes, they were much more aggressive to the intial response of the food!!!!! Never had any problems at all.

I'll have look and try and find it for you.
settle

Thanks!

 

[DDALDD]

Thanks Crazy_Snake08, much appreciated.

 

[Tanith]

That is a great concept, Crazy_Snake08! Thank you for the link!
(Got a couple stubborn eaters I'm going to try this on, too!)

 

[Crazy_Snake08]

Another thing I find works really well, is I put my snakes in really small tubs, click-clacks, buckets, etc. to feed them (they can't get out obviously). I think the confined space makes them more willing to eat?? Not quite sure, but it works for me. May help you?!?!

So putting it in perspective, my 7ft male goes into a ~2.5ftx1.5ftx1.5ft tub and eats in there. He normally lives in a 4ftx2ftx2ft enclosure.

 

[Crazy_Snake08]

the invention is not my idea....not taking credit for it

 

[DDALDD]

Another thing I find works really well, is I put my snakes in really small tubs, click-clacks, buckets, etc. to feed them (they can't get out obviously). I think the confined space makes them more willing to eat?? Not quite sure, but it works for me. May help you?!?!

So putting it in perspective, my 7ft male goes into a ~2.5ftx1.5ftx1.5ft tub and eats in there. He normally lives in a 4ftx2ftx2ft enclosure.

I do eventually intend to feed in a different tub, however for the moment I'm trying to minimise disturbance prior to eating, I don't know if it makes a difference or not, but I like to think it does.

 

[Crazy_Snake08]

hard to say sometimes. i understand where you're coming from though. when my snakes started eating on a frequent basis with a sheet over the tub (as they were clear plastic), i actually made the efftort to walk past, knock the tub, open the lid, watch them, lift up the sheet, anything subtle that would normally upset the feeding process. i found with time, they actually got use to it. now, i can open lids, tap the glass and they will still eat no worries.

i did this so if anyone was to walk past, accidently knock the tub, or someone wanted to watch, they could and it wouldn't be a problem.

something to think about. i would prob be a bit conservative at the moment though with minimal disturbances. work into it....see how you go.

 

[zard]

i find with my hatchlings that they become to timid to eat if i offer their food with my fingers, i get plastic tweezers from the doctor and use them to introduce the food to the snake.(i actually give these to people that buy my snakes). i have only had one snake refuse to eat so i put a small box in its click clack and put a brained pinkie in front of the box and left the snake over night, the snake was fed like that until it started eating better.
also make sure the feed you are offering is not to big for the size of your snake, sometimes a few little feeds are better than one big one.

good luck

 

[DDALDD]

Thanks guys, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[daniel1234]

Great invention Gruntbox and thanks for the link Crazysnake
Yeh i let mine thaw loosely sandwiched between glad wrap and then warm them on top of the enclosure or wall heater when its winter, but I have found it is getting harder now we're using adult rats, which has made me consider breeding my own, but I hate keeping/breeding rats and am a woose when it comes tho the killing bit.