Feeding Catss

[spottedpython]

and i did try wiggling the dead mouse a bit a snake won't take it unless it wants it

 

[NoOne]

How can you say most pythons are fussy eaters when you have two.
As Brodie said most snakes will eat to the point of harm if you let them.
Snakes that don't eat at this time of year is not uncommon and is nothing to worry about.
I feed all my snakes (as most people do) thawed prey and i can tell you that most of them will rip food out of your hands, no wiggling or jiggling just WHAM!
It takes a while for hatchling or young snakes to become established, once they learn food is good then look out.

 

[Noskcajam]

Was it a dried up peice of mouse meat???? Or was it something that smelt fresh and tasty??

Seriously though, it has a lot to do with how you heat it and present it.

Pythons use their sense of smell and their heat sensors to find prey.

 

[1dragonett]

my python is a weird/fussy little thing! He'll only eat his mouse if it is cold. Not cool, but actually cold!!! He'll leave it alone for at least an hour, then all of a sudden........bam!! he's on it like flies on sh.........!!!

 

[Guest]

I doubt that means it prefers 'cold' prey

 

[1dragonett]

cold enough to feel gross!!

 

[zoe]

spotted it doesnt sound like you're waiting long enough! 3 weeks without food isn't really a long enough time to justify live feedings IMO. and i think i would personally be trying assist or force feeding before offering live...but thats just me, AND i've never been in the situation. how often do you feed them live? and how old are they now? it could also be the time of year...my diamond is nowhere near as interested in food at the moment as he is in summer - and he isn't being cooled. pythons can go a long time without food...maybe they just need to be hungry enough to take a thawed! JMO

 

[africancichlidau]

and i think i would personally be trying assist or force feeding before offering live

Good luck Zoe, I got hammered when I said that LOL

 

[craig23]

mmm, well since its totally natural for a snake to eat live prey.. why in gods name would assist feeding be more appropriate... in just about 99.99% of posts everyone goes on about how you have to be "natural" with your snake to promote health.. but now its force feeding instead of the absolute basic of natural instict for a snake.. to hunt and kill and eat live prey. Its winter, and weather temps, or light cycles or humidity are the culprites (we are not 100% sure) most snakes naturally dont eat this time of year. Unless your snake is unhealthy/ thin/ dehydrated/ starving/ dieying, why would you worry! we go through the same posts and questions and answers and same common scence every day..........

 

[earthmother]

Spot, have you tried 'Skinking' a thawed mouse?


I cannot stand feeding live mice, although I don't like them, I dislike them more squeaking.
I don't mind the idea of feeding anything they'd naturally come across - - feral cats have a terrible impact on our Wildlife and Reptiles. They kill for the sake of it, or puncture the skin leaving a festering deadly wound.

If theyre euthanased humanely I don't have a problem.
Em

Fuscus - - again - - you stirrer you. :twisted: :lol:

 

[Fuscus]

... i think i would personally be trying assist or force feeding before offering live..

Sorry zo - I disagree - IMHO force feeding is the very last resort with assist and live depending on curcumstances.

But having said that, I know this chap who has two black tiger snakes, one who eats anything and one who has been force-fed for the last couple of years. Condition wise, I couldn't tell the snakes apart.

 

[Fuscus]

Fuscus - - again - - you stirrer you. :twisted: :lol:

Who ? Me?
But notice how civialized this thread has been. Either we have all grown up our we have all taking or medicine

 

[NoOne]

For young/hatchling snakes i just start fussy feeders by assist feeding them and it normally only takes one or two to get them going.
If a snake has eaten in the past theres no point even thinking about assist feeding until you have tried live, but at this time of year there no point doing either, if the isn't eating them it's probably in winter mode.

 

[spottedpython]

i have been trying to give them freshy whacked mice and there bleeding from the nose too and they still don't want nothing to do with it my spotted python is about 2 years old fouund out she was fed live all her life and my diamond python which this is werid the breeder said she was eatting dead but she seems that she wants nothing to do with it if its dead shes only 6 months old so her next feeding i might try a freshy whacked mouse and see if she will take it

 

[zoe]

why in gods name would assist feeding be more appropriate

well, like i said it was just my opinion and i've never been in the situation so i can only say what i THINK i would do as opposed to what i WOULD do...if that makes any sense :? . i was thinking more about the cruelty side of things rather than what is "natural" for the snake. i wouldnt say suffocation is a nice way to die :? . here's a question for ya: if a snake has been eating thawed all its life, and suddenly stops eating, why would it eat live? sorry that might be an obvious stoopid question to everyone but im just kinda curious as to why they may take a live when they have been happy with thawed all their lives? :? dont slam me for that lol

 

[zoe]

Good luck Zoe, I got hammered when I said that LOL

well that sounds like 1 person agrees with me lol

 

[instar]

problem with that is that a stray can be someones lost pet...not necessarily a homeless animal. you have to give owners at least a week to find it. imagine your pet bird somehow gets out and you find out that the SAME DAY the pound caught it and euthanased it :?

~from todays telegraph

NEW YORK: Animal rights
campaigners reacted angrily
yesterday to plans by California
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
to "terminate" stray cats and dogs.
State law requires unclaimed
strays to be held at shelters for six
days before they are put down.
But the action star-turned-
politician wants to halve the period
for man's best friends.
Smaller animals ? including
birds, hamsters, rabbits, snakes and
turtles ? could be put down
immediately under the proposal.
Schwarzenegger proposed the
change in the law to save nearly
$A21.5m a year for local
governments.
After inheriting a huge budget
deficit, the Terminator star is keen
to cut costs at every available
opportunity.
But his proposal to put down
strays was likely to meet stiff
opposition, experts said.
"Cats and dogs are like mom and
apple pie," said Barbara O'Connor,
director of the institute for the
study of politics and media at
California State University,
Sacramento.
"Don't mess with the pets. Most
people prefer them to other people.
The pet owners of America will find
this reprehensible."
An estimated 600,000 dogs and
cats are put to death each year in
California, including 34,000 in Los
Angeles alone.

 

[Guest]

*Slams Zo*

I also feed live before force feeding, not only because force feeding is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS for the snake if you dont know what you are doing, but because it is very very stressful. I think suffocation is a lot better than being ripped aprt by a goanna!! That would suck

 

[Fuscus]

NEW YORK: Animal rights
campaigners reacted angrily
yesterday to plans by California
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger...

Your a bit late, instar. I posted a link to this story two pages ago.

 

[Gregory]

I just want to put it on the public record that I have no problem feeding cats, dogs, cattle, Goats, Gnus, Aardvarks or anything else alive to any Reptile.
Thank you.







Gregory.