How do I switch from Live to Frozen

[MariaLHodge]

I have a 5 year old Ball Python and I have moved to an area that does not have anywhere to purchase live rats within an hour and a half

So now I am needing to switch from medium to live rats and am not sure how to go about this. I am guessing that you don't just throw them in and hope they eat them, so any advice on where to purchase them with the least amount of shipping (I'm in New Hampshire), as well as how to actually feed them to my snake would be great!

Thank you in advance!

[DennisM]

Warm them to live animal temps and then just throw it in! A snake that's only fed live that long may need some movement of the prey. Get a pair of tongs/hemostat and move the rodent around a bit if necessary. I've converted countless snakes to ft over the years and most will take them within a few tries .

[DennisM]

BigCheese, RodentPro and PerfectPrey are all good choices to buy from if you're willing to buy in bulk.

[bks2100]

I am guessing that you don't just throw them in and hope they eat them

That kind of is what you have to do. Some snakes take to frozen right away, some are really hard. What I would do is let the snake go 2 weeks without a meal and then offer a frozen rat. If it rejects then wait another 2 weeks or maybe longer. Make sure you let it thaw all the way and then heat it up really well. A hair dryer works really well but I just use hot tap water (my water doesn't get too hot, make sure yours won't cook the rat). Other things might help too like cutting the skull open to get more scent, scenting with mice bedding or chicken broth (I haven't done either so I'd look up more on those).

Also, when you offer and it rejects, just leave the rat in overnight. The rat won't decompose in that time and a few of my snakes have rejected their meal but by the morning the rat is gone.

Where to buy mostly matters on cost and everything. For me, in Florida, perfect prey is based out of Miami so my next day shipping only costs 18 bucks, so I've never gone with anyone else. Look at rat prices and shipping prices for the big places that are listed all over this site and just pick what's cheapest. I've seen a few people on facebook too that sell rodents privately and keep plenty of frozen on hand, so you might want to give that a shot too.

[the_rotten1]

When I switched my snakes to frozen I fed with tongs and moved the rat around the enclosure like it was alive. Most of my snakes struck at it and took it down without a second thought. I do have one that likes me to just throw it in there and let her eat at her leisure, but she was already established on f/t before I got her.

What the others say is right in regards to warming to live temperature (I thaw mine in a plastic baggy in warm tap water) and in regards to waiting. You may not have to wait two weeks before trying frozen (most of mine took it the first week, the others all took it the second) but if your snake refuses to eat then don't force the issue. Leave it alone for a week -no more feeding attempts, no handling, nothing but a quick spot clean if snakey makes a mess- and then try again. This method worked like a charm for my picky eaters.

[cchardwick]

Another thing you can try is to feed a small rat first. Then about a half hour later offer a frozen thawed. Even my picky eaters will usually eat a frozen thawed right after a live one.

Also, be sure to have the rodent at the proper temp. One that is frozen on the inside but warm on the outside can be lethal to your snake. And if the temps are too hot or too cold they will go off of frozen thawed and it will be hard to get them back on. What I do is thaw in a fridge overnight and then an hour before I'm ready to feed I put it in an incubator set to 110F. Works great. For bigger rats you may want to incubate 1.5 hour or so, just feel the rodent and it should be warm to the touch. If you incubate too long they tend to get a bit 'off'.

You can also start with fresh killed. Get a CO2 tire inflator, some valve stems, and a small Tupperware container with a locking lid. I actually prefer to feed fresh killed, I don't have to wait for rodents to thaw and warm up and I never have to worry about them being the right temp or biting my snakes. They also seem to like fresh killed way better than frozen thawed, at least for a few of my picky eaters. Also, with fresh killed you can also freeze if they don't eat it and treat it as a frozen thawed next time. I never refreeze a frozen thawed, just too risky.

You could also get a big cage or tank and keep several live rats for an extended period of time. In my 40 gallon critter cage / glass aquarium with screen top, I can keep about half a dozen live rats long term. If you need medium rats you could get them on the small side and keep them for six weeks or so and by then they shouldn't be too big for your snake. Another option would be to keep a male and female pet rat and breed them, use some of the babies for your snake and sell or freeze the rest when they get to the right size. Just have to be careful that you don't get attached to the little buggers to where you can't feed them off or CO2 them LOL.

You could also do what I'm doing right now as I wait for my breeder feeders to grow up, I'm feeding a mixture of live and frozen thawed. I go back and forth depending on how big my feeders are, if they are too small I'll feed frozen thawed until they grow up a bit.

By the way, I use tongs and just hold them in front of the snake about two inches from their head. If they don't eat in about 60 seconds I move on to another snake. Sometimes I'll wiggle them a bit or lightly touch it to the side of the snake. And if they don't take it you can try putting it in with the snake, I'd say for no more than an hour or so. After that the rodent gets too cold for the snake to be interested.