Would like to switch to F/t prey

[L.West]

Can you guys give me some insight as to how I go about this. Do I just start offering f/t prey and wait for my snake to eat. How long do I hold out??

I have a female albino who is at about 730 grams and I would much prefer that she get on board with the f/t prey - I just need some help on how to go about this.

Three of my current five snakes will take f/t prey - one male has never taken f/t and this female albino started on live - took f/t twice and then quit - went back on live.

Thanks everyone.

[Kinra]

Try offering pre-killed and see if she will take that before going back to f/t. If that doesn't work, wait her out for a while. She'll get hungry enough to take f/t or pre-killed eventually.

[Wapadi]

I hope this isnt too dumb but how do you thaw the frozen prey? All of mine eat live but was toying with the idea of frozen...

[Kinra]

I hope this isnt too dumb but how do you thaw the frozen prey? All of mine eat live but was toying with the idea of frozen...

There are lots of different methods to thaw frozen prey. The two that I've used before are 1.) Leaving them in the fridge over night to thaw and then heating them up with hot water or a blow dryer and 2.) letting them sit out on my table for 3-5 hours (until they reach room temp) and then finishing them off with hot water or a blow dryer.

I have heard of other methods, but so far method 2 had been working pretty well for me. I got my 3-4 month old bee to go from live hopper mice to f/t rat pups no problem using that method.

[crepers86]

I hope this isnt too dumb but how do you thaw the frozen prey? All of mine eat live but was toying with the idea of frozen...

I just set mine out in room temp room. You can use warm or even hot water for faster thaw. Just dont boil or put in microwave.

Then I use like a hot dump cloth heated up to lay the rodent on just before offering.

What I did to attemp to get my big girl to eat thawed was take the tongs hold it by the skin on its back and walk it around. However she didnt strike she grabbed it and started eating it.

[purplemuffin]

Most people put it in warm water and keep switching out the water as it cools. I do it the lazy way, in the morning when I get up I take out the mice and leave them in the warm snake room to thaw. By the time we are done with whatever we are doing that day we get home and the rodents are fully thawed and even warm because of the 83 degree room. Then I take a blow dryer and slowly warm the rest of it up. I say slowly because I like to heat it all the way through and make sure it isn't just the skin that is warm. Sometimes snakes need a little persuasion and then by the time they would be interested in feeding the mouse has cooled off too much. So when it's warm through the whole body the heat lasts a little longer, and looks more natural to a snake I'm sure. Be careful not to heat them quickly, that was always my mistake. When I was in a rush the mouse would just never thaw all the way or it would get hot too fast and then explode when the snake tried to eat it!

Just relax and take it slow. Don't feel like as soon as you take the rodents out that feeding is going to happen right then. Make yourself busy and do what you need to do while the mice 'cook'


Another thing is don't scare your snakes. Some bps take f/t just fine, others need persuasion. braining and all that scenting crap never worked for me. Just proceeded to make a stressed snake more confused. If you feed in a separate container, you might not be able to with f/t. My snake will only take it if he is in his hide with his head facing out. If he's too stressed(no hide, moved him, etc), there is no chance of him eating. He is a high stress animal though who I thought would NEVER eat f/t.

Also make sure the mouse is hot enough. Like, use a temp gun if you can. Mine likes the rodent's head to be about 100-110 degrees or so, but the body more like 80-90.