Mice

[foreverwithoutyou]

So, having a bit of an issue, but this site has never let me down. So, my Julius just finished a shed (which took him three weeks and required many soaks in the tub thanks to the colder weather and recent flooding in my area causing blackouts). So I figured he'd probably be hungry, since he's used to eating one full grown mouse a week. Unfortunetly, I keep a couple mice on hand (cheaper to buy five at a time) and these two remaining boogers are pretty jittery, feral, and I've been bit by the one. My ball won't eat anything but live, but I don't want him to get injured and the (smaller) mouse I put in his tank as offering is bouncing around and climbing on the screen lid. Anything I can do to help prevent my baby getting injured? And how long should I give him to eat before I catch the evil little mouse and put it away? Julius' tank is in my bedroom (with my computer) so i'm keeping an eye out. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

[Apophis]

I wouldn't leave it in there for more than fifteen mins.

[benwallage9]

you could try prekilled, also sometimes when you try to knock them out they still kick and twitch. I know this is completely disgusting and I've never tried prekilled before but maybe if you get the mouse in that twitch stage the bp will think its still alive and he won't get hurt. It's just an idea and sorry if I offended anyone good luck

[foreverwithoutyou]

Thank you much. I may ahve to do that, if only with these two. Normally I keep my feeders pretty tame so that they don't pull this whole... spasstic deal. But I'm thinking of killing this one and ofeering it with tongs. I don't know what else to do because I know my ball is hungry and I don't want to buy mor emice when i have two... edible ones here.

[AK907]

How big is your ball? I'm assuming its still quite small if you're feeding it mice. If you are worried about safety offer your ball get some rat fuzzies/pups. They are about the size of adult mice and will generally be less of a threat to your ball, not to mention rats are more nutritious than mice and making the switch to rats is a lot easier when they are young versus trying to switch an adult mouser.

[meowmeowkazoo]

How big is your ball? I'm assuming its still quite small if you're feeding it mice. If you are worried about safety offer your ball get some rat fuzzies/pups. They are about the size of adult mice and will generally be less of a threat to your ball, not to mention rats are more nutritious than mice and making the switch to rats is a lot easier when they are young versus trying to switch an adult mouser.

On that note, it's also fairly easy to switch them to frozen/thawed prey at a young age.

[Salamander Rising]

On that note, it's also fairly easy to switch them to frozen/thawed prey at a young age.

How young is "young"?

I was told by the seller that the male Fire I just bought had [allegedly] "been switched from live to F/T" but as of now, I have my doubts about that claim.
[and that was the only reason I bought this snake instead of the guaranteed F/T eating Pastel male I was going to buy]

He scarfs down live mice [and it's giving me nightmares] and seems "interested" in F/T but seems to be leery of the tongs.
["leaving it in the tank for him" is pointless]

I have 24" rheostats coming soon so I hope to be able to offer it to him below head level in order to eliminate the Looming Tongs issue.

I was told he's almost a year old.

Is it too late?

Iggy, the "baby" will wolf down as many F/T as I offer her but she's always had F/T.

I'm not a bit happy that I was sold a "F/T eater" who isn't and am trying to rectify that.

He has a while before his next meal and I've got all the info saved that's been posted here about switching.

Is it "too late" for him to change over?

[meowmeowkazoo]

How young is "young"?

I was told by the seller that the male Fire I just bought had [allegedly] "been switched from live to F/T" but as of now, I have my doubts about that claim.
[and that was the only reason I bought this snake instead of the guaranteed F/T eating Pastel male I was going to buy]

He scarfs down live mice [and it's giving me nightmares] and seems "interested" in F/T but seems to be leery of the tongs.
["leaving it in the tank for him" is pointless]

I have 24" rheostats coming soon so I hope to be able to offer it to him below head level in order to eliminate the Looming Tongs issue.

I was told he's almost a year old.

Is it too late?

Iggy, the "baby" will wolf down as many F/T as I offer her but she's always had F/T.

I'm not a bit happy that I was sold a "F/T eater" who isn't and am trying to rectify that.

He has a while before his next meal and I've got all the info saved that's been posted here about switching.

Is it "too late" for him to change over?

I don't believe it's ever too late, but it is much easier when the snakes are only a few months old.

There are many things you can try, and it does take a bit of patience, I know. Try waiting until right after a shed, when he's very hungry, and offering the F/T mouse then. Or even wait two weeks and see if he'll take it.

Another thing to try is F/T rats and see if he is interested in those.

Of course, offering pre-killed food is a great way to make the transition to F/T. I always euthanize by using carbon dioxide, which can be created easily with dry ice and some water.

When feeding, I usually wait until night time, and I wait until the snake is actively crawling around looking for food. I've had success sometimes when the snake is in their hide, it seems they feel less threatened by tongs if they are safely hidden.

Just tonight I got my pastel butter to eat his first F/T meal by repeatedly heating up the mouse, then finally leave the head of the mouse sticking into his cave with the body outside. I shut the door so it would be nice and dark, and he ate it within 15 minutes.

On the topic of heating, blow dryers seem to be the magic method of getting food warm enough for picky snakes.

Sorry he's not eating F/T for you right now, especially when the seller said he was.

EDIT: I know you've probably heard all this before, but I hope I may have typed something you haven't tried yet.