Feeding live?

[AnnaK231]

My 2.5 year old snake hasn't ate since December 15th. He was injured and is now recovered but won't eat still. He ate f/t sm/med rats before this. Since he got hurt he's lost a lot of weight and is borderline size for a small rat or a large mouse. The size difference between those two is huge. I've been offering large mice and he's shown interest but won't strike. I'm going to try live, do I get a large mouse? Small rat? Try f/t again? I know he's recovering and in his "hunger strike" months but I don't remember the past years it being this long and I worry.

[MontyAndMelissa]

If you're going to try live, go with the smaller prey. If you've never fed live before, keep a pencil on hand in case the mouse tries to attack the snake. With a live mouse, you should be okay. He may be searching for something with a pulse.

[pariahdog]

I would go with the adult mouse, at least until he's feeding better. I'd also euthanize or at least stun it first, I have a fussy feeder who seems to be intimidated by moving prey. If you do try totally live, I second MontyAndMelissa's advice to keep a pencil or tongs on hand in case it fights back.

[MontyAndMelissa]

I personally would try to feed live first. Snakes hunt their prey. They aren't scavengers, so they prefer when their prey is moving.

[pariahdog]

I personally would try to feed live first. Snakes hunt their prey. They aren't scavengers, so they prefer when their prey is moving.

I don't like feeding live for many reasons, one of which being injury to the snake, which is why I recommended fresh kill. I have one who only eats "live", aka live and freshly euth'd because he doesn't seem to notice the difference.

OP, I would try a warm adult mouse first, maybe scented with hamster/gerbil shavings to really get him interested, and if that doesn't work try live.

[MontyAndMelissa]

I don't like feeding live for many reasons, one of which being injury to the snake, which is why I recommended fresh kill. I have one who only eats "live", aka live and freshly euth'd because he doesn't seem to notice the difference.

OP, I would try a warm adult mouse first, maybe scented with hamster/gerbil shavings to really get him interested, and if that doesn't work try live.

I don't feed live either, and I don't plan on resorting back to it. But if a snake goes off feed, especially in the spring, you have to keep your options open. many people aren't comfortable prekilling mice, or stunning them. My mom used to have to slam rabbits against the wall to feed her red tail, and man did it get to her.

[kitedemon]

Live should be a last resort. I have yet to meet a Royal that cannot be converted to F/T and I have seen a few F/T eaters that refuse to deal with a live rat. (I have rescued out close to a 1000 royals now) and every now and again one comes back because it will not eat. In the three cases now the F/T eater was offered live and refused it. The three cases all ate with no problems once back in the facility and offered F/T again.

My point is Royals often imprint on food. An adult mouser has to be struggled with to convert it to rats and often will revert back to mice given a chance.

I would offer what you have always offered not try something new. A regularly eating snake often will not eat new things. Routine is a trait of these animals.

There is a caveat here, if the you know the snake was started on mice a mouse scented rat may help, if that fails a mouse may work but you might get stuck feeding mice and mousers often are under weight because it just isn't big enough when they are still in a growth spirt, they will fill out sooner or later but IMO it is a poor food for a growing snake and a inappropriate food for an adult.

Live feeders often can be a pain to switch, it isn't a huge problem feeding live as long as it is supervised, but that takes time an extra 10 or 15 min per snake and if you care for any number that is potentially a lot of time. It is such a fluke for a snake to be injured by dead prey it is almost funny. It however is not uncommon for a snake to be hurt by a rodent defending its life.

[TheSnakeEye]

First things first, make sure everything in his enclosure is on point. Hides, humidity, heat, etc. Then I would try feeding a live mouse, perhaps something a hair smaller than you normally would and see how it goes. I have heard of people saying that the snakes are reluctant to eat after a prey-induced injury, but I have never witnessed this first hand. He will eat is everything is right.

[scalrtn]

My snake was exhibiting similar behavior. After 6 months of being a ferocious eater, he suddenly stopped, and went 2 months without eating....would show interest, but would never strike. He'd been on f/t rat pups, but I finally tried going with a small f/t mouse, and also thawed yet another rat pup. He showed interest in the mouse, but wouldn't strike. So I left it on top of his hide (which has a hole in the top of it). Within about 30 minutes, the mouse was gone, so I left the rat pup as well. It disappeared soon after I left it. I kept using this approach for a few weeks with success. On one attempt, the rat was there for about 2 hours, so I removed the rat, and cracked its skull with a pair of pliers (some blood came out of the mouse's mouth/nose - this is one of the methods keepers often recommend).... Put the rat back in on top of hide, and it was gone in about an hour.

Just a few days ago (an interval of about 10 days from the prior feed), I warmed up another pup, and made sure it was around 100 degrees F with a temp gun. I always scent the room off the feeder rats with a blow-dryer for about 30 seconds, and this time, the snake came out of his hide, and after a few wiggles of the rat with forceps in front of the snake, he hit it hard, and down it went.

I think some of this earlier behavior might be attributed to colder temperatures and lower relative humidity (pretty brutal winter everywhere on East coast this year). In Georgia where I live, it's starting to warm up again, and I'm sure my snake is getting back into his normal groove. Trying to feed it too often when it's behaving this way might be discouraging it too, so you might want to try attempts at intervals of a few weeks minimum. Above everything though, make sure the feeder is real warm/not hot and be sure to try leaving it outside the snake's hide if he doesn't go for it initially. (and walk away and leave him alone with it !)

[MontyAndMelissa]

Were getting off point. Some snakes won't eat live, some snakes won't eat f/t. The way I see it is if you can't feed your snake a live animals because it's "morally wrong" you shouldn't own a snake. Sometimes that's what needs to be done to save the snakes life, the key thing right now is getting that snake fed, regardless of how it's done. Now, enough pointless banter and give this owner some information that will actually help.