Scent?

[trumetal96]

I was told not to let my scent get on the food or the scent of the food get on me. But I was also told if the snake is having problems because the mouse is moving around to give it like 1 or 2 flicks to knock it out so the mouse doesn't know what is going on and it will stop moving. will just plain rubber gloves work?

EDIT - I noticed that it is not using its water bowl also.

[tigerlily]

When I feed live, I first make sure the rodent is well fed and hydrated. Then I scent the room for about an hour prior to feeding. (meaning I have the rodents enclosure sitting on top of the rack, in order to let their smell start to trigger a feeding response in the snakes) I do the same thing every week, so that my snakes are used to the routine. Usually, by the time I go to feed the snakes are extremely ready for their food. I just open their enclosure, and drop the rodent in. I use my hands and just watch that I put the rodent in on the opposite side of the cage. I don't disturb anything in the snake's cage. Usually, my snakes nail their food in less than a minute. I can usually tell by their behavior if they are going to eat it or not in about 5 minutes. I have never had to leave live food in for more than that, although you could probably leave it in a bit longer than that.

I really dislike the idea of 'stunning' a prey item. It's just cruel to the rodent, and it's possible for it to come round and take out it's fear on your snake. Either euthanize the rodent prior to feeding or feed live.

[Kagez28]

i am a little confused about the question.... you were told to not touch the mouse because your sent will get on it? who told you this?

i take it you are feeding live, and nature will do it's thing, all you have to do is just watch. mice are only really a threat to a snake if they are left in the tank for long periods of time. are for knocking out the mouse... personally i think it is a little cruel. it's already gonna get the life squeezed out of it it's not really necessary to hit it on the head.

and as for the water bowl... do you watch her 24 hours a day? is he/she peeing or passing urates? how do you know she isn't drinking?

[frankykeno]

Your scent on the prey isn't likely to bother the snake at all. They have very highly developed senses so they'll know it's a mouse or rat, believe me. The prey scent on you is more about going to handle your snake when your hand smells like it's dinner, never a good idea.

If you are feeding live, feed live. Stunning a rodent shouldn't be necessary if you are feeding a healthy, awake and aware snake by offering a healthy, appropriately sized rodent. The snake will do it's job efficiently as nature intended. Snakes do not have problems with moving prey, they are designed to deal with quick moving rodents.

Are you seeing urates, urine or feces in the tank? It's not all that common to catch your snake drinking and also they get quite a lot of liquid from their whole prey item. I most often catch mine having a good long drink right after they finish swallowing down their dinner.

[Jay_Bunny]

I've never heard about not getting your scent on the prey. Personally when I feed f/t, I tend to hold the mouse in my hand to warm it up faster than it just sitting on the counter. That is of course if I have nothing better else to do than to warm up a rodent. I've never had a refusal from my corn snake with all that 'me' scent on it but of course she is not a ball python. Not sure if there are differences there. Our newest additions, the ball pythons are only eating live and we do not have to stun or pre-kill. We make sure the mice are dropped on the opposite side of the cage and sit and watch. We don't use gloves or anything like that. Just pick the mouse up and put it in the tank. The snakes know if its dinner or not. Smelling you isn't going to make them not eat.

[trumetal96]

ok. i thought it was good to knock them out so they didnt know what was going on around them. but ok i wont do that anymore.

[frankykeno]

Believe me the rodent really doesn't have much of a clue what is going on around it. These feeder mice and rats have been raised so long in captivity that most have little to no prey instinct left, having never been preyed upon. I've seen our feeder rats literally walk right up to a snake in full strike position and sniff it's nose (this is usually followed by WHAP and a very quick end for the rodent). A healthy snake can easily deal with a healthy prey item as long as that prey item is the correct size and introduced properly. We put all our live prey as far away from the snake as possible. Both to keep our hands out of the way and also to allow the snake to properly and safely set up it's strike.

[DSGB]

i scent my room for about ten minutes, i just sit the little mouse cage next to his tub and 10 minutes later he is all business.