gross! But has this happened to anyone else?

[dizzy]

I'm in the process of switching my substrate to newspaper & paper towel on a need-to-clean basis... I've only switched 4 so far... With this incident though I think I'm going to switch everyone else on Saturday! I was using a reptile-bark, peat moss mixture...

I'm also trying to switch over to f/t from live. Tuesday was the first time I ever really offered f/t... I got a mix of mice and rat pups in little pre-packaged bags from petco, took them home and (thinking the bags were air-tight, and not checking that fact.. like an idiot) put them in hot water. I eventually realized I had soaking wet rodents.

But they thawed well enough. I took all of them out and began trying to dry them off a little and offered them up. I made them dance, I pre-scented the room with live mice, I rolled the frozen ones in soiled bedding, etc. Still, most of my babies wanted no part of them. No biggie. We'll try again. I have more tricks up my sleeve thanks to all of you.

What I didn't think about when I took them all out of the hot water is how long it was going to take to try to entice 10 snakes to eat f/t... So by about number 3 they were getting cold... So I figured to hell with it, they're already wet... And I held the mice directly under the hot tap water... I don't know if their skin is super thin or if their guts boiled or what the science is behind it... But I had mice with guts hanging out as a result... lol... I read that that's a good way to get your snakes interested, so I was pretty pleased actually.

It was Max's turn, followed by his sister Brooke. My little het OG... They're garbage disposals. Never refuse anything I give them. So they took the f/t faster than alot of my babes will take live. Well Max ended up swallowing his mouse down without it's guts. He had the intestines hanging out of his mouth and he was trying to rub it on the ground to get it off... Obviously it became covered in moss and bark. Not pleasant.

So of course I was worried he would swallow his substrate. I plucked him out and sat him on top of Brooke's cage while I turned around to grab scissors. I should have been concerned with getting bit as he was in feeding mode and I smelled like mice... But he stood perfectly still while I picked him up, set him down and cut the guts off with scissors. He didn't ball up, didn't try to move at all. I couldn't believe it. I don't want to sound like the crazy old cat lady but I almost think he knew I was helping him.

Anyway, I know it's gross but it was really hilarious too. I had to share.

Has anything like this happened to anyone else?

[wolfy-hound]

Not to me no.. but thanks. I seriously needed the amusing mental image. I think you did good, and I hope your guys get to feeding on those F/T real quick!
Maybe you should leave the mice in the hot water while you entice one snake at a time?

[ARamos8]

Umm. No. That is somewhat on the comedy side though (laughing with you). I feed F/T and what I do is pretty simple and seems to work all of the time.

1. I grab my rodent-cicles and toss them into a zip lock plastic tub (with the blue lid) that's big enough for 1 dozen cup cakes.

2. Run the tap water till its steaming hot. Fill the container, close the lid and place it next to the rack.

3. I steal, I mean borrow the kitchen timer and set it to 20 minutes.

4. Ding fries are done.

5. I get what I need all wet and dripping everywhere and re-seal the container until I'm ready to grab another.

Works like a charm every single time. The food is still warm and its all gone when I'm done. Hope it helps.

My rodents are shipped to the house from a local seller so I save plenty on shipping.

[Enser54]

I have a heater that blows the heat out, and I defrost in front of that. It goes fairly quickly, and presents the room fairly quickly, by the time its ready they are going crazy looking for where the smell is coming from.

[dizzy]

Not to me no.. but thanks. I seriously needed the amusing mental image. I think you did good, and I hope your guys get to feeding on those F/T real quick!
Maybe you should leave the mice in the hot water while you entice one snake at a time?

Yeah I came to that conclusion myself. lol. Thanks

[Slim]

Dizzy, back when I was using Desert Snow as a substrate, I fed a slightly damp F/T to my Normal boy who is famous for taking his sweet time to eat after striking. He drug that rat all over the place before he finally ate it. Of course, the dang thing was coverd in Desert Snow, much of which ended up in his mouth or hanging out of it. Needless to say, I wasn't looking forward to getting that stuff out of his pie hole. It took me about 20 mins to find something suitable to open his mouth with (was all out of Q-tips), and the whole time I'm telling my GF that this was not going to be fun.

Well, I got my tools together, and opened his tub to get him out, and he let me know very quickly that he was still in feeding mode! That slowed me down for a few, and as I sat there watching him while trying to psych myself up for this deal, he did a huge yawn to realign his jaws, and I was able to get a good look in his mouth, and he had cleared all the substrate while I was off looking for Q-tips. It goes without saying that I was pretty relieved, and closed up his tub and called it a night.

Next day, the Desert Snow was history.

[DutchHerp]

I scented a rat with a few mice, and I fed one of the f/t mice off to my corn... well, she rarely constricts, but this time she was hungry. So she constricted.... and yes, she mouse popped... pretty much in the middle of the mouse's abdomen the guts were coming out and all.

Best part was, the corn didn't leave a drop of blood when she finished.

[dsmalex97]

this happened to me!!

I usually take an old won ton soup container and fill it with steaming hot water from the tap, and just plop the f/t in there and stick my hemostats in to keep the mouse submerged. When I started wiggiling the mouse the guts started to protrude from its abdomin. Yuck!! I dont know why that happened but grossed me out none the less. My snakes don't seem to want any part in f/t. I only have two, and both were on live for a while so they like to feel it breathing. Personally f/t seem to be A LOT of work when it comes to feeding time. I could be wrong. The above way with the ziplock container and then covering it seems to be effective. I just had a really hard time converting them, and just gave up lol.

[Bruce Whitehead]

I have had the odd exploded rodent too.

Mice are tricky, they have very thin tissue on their abdomens.

I would avoid water if you can. Or if you do, just float them, never run them under the tap (that removes lovely mice scent too).

I just place my FT in the snake room before I leave for work in the AM. When I come home I park them in front of the room heater for a bout ten minutes, and then hit with a blowdryer when ready to feed. I never heat up more then 3 at any one time, as they do take their time.

I love that I have 20 FT eaters, but it does make feeding last a few hours.

Bruce

[southb]

lol I have a rat/mouse towel that's used just for drying them off. I'm not a fan of the bags at all.