How long to keep f/t prey in a BP's enclosure before it goes bad?

The reason I am asking this is because our Snickers always ate outside the enclosure but recently(talking 2 months ago) became very picky about it and refused food over and over and over again even though conditions remained the same.


We have always fed in a separate enclosure due to fears of aspen substrate causing an inpaction. We finally gave up on this tonight and gave Snickers the F/T prey in a tupperware container with napkins at the bottom and put it in her enclosure and sure enough Snickers finally ate again!

So this is the way we will be feeding from now on because not only does snickers approve of it but it is easier on us as well in the long run!


My only question is how long do I leave a F/T mouse in Snicker's enclosure before it' becomes bad?

Before when Snickers refused prey we tossed the dead mice out in the yard and the abundance of feral cats in the neighborhood insured the dead mouse didn't even last an hour in the yard.


Snickers ate asap tonight but how long before the prey is left untouched before I need to throw it out?(just asking for future reference)

I'm really not sure. If it isn't eaten immediately, which is rare, I'll leave it a few hours before I regift it to the opossum.

I think it really depends on the prey size. I left a rat pinkie in an enclosure overnight once and it was rancid come morning, but I've left rat pups in over night and feed them off to others in the morning. I have enough now that I give it 2-3 hours before I try to see if another one will eat it.

It's pretty obvious when they've gone bad, it's a smell you will remember for a while. :P

Oh, yeah, the smell is unmistakable. Once my possum ate part of a rat pink and saved some for later. Much later....

So I should just go by the smell then?(to decide when it's no longer good?)

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Originally Posted by Superpop

So I should just go by the smell then?(to decide when it's no longer good?)

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Yup. The rats that I grow and freeze can always be refrozen and heated up again no problem but the frozen rats that I buy online do not seem to have this shelf life. I feed late at night. If there is no strike I lay the rat beside the hide. Sometimes they take it but sometimes they do not. Some rats will be okay looking in the morning and some will be really gross. Gross ones get tossed into the woods and okay looking/smelling ones get a hair drier to the nose and offered to another snake.

I put all mine on paper towel. Left over night.. Pulled out in the am. Ive had mice pinkies an med rats be fine. But a few mice have blown up like a baloon and made me near puke. After 8 hours. All depends how fast they were frozen after death. If read some bps like them after they have been thawed twice. More of a wild smell i guess. And ive also read that naturally bps are oportunity feeders an will eat dead prey. Not sure the validity of that though.

But i do have one girl that i think knows shes eating dead.. Does not strike. Doesnt coil.. Just opens her mouth an slowly grabs it..