Live to f/t?

I have a baby that my son got for Christmas from my father. When we got him we were told he was eating small f/t mice. Got him home and settled in and a week later heated up a fridge thawed mouse in warm water in the bag then hit it with the blow dryer. The snake showed no interest. Next week he shed still refused. After 4 weeks I went and got a live mouse and he has ate every Saturday since even in shed. Has any one had the same problem? I would like to switch to rats soon so I won't have to feed multiple mice but I can only get frozen rats in my area? Any ideas would be appreciated. Sorry so long winded.

This is a very common issue. there are multiple ways to transition a snake from live to F/T. I have had luck with feeding mine pre-killed rodents at first then after a few good responses trying a F/T.

Warm up the rodent until it's VERY warm--almost hot to the touch (not burn your fingers hot, but hot). Doing this, I can often get snakes that have never seen FT before to snap it up instantly.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

Warm up the rodent until it's VERY warm--almost hot to the touch (not burn your fingers hot, but hot). Doing this, I can often get snakes that have never seen FT before to snap it up instantly.

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just don't get it hot enough that it starts to cook the rodent

Yes, both of my boys balls did that. They only eat live and are very happy! I will not stress them out and change to f/t, in nature there are no f/t prey.

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Originally Posted by tsy72001

Yes, both of my boys balls did that. They only eat live and are very happy! I will not stress them out and change to f/t, in nature there are no f/t prey.

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My concern with live is I have had one of my bp's bitten by a rat when she grabbed it wrong. Poor thing had a scar after that. To me, as long as they eat, I don't think it matters to them if its live or f/t. If anything, its just easier on them, less time constricting :)

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Originally Posted by Kyle7676

My concern with live is I have had one of my bp's bitten by a rat when she grabbed it wrong. Poor thing had a scar after that. To me, as long as they eat, I don't think it matters to them if its live or f/t. If anything, its just easier on them, less time constricting :)

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When feeding live, its best to feed smaller prey more frequent than larger ones less often. Weanling and small rats are harmless. This is probably one of the safest thing a keeper can do when feeding live.

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I had luck first switching to equivalent size live rats, then pre-killed, then frozen-thawed. A few weeks of each. All 5 have made the switch with that technique.