Feeding question

So my snake loves mice. She loves feeding time and becoming very active when she knows I have the mice around. I feed frozen mice (I just cant handle feeding live) and she loves them. I thaw them out to a warm (not hot!) temperature in water. She very rarely misses a strike but when she does, its almost like she gets frustrated and pouts. If she misses a strike she will quickly run off to the nearest hide and wont eat! I will wiggle the mouse around for 5-10 minutes but she never becomes interested again until her next feeding time. I'm wondering if anyone else has this problem and if there is a way to resolve it. I don't want her to give up so easily!

I'm wondering if by the time she misses and runs off, the mouse has lost some heat. Have you tried re-warming the mouse to regain an enticing heat signature? I find warming it with under a CHE (or hair dryer) tends to help, especially around the face/muzzle. A live mouse body temp is around 98-100F after all.


Alternatively, if re-warming doesn't work, have you ever tried just leaving the mouse outside her hide (but not blocking the entrance) overnight?

I have tried leaving the mouse out for a bit but she always avoids it so I never leave it in there longer than 15 minutes. I would think the mouse would lose its heat and start becoming gross since its already dead.

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Originally Posted by toriwixom

So my snake loves mice. She loves feeding time and becoming very active when she knows I have the mice around. I feed frozen mice (I just cant handle feeding live) and she loves them. I thaw them out to a warm (not hot!) temperature in water. She very rarely misses a strike but when she does, its almost like she gets frustrated and pouts. If she misses a strike she will quickly run off to the nearest hide and wont eat! I will wiggle the mouse around for 5-10 minutes but she never becomes interested again until her next feeding time. I'm wondering if anyone else has this problem and if there is a way to resolve it. I don't want her to give up so easily!

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In my experience not many Royals will eat a stationary mouse off the floor - especially a cold one mouse at that .


As already mentioned in the post above this case screams out for the hairdryer trick ... if it's a good eater it can't fail ( rarely does anyway ) .

You probably know all this but ...

Thaw the mouse/ mice your usually way , then feed in the evening , ideally low/ dim lighting . You can try your way first but if it misses or whatever simply give the mouse a ten second blast with a hairdryer then offer IMMEDIATELY as it will lose heat very quickly .... if no success , just repeat the method until it's grabbed . May take 7 or more attempts .

Note if there is absolutely zero interest then wait 7-10 days and try again..

Mine all strike from within their hides so I wait until they're in the hide and wiggle the mouse in front of the entrance ..

Good luck ..


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It's possible they're defensive strikes as well, and she's not wanting to eat in the first place. Double check husbandry, make sure all lights are off at night, and that there isn't a lot of foot traffic around her enclosure. If she continues to refuse food and the tips the others have shared doesn't work, I'd stop handling her until she eats again.

I'm not sure how old your's is, but when my (adult) ball python would go off of food, I'd just completely stop offering food altogether until he actively came up to the front of the enclosure in an s-curve. I could battle him forever to get him to eat if I offered weekly, average was 4-6 months, but he's gone as much as 9 months without food, but when I stopped even showing him any food, he normally came around within 2-3 months. This was after 3-4 years of constant off and on feeding strikes, and then the moment I utilized that trick, he hasn't given me any problems eating in 2+ years. He was even recently shipped to a friend across the country, and immediately ate, which really surprised me considering the several years I fought to keep him eating regularly. lol