Help feeding, never fed hatchling!

So tomorrow I plan on buying food for my two week old hatchling that has yet to eat. My question is, what size mouse should I get? Should it be frozen thawed or live? If frozen thawed, what method should I use to thaw it so that the snake can eat it?

Any help on how to feed a hatchling that has never eaten before is greatly appreciated because I am afraid that he will not eat, also : he is on coconut fiber, should I remove him before feeding? I would rather not move him because I feel it would cause him too much stress. I have only had him since Sunday, when do you suggest I should feed him for the first time? I feel the sooner the better and plan on doing it tomorrow unless suggested otherwise.


Thanks,
Billy :snake: !

feed it a F/T hopper mouse

i would wait another day or too but to solve your problem with the coconut fiber is to lay down a sheet of paper towel and put the hopper on that so i dosent ingest any fibre

Since you just got your BP I would wait until next weekend to feed. My general rule is to give the animal a week or so to settle in. No handling the snake during this time and then try to feed a week after I get it.

The issue of F/T or live food is up to you - and the snake! Start with what you prefer (or what's easiest to acquire), and then try another type of prey if he rejects it. We had to try a F/T rat pup, then a live rat pup, and finally a live mouse before Delilah would eat... she's just a mouse girl, I suppose. Oh, and wait about a week in-between attempts, so they don't get stressed.

As for preparing the F/T prey, I just soak it in warm - not HOT - water for a few hours (while sealed in a plastic bag). I was told to take it out every 30 minutes, squeeze the excess water, and lay it back in... I guess to prevent it from getting soggy? Some people use hairdryers to get the prey warm, but I personally haven't tried that yet. Just don't use a microwave, LOL. ;)

P.S. It also won't hurt to pre-scent the room, to get him interested in what's about to come... you can just lay it (frozen prey) on top of the cage for a while, and hopefully he'll start to poke around for it. I feed live, so usually I stick Delilah's mice in the critter keeper for a few hours, right next to her cage. I don't have to pre-scent with my others, since they'll eat anything at any time. :rolleyes: Good luck!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lolo76

Just don't use a microwave, LOL. ;)

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When I picked up our new BP, the prior owner told me to microwave the frozen mouse. It was yet another reason I just couldn't walk out and leave poor li'l cold BP there. :weirdface

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Patricia

When I picked up our new BP, the prior owner told me to microwave the frozen mouse. It was yet another reason I just couldn't walk out and leave poor li'l cold BP there. :weirdface

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Ouch... some people are really dumb. :rolleyes:

I start all my hatchlings out on live - it's very rare for a newborn hatchling to take f/t as its first meal.

You'll want to get a hopper mouse (eyes and ears JUST opened) and put it in the enclosure with your snake and walk away. Hopper mice teeth are not hard enough yet to hurt your snake. Check back in 1/2 an hour. If not consumed, give it another 1/2 hour. After an hour, remove the prey if not consumed.

Hopefully your snake is in a very small enclosure with small snug hides, since it's just a hatchling (mine are all in six quart tubs), otherwise, if the enclosure is too large, it could be stressful and cause it not to feed.

If it refuses to feed, do NOT try to offer it food every day. Wait another 5 to 7 days before offering it food again.

Here's how I set up hatchlings a few years ago. Now I just use paper towels.

This happens to be a 15 quart tub from Dollar General:

The green hide was later replaced with an identical flower pot saucer hide. The hide on the right was made from a plastic flower pot saucer with an entrance soldered out of it:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...ub/BabyTub.jpg

There's really a baby snake under there!

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...b/BabyTub2.jpg

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...b/PretzelA.jpg

That baby grew up to become this:
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...PretJune17.jpg

He is in a 10 gallon with a uth, water bowl, 2 identical hides on each side, on coco fiber. the probe reads about 85 on top of the substrate and about 95 between the uth and substrate, prolly a little over 95 cuz he was on top of the substrate the other day. I don't think he has even left his warm hide at all. I cant tell for sure but when i wake up at night or before 11 anytime i look he is never out. i hope he is a little comfortable. I havent sprayed in the tank but i have wet the coco fiber little. i need to get a hydrometer or whatever the humidity thing is. You think I should get a live hopper?