Growth Of A Ball

but raising your own you know that it doesn't have any diseases that can be spread to your snake, isn't this true?

JR

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Alright, I'm not jumping on you here, but someone's gonna say something sooner or later. Not saying you don't know what you're doing, or anything meant to be offensive, but it's kind of dangerous to leave your snake unattended with a live mouse

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Very, very true. I am one that feed's live to Monty Joe, the oldest of my 2 BP's. I have tried and tried to switch him over to p/k and f/t but with no good results, so.....I feed live. If you are unable to switch him over please stay with your BP and the mouse at least until after he releases the mouse from his constriction to start eating just incase you have to intervene. A nasty bite from a prey item is not a good thing and could spell disaster for your BP. I stand by with a 3 foot dow rod that is about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter, usually but not all the time, when my BP constricts the mouse/rat I will apply pressure on the prey's head and mouth area to keep their teeth away from him. I do this just for safety's sake. Once im sure that the prey can no longer do harm I release the pressure on it. Just remember to allways supervise during a live feeding. It's allways better to be safe than sorry!

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but raising your own you know that it doesn't have any diseases that can be spread to your snake, isn't this true?

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Well I wouldnt say that is 100% true. Im sure they could possibly catch some kind of disease. Not saying they will....Just could.

But the rats will be exposed to fewer possible disease carriers and you can carefully monitor their diet to ensure that they become high quality food. Also, if you get your parent generation cleared for parasites and keep them away from other animals, all other generations should be parasite free as well.

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Live rats are a pain..They like to poop and pee everywhere

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Hehe - our frozen aren't here yet so I had to make a pilgrimage to the store to pick up 5 rats. I stopped by a friend's on the way home and when I got back out to the truck I found escaped rats . . and the trail of p00. I didn't see they had gotten out until I started driving and at one point fished down under the seat and nabbed one and tried to plunk it back down into the box but it wasn't cooperating. So I'm driving along with a rat dangling from my hand above the passenger seat and I pass some kids in their late teens/early 20's lounging out in front of a house and happened to catch the expression on their faces (lol especially the girls). Haha priceless to see so many Margaret Thatcher impersonations (upper lips curled back in disgust) all at once.

Sorry to hijack - I know I had something pertinent to add . . . oh! I bought a preganant female a while back and have been using the pups for our Red Blood, and although they are little cacatrons the stink much less than our attempt at mice.

I really don't like using non frozen (especiallywhen they are from the pet store) because you never know what kind of parasite load they might be carrying. Our oldest ball and AfRock had to be treated for that. And I would never give them prey unless it had at a minimum been stunned, and even then sat and monitored to make sure there were no sudden desperate fights for life. Takes a good bit more to thwap a rat than a mouse - so even though I intended to feed fresh killed a few started gasping and twitching as I went to feed. I'm not much of a sadist so that was hardly fun.

No Offense Taken. I would rather feed him frozen - thawed mice over live for that very reason, I wouldn't want him to get bitten. Next feeding I will try a frozen-thawed mouse instead. Here is a question in regards to feeding frozen - thawed mice. Can I expect him to grab it pretty quick using a pair of tongs? I am concerned it could spoil if he doesn't eat it quickly. I imagine he will not eat it if I simply leave it in the tub with him. I am guessing I need to move it around a bit to get him to take it.
If not let me know what the perfect scenario I should be shooting for would be?

hmmm... well my BP takes about ten minutes max to snatch up the f/t prey. I've heard of some taking longer and some are private dancers who only eat in the dark. Surprisingly enough many snakes will eat if you leave it in the tub with them though this is probably already after they have adjusted to eating f/t. As far as moving it around, don't do it too violently, I got a bit over zealous and scared my snake out of eating the first time I was moving that mouse around so much. I drink a lot of caffine so just holding the tongs "steady" is enough of a twitch for him to take the mouse haha. Typically you don't want to leave a f/t out for any more than eight hours or so (at least that's the longest I've ever had a f/t out) but others know more on this.

basically you'll want to be sure the rat or mouse is fully thawed otherwise it can do damage and even possibly kill your snake. I have read - and the method I use- is to hold the mouse or rat's head between my fingers and feel if it is cold. I have read that the brain takes the longest to thaw because of the skull, though I check the midsection as well just to be sure there are no "cold spots" then I pop the food under the light for maybe five minutes (until it is warm to touch, but not cooked) and offer it.. usually as soon as I put it under the light Icc starts cruising the cage because he can smell dinner. Here are some more popular thawing methods.

The Tap Method: This is the method where you take the f/t prey item, put them in a zip lock bag (so it doesn't get wet) and then fill a bowl or some such item with very hot tap water (not boiling, we don't want to cook it) then let the mouse in the bag sit- some people let the mouse sit in there for fifteen minutes or so, some let the mouse sit until the water has cooled and then re fill with hot tap water and let sit until fully thawed. Obviously the size of the prey dictates how long it takes to thaw - so while a small hopper or pinky may take 15 minutes in hot tap a normal rat may need the re-fill method. Just use one of the above mentioned methods to be sure the prey is fully thawed.

The "Steak" Method: This method is just like it sounds, treat your f/t rodent like a nice juicy frozen steak, pop it in the bottom of the fridge in the morning so it can thaw during the day and then either use the tap method or just let it sit at room temp, or use a heat light to raise the temp. (microwaves can and often do cause prey items to explode.. not a fun cleaning experience I would imagine).

The Room Temp Method: Okay this is the only one of these three that has worked for me thus far and this is what the breeder I got him from (Don Hamper) told me to do. Though there is debate as to whether or not this could breed bacteria. I take the mouse or rat out of the freezer when I get home from work or class (usually about 5PM) then I put the food in one of those disposable rubbermaid deals, close it, and set it on top of the cage screen. I let it sit out at that room temp until about nine PM or so (when the prey item is fully thawed - I check using the methods mentioned above) then I pop it under the heat light for about five minutes and again check to make sure it is thawed and a bit warm to simulate body temp. Then on with the feeding! Good luck!

Nice job, Jonah! We should almost have that copied and placed somewhere easy to find so folks interested in pre-killed feeding methods could find it easily.