feeding

well should i keep the mouse in the cage in case he gets hungry or should i take it out???

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Originally Posted by weezerlovedme

well should i keep the mouse in the cage in case he gets hungry or should i take it out???

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Is it already dead ( aka pre-killed or f/t )? If so, you can probably leave it in there overnight and see if he eats it. It will need to be disposed of in the morning if he hasnt eaten it.

If it is live, i suggest never leaving the cage's side while the mouse is in there. A mouse will begin to chew anything it can find, including your snake. I would not leave a live mouse in your snake's tank unatteneded at any time. Live is sometimes the only option you have left and should only be done, IMO, if absolutely necessary.

Take it out!!! Never leave live prey unsupervised, no matter how small!

okay i did i didnt know.......so in a week ill try it should i try him on dead or live.....I think live would frozen would be best but my sister said that he wont eat frozen because he's not going to feel like he's hunting....and that he'll know that its dead and wont eat it.Is that true?????this is my first snake so i dont know

You dont actually feed the snake a frozen mouse. You have to thaw it out and warm it up so that it seems just like a pre-killed rodent. You might want to give pre-killed a try just to get him/her used to eating already dead prey. It might take some of the mousie dance ( where you move the mouse around the cage with a pair of tongs to make it seem alive ) for him to strike, but most snakes will take some form of pre-killed prey.

I dont think thats true, alot of snakes enjoy stalking or "hunting" there prey, i know back when i was feeding live roxy seemed like she enjoyed it, she would get very exited.

But if you just wiggle the little mouse/rat i think hell go for it. I dont think they "KNOW" its dead, to me its all about basicly tricking them into eating it.As long as its warm enough and its moving (if your snake needs its prey to be wiggled around before taking it) it should go for it.(i dont have to do the mouse dance with my snakes)

In the end its so much safer to feed F/t.

but remember use the tongs it can save from a sfe

Brandon .. that is exactly what i meant. On another re-read that might not have come across like i wanted it to, but you put it perfectly. They dont have to know that it is dead, they can think all they want to that its alive ;). As far as pre-killed prey goes, i dont even have to do the mousie dance anymore. I just drop in the warmed up rat and they take care of the rest.

Id be careful with tongs, the first time i tried feeding F/T roxy struck and hit her mouth on the tongs and got so scared that she didnt eat that day.

I just drop the rat in there and give it a nudge with somthing long and harmless, I use a hollow metal pole (dart gun)

If the mouse is just a fuzzy (i.e. eyes still not open), you should find a way to kill it quickly and painlessly, or it will starve to death which is very cruel. It will also be malnourished and will not make good food for your snake. Once dead, you can freeze it, but do not freeze it to death as that is also very cruel. Then, in a week or so, you can thaw it, warm it up, and try offering it.