Re: now I'm really confused
Quote:
Originally Posted by
PassionFruitReptiles
What i did with my live feeders when i was trying to switch them to F/T is leave a couple live rats in a plastic bin above the enclosure or rat for about 3-4 hours, then i would thaw out the frozen rat (making the head warmer than the rest of its body), scent the thawed rat really well with a live rat, allow the snake to strike and coil then move the F/T rat around for about 30 seconds so the snake believes the rat is struggling - usually the snake will take the rat without an issue. However some snakes are set on live rodents and wont take F/T regardless, but most will as long as you stay consistent and continue offering F/T.
I don't really want to keep rats as pets. Somehow, I think the cat would find that a bit too tempting. :D Our current method is to put the boxed live rat on top of the enclosure for a few hours, just like you wrote, so the snake can scent the prey and get interested.
Thank you for the suggestion about moving the rat around after the s&c. Someone I know who working in a pet store told me that they'd dip the f/t rats in hot chicken broth prior to feeding them to their snakes. I might give that a try. What have I got to lose except yet another frozen rat and some broth?
Re: now I'm really confused
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BCS
I have a female like that. She is 2 years old though and has been on live he whole life. She snaps at me, not the F/T, but when she misses me and snatches the rat she will coil around it but not eat it. F/T and live smell different. Even us people can smell the difference so snakes know. They also sometimes have a hard time finding the right end to start eating at and then they lose interest. This is quite common, and I find it more common with F/T eaters.
Getting hissed at usually is just a warning but once you have them in your hands, they can be the sweetest animals in your collection. I personally do not know why this is what they do. I can only guess that you are huge animal, and big animals scare the little ones. I honestly cannot say.
You can keep trying F/T all you want. I know I never give up on my live eaters. I waste food doing so but to me it is worth it.
Good luck
For some reason, I didn't get any notifications about responses to my original post. Hmm.
At any rate, yes, he's very sweet and curious once he's in my hands but can be a bit temperamental in his enclosure. Honestly, it took me a month to realize that DUH snakes hiss! LOL
Lots of wasted food in our various attempts to feed. He seemed to still be hungry after his last meal of a rather small rat, so I got him a mouse a couple of days later. He killed it quickly and with glee, but didn't eat it. The crows feed well here. :rolleyes: Something might as well enjoy a meal at our expense.
Re: now I'm really confused
Quote:
Originally Posted by
M.P.C
Are you sure the rat was hot enough?
That's kind of what I'm thinking. 15 minutes in hot water doesn't sound like enough time to fully thaw a frozen rat. I do mine for at least an hour and still use a blow dryer to heat it up to "live" temp and works just fine for me.
Re: now I'm really confused
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Smitty33
That's kind of what I'm thinking. 15 minutes in hot water doesn't sound like enough time to fully thaw a frozen rat. I do mine for at least an hour and still use a blow dryer to heat it up to "live" temp and works just fine for me.
The rat was fully thawed and at room temp before I put it in its plastic bag into the bowl of hot water. I felt it to make sure it wasn't at all cold. I'm not quite ready to invest in an infra-red thermometer to check temps.
Re: now I'm really confused
Some Ball pythons can sure be confusing it seems. Mine is pretty straight forward though, (it is a normal). When I read some of the stories here it makes me thankful I have the one I have. It has never tried to bite me even though I have handled it with blue eyes like I noticed last night. (I quickly put it back in it's hide though.) I don't want to ask to be bitten. It has never ate or wanted to eat fro./thawed. But quickly will eat live in it's dwelling. I watch for the signs that it is hungry. So right now I am having no feeding problems. But it is still a young one and eating large mice. So problems might develop later on.
On the subject of infra red thermometers. I really love mine, to keep an eye on the dwelling temperature. I keep it on top of the saran wrapped cardboard I have on the screen top,I open the trap door and check both hides quickly and easily. I also have used it to check the body temp of the thawed mice and a rat pup I heated up (after room thawing to softness) , with a red 100 watt light. The infra red thermometers are so neat. I bought mine at Pet Smart, made by National Geographic and it's wasn't very expensive at all. Well worth the money.
