Smelly F/T Rats. Is There a Fix?

Saying snakes will eat carrion is as scientifically inaccurate as saying snakes will not eat carrion. There are over 3000 species of known snakes and maybe 50-100 have been observed to possibly eat carrion. There is no field research to prove conclusively that snakes are carrion eaters. Some are opportunistic feeders and some are very selective in the type and living state of their prey.

It would be just like saying primates speak English.

Can't correct someone with an inaccurate claim with and inaccurate claim. I am an expert in making inaccurate claims so that makes me qualified to state this :p

Well... All I can say is that sometimes rodents that get left in my cages overnight are pretty darn ripe the next morning, and at that point none of the species I own will willingly eat them, even my kings, and they will eat anything.

All generalizations aside, I assume we all want what's best for our pets, & not to debate whether or not they'll eat road-kill if they have to for survival?
And we shouldn't be getting rodents that are spoiled from suppliers, or knowingly feeding those that spoil because of later mishandling...bleah!

I've seen a few odd things in my years of keeping many kinds of snakes, & as long as we're all veering a little off topic, I'll be brief. It's just "food for thought"-

I took in a young Crotalus mitchelli (speckled rattlesnake) that came out of someone's woodpile one January. Months went on & it refused all food. Finally I ended
up tube-feeding it (Gerber's chicken baby food) once a month, several times, to keep him out of a downward spiral. I offered a f/t fuzzy before I left for work one
morning, and when I came home that night I was greeted with the awful aroma of dead rotting fuzzy. I got my hemostats to remove the stink but before I could,
my phone rang. I got off the phone just in time to see that young rattlesnake gulping down that putrid mouse! W-T-? As I got over my shock, I gave it more
thought as to why that happened, & my guess is that normally his prey would have been envenomated, which starts the breakdown (aka 'digestion') process.
Snakes have an acute sense of smell, so I believe that only when that mouse (which could well have been his very first meal too) began to "ripen" did it give off the
right odors to trigger his instincts to feed. Thereafter, he recognized mice (live or f/t) as food without waiting for them to spoil. :D He grew big & healthy too. :snake:

That does make sense... They are used to prey that has been... tenderized. Lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SDA

Saying snakes will eat carrion is as scientifically inaccurate as saying snakes will not eat carrion. There are over 3000 species of known snakes and maybe 50-100 have been observed to possibly eat carrion. There is no field research to prove conclusively that snakes are carrion eaters. Some are opportunistic feeders and some are very selective in the type and living state of their prey.

It would be just like saying primates speak English.

Can't correct someone with an inaccurate claim with and inaccurate claim. I am an expert in making inaccurate claims so that makes me qualified to state this :p

---

It's actually not. I never once said every single snake eats carrion, I said snakes will eat carrion. I never said they only, nor did I say they always. Yes, snakes are opportunistic feeders, and some are very selective like ball pythons, but again my statement which is proven fact and actually has been documented in the past that snakes will eat carrion. I never mentioned a specific species. So you may want to go back and actually do some research before you assume that my statement is inaccurate.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bogertophis

All generalizations aside, I assume we all want what's best for our pets, & not to debate whether or not they'll eat road-kill if they have to for survival?
And we shouldn't be getting rodents that are spoiled from suppliers, or knowingly feeding those that spoil because of later mishandling...bleah!

I've seen a few odd things in my years of keeping many kinds of snakes, & as long as we're all veering a little off topic, I'll be brief. It's just "food for thought"-

I took in a young Crotalus mitchelli (speckled rattlesnake) that came out of someone's woodpile one January. Months went on & it refused all food. Finally I ended
up tube-feeding it (Gerber's chicken baby food) once a month, several times, to keep him out of a downward spiral. I offered a f/t fuzzy before I left for work one
morning, and when I came home that night I was greeted with the awful aroma of dead rotting fuzzy. I got my hemostats to remove the stink but before I could,
my phone rang. I got off the phone just in time to see that young rattlesnake gulping down that putrid mouse! W-T-? As I got over my shock, I gave it more
thought as to why that happened, & my guess is that normally his prey would have been envenomated, which starts the breakdown (aka 'digestion') process.
Snakes have an acute sense of smell, so I believe that only when that mouse (which could well have been his very first meal too) began to "ripen" did it give off the
right odors to trigger his instincts to feed. Thereafter, he recognized mice (live or f/t) as food without waiting for them to spoil. :D He grew big & healthy too. :snake:

---

I get what you meant, I was simply stating that what you said is inaccurate, that's all. I wouldn't feed anything decaying as well, I won't even feed my snakes something that has freezer burn even though I know for 100% fact it won't harm them.

I have thawed frozen prey in hot tap water for over 3 decades. Bacteria growth on the outer most part of the prey occurring in 30 minutes? Guess I missed that in science class.

Rodent Pro vs Big Cheese vs Whoever......a rat smells like a rat. I doubt quite seriously if in the wild a snake insists it's prey take a shower and apply some smell good before it eats it.

Your snake is doing what all snakes do at times with of course BP's being the best at it..."I don't want to eat right now".