Switch to live??

so far my guy loves routine. for him thats what its all about. the more routine i am and the more times we go through everything the easier it goes. each feeding goes smoother and smoother. if you get very routine about the way you feed him his live mouse there shouldnt be a problem. i know there isnt with my guy.

The guy I got Mouse from couldn't remember what he fed him or when he fed him last. I think the guy was drunk or high when he brought him in! Mouse ate a f/t fuzzy Feb 20. But he is very very skinny and I am worried that he isn't doing so good. He never comes out of his hide and have not seen him near the water bowl. I sit up at night for a while with the lights off waiting for him to come out, but he dosn't. I have not seen any places where the aspen is tramped down, so I don't know that he has come out very often. Don't know what to do....
and no, I didn't read all of the threads on live feeding, but the big ones with many opinions in them I did. They all said the same thing: feed in the tank, wait about 20 min then take it out if he hasn't eaten it. sit and watch to make sure the mouse dosn't try and bite him. etc.

Whenever I want to switch a snake over to FT, I will start with PK. Its like a subtle transition. Like eating steak compared to hotdogs...man I'm hungry. LOL.

Oh dear Brianna that snake has a poor background so not maybe the easiest of bp's for you to have started out with. So little info to go on won't make this easier but it is manageable.

First off is there any way you could take Mouse to a herp vet for a checkup and a fecal? With a snake from such an unknown background and a past owner that can't even remember when it fed last or what it fed on, you probably need to know that Mouse is even healthy enough to want to eat and healthy enough to digest what he or she eats (they can also sex Mouse at the vet visit if you aren't for sure he's a he).

I'm sorry I don't know where you live so not sure if there are any decent herp vets in your area but that would be step one for me dealing with a snake in this situation.

The reason I encouraged you to read over the threads (and yes it's a long job) is that sometimes it's not about the big steps of successful feeding it's in the little "tricks" you gleam from the many posts on this subject.


~~Jo~~

To find a vet near you use this link:
http://www.arav.org/USMembers.htm

the closest herp vet to me is about and hour and half away. I offered Mouse a live mouse, deffinately small enough for him to eat, but he wasn't interested. I sat and watched to make sure the mouse didn't chew on Mouse. the mouse actually sat on top of Mouse, and still Mouse didn't even act like it was there. I sat and watched with the lights off for about 20 min, then took the mouse out. Don't know what to do now. The soonest I would be able to get Mouse to the vet would be during spring break, two weeks from now, since I would have to take time off work and school to get him there. Any other suggestions on what do or when to really start worrying....

I would just feed'em whatever he'll eat for the time being. Some snakes just won't take well to you messing with their food. They are stubborn. Especially with this one's background. If after a few good meals of live it is still looking skinny and/or it is still not eating...then I'd start to worry and get him to the vet.

~Jim

Don't stress him out by trying too often. Just wait another week and try again. Damian is 4 for 4 feeding live mice and is 1 for 2 on F/T. The one he didn't accept was a rat (first time I tried rat) and it was last week. It was also the first time I tried feeding in his enclosure. I dangled the rat in front of his hide and he came out, followed it, smelled it but did not strike or look intersted in it. This wnt on for about a half hour and I got tired of standing there dangling it on hemostats. (Should I have just left it laying there in his cage?) So today is one week later and I'm going back to what has worked for me and that's feeding live mice outside his cage. To me it's whatever works. Eventually I would like him to be eating F/T rats but if live mice is all he's taking then that's what I'm offering for now. Since I've gotten him i can see that he has gotten fatter so I must be doing ok in the feeding dept. It does look as if he could eat larger prey but as long as he's gaining weight I'm satisfied.

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Originally Posted by Mouse

the closest herp vet to me is about and hour and half away. I offered Mouse a live mouse, deffinately small enough for him to eat, but he wasn't interested. I sat and watched to make sure the mouse didn't chew on Mouse. the mouse actually sat on top of Mouse, and still Mouse didn't even act like it was there. I sat and watched with the lights off for about 20 min, then took the mouse out. Don't know what to do now. The soonest I would be able to get Mouse to the vet would be during spring break, two weeks from now, since I would have to take time off work and school to get him there. Any other suggestions on what do or when to really start worrying....

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Brianna, I am not trying to be harsh here, but not taking that snake to the vet BEFORE spring break because you would have to take time off of the other things you do is not a good reason not to. There really could be a problem with that snake..there may not be..but can you live with yourself should it die between now and spring break waiting until you have the time to deal with it? Would you allow your beloved parent/sibling/family member to suffer possibly because you were unwilling to make the time to deal with thier possible illness? I say unwilling b/c it seems as if thats the case. When we take on animals and such, we must be willing to do whatever it takes to care for them properly, including making the time to get it to a vet, it is part of being a responsible pet/animal owner b/c they are dependant on you and only you. There have been many times in my life, that I was busy doing "other things", and one of my kids needed to see a doctor, you know what, I took the time off to do that for them, just as if one of my animals needed to see a vet, I would take the time off, even if it means losing a little bit of pay or taking an absence from school. Yes, I say school, b/c I went to college when my kids were very young.

If you feel you are in over your head and cannot do what needs to be done to care for this animal, I suggest re-homing it. I am sure one of our members would be more than willing to help you out, even if you were to ask a reasonable adoption fee.