The new corn is here!

I imagine that he'll take the live just fine; they don't lose their instincts just b/c they've been eating f/t. But I always recommend f/t or pre-killed anyways for the safety of the snake. Feeding live (when they will take f/t) is just another chance for injury not worth taking.

My oldest corn has a giant scar on his head from when I used to feed him live (before I knew better). That mouse put up one hell of a fight!

Woh... poor snake. Yeah, I have decided to go with PK. I think I handled it wrong last Tuesday when I tried feeding him. Plus it had only been 3 days since I had brought him home. I'll try again this coming Tuesday with a nice PK large fuzzy (smaller to test him on size) by just setting the mouse in the box and leaving him be. Which do you put in first, tho, the snake or the mouse?? :)

Oh, and I decided against mouse breeding yet. The surplus would be more than I could deal with, unless my local feeder provider would work out a deal with me. As for the CO2 tank, I am thinking of getting one...it would be the easiest PK method. Other than the tank, tho, which is a bit pricey...are there any other CO2 sources for a good small chamber?

Just dry ice or baking soda/vinegar, neither of which are reliable and both of which cost a LOT more than a refillable paintball tank after sufficient use.

I've heard of people also using the small single use CO2 cannisters, the ones sold for BB guns, but those aren't very cheap either and a bit wasteful. Not sure how the logistics of that would work out either.

I don't think it really matters what order you do it in. I feed a rack at a time; so for me it's easier to just line up 7 feeding tubs with the mice in them first, and then put the snakes in them as opposed to doing it the other way.

The only draw back is that I used to have one with an overly aggressive feeding response and if you even remotely smelled of a mouse she thought you were dinner. I had to move her to a feeding tub first, before I even touched a mouse; unless I wanted to deal with a snake trying to eat my hand.

Heh, yeah. I don't think that would be fun. That's the way I do it with my BP...pick her up and put her in her tub first, then go get the mouse. That method also lets me handle her a little bit and get a look at her. Fed her tonight and boy was she game, I think I'll be upping her prey size soon.

Well, attempt #2 at feeding the corn commences tomorrow night...