LIVE, FROZEN, OR FRESH KILLED

By the way, ProExotics has a very good FAQ on thw whys and hows of feeding frozen/thawed.

I feed live most of the time if the mouse is small like a hopper or a small female. But if it is a large mouse or a large male then i will smack em on the counter and that takes care of that and Jojo just goes for it if i use the hemostats to move the mouse around he eats it up.

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I'll tug on the tail of the mouse to simulate a live resistant prey. Then they tighten themselves around it until they believe they've killed it.

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I do the same thing he seems very proud when he is done.:)

Marla: Thanks for that link. There's a lot of good information there. Smulkin and I will definitely make the switch.

I feed either F/T or fresh killed. I've never put a live rodent in the enclosures with my snakes. Another advantage of bringing home something that's already dead: You don't have a live rat or mouse trying to chew its way out of the box or bag you're carrying it in. Dead rodents also don't escape and take up residence somewhere in your house.

When I thaw the frozen rodents, I use a large insulated mug. I fill it about 3/4 full of hot tap water (typically around 120 to 130 degrees F). I place the frozen rodent in a ziploc bag, and then immerse the bag in the hot water, and keep track of the temperature (I use a "candy" thermometer sold for cooking). When the temp of the water gets down to around 100, I offer the thawed rodent to my snake.

Based on what I've read in this thread, I may try offering it a little warmer. I checked on line and found a veterinarian page that listed normal mouse body temp as 98.6 (some coincindence?), so that was what I was basing the temp I offer at on.

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Originally Posted by Smynx

Marla: Thanks for that link. There's a lot of good information there. Smulkin and I will definitely make the switch.

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I'm glad to hear you decided that, because I think it leads to healthier ball pythons in the long run, not to mention less frustration for those humans who do/can feed frozen/thawed rodents.

I placed my first order for frozen feeder mice today from Big Apple Herp.com. Anyone have any experience with them?

I haven't ordered feeders from them, but I have ordered hardware for the cage. I had a problem with the thermometer I ordered and called them...the guy was very helpful and polite and together we worked it out. I wouldn't hesitate to do business with them again based on my experience so far.

First order of frozen biggies on it's way. We took the first step in making the transition today by offering Neph a large fresh killed. When it was just laying there she pretty much used it as a pillow, resting her head on it for 15 mins. Whipped out the tongs and as soon as she thought she had a moving target BAM! I had initial reservations, her being much narrower than a ball, but she managed to gulp it right down despite it's girth being about 4x her neck size. Here 10 minutes later she's already climbing around the cage checking stuff out. 'Suki's next up.

Excellent, Smulkin! Hope it goes as well with Suki. :)

Suki also preferred a moving target. Although she was very interested in the freshly killed mouse, sniffing around and rared back ready to strike (unlike Neph using his for a pillow), she just couldn't bring herself to actually strike at it until Smulkin wiggled the mouse with a pair of tongs. All in all it went well, despite our son accidently dropping the dead mouse in the water bowl when he tried to lower it into the tank with the tongs - looks like we'll have to invest in a pair of locking hemostats. The frozen feeders we ordered should arrive on Thursday, in time for the weekend feed, so cross your fingers for us.