new to snakes

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Originally Posted by erebus45

Ok guys y'all have convinced me I will feed f/t I realize that yes it is in their nature to hunt... But the covenince is way better with f/t....and it will give me a reason to use my deep freezer again..... I heard you do not out then in microwave and stuff like that so my question is do i put them under hear lamp or just let sit out till they get to room temp?..... Another question do I have to wait till he feeds for the first time to handle him and if so when I do get him to feed for me for the first time how long do I have to wait till he I can handle him (anticipation is killing me) plus a little flaw is that I work third shift 10pm till 8am yes I work ten hr shift 6 days a week lol....so I don't get to really see him roam around at night....so what is a good sign that he will eat for me....sorry if I'm double asking questions....and is it ok that he sticks to kinda the middle/cool side of the cage 100% of the time that I am hear during the day (if that makes sence).... Thank you everybody for the advice and thank you for not getting nit picky at me

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I think that is an excellent decision, feeding F/T! Another bonus to feeding F/T is that if he doesn't strike the rar right away you can try leaving it in the enclosure over night.

Definitely never put a frozen rat in the microwave, you don't want blown up rat all over in there.;) I personally just take the rats and put them in as hot water as I can from the tap and let it sit for 10 minutes or so, my snakes all have excellent feeding responses and don't mind if it is cool, but if one of them is finding the rat too cool I will refill the jug with hot water again. Some people have issues with their rats bursting open when their snakes constrict the rat with the method I use. I never have.

I would definitely wait until he's had a meal before handling him.

My snakes sometimes will spend days and days on the cool side and then go back to the hot side for a few days. If your temps are accurate and where they should be, he will go where he feels the need to be.

Never go past 95/96, likely your snake would find this too warm, but if temps fluctuate then I would not allow it to go above that.

Good choice on feeding f/t. I put my prey items in a ziploc bag and thaw them in warm water for a couple of hours then I superheat them with a hairdryer to about 100F. Works like a charm.

Well guys and girls really good news I noticed he was roaming around so I went and got a couple f/t pinkies I put them under the head light to warm them.... He ate two.... So happy about that I'm glad to know that I'm at least doi g something right that will want him to feed for me the k you everybody for all you input and advice