Mice killing

So I used to have 3 ball pythons and I would feed them pre killed or stunned if they were refusing frozen. Long story short I had to give them away, and time has gone by and im ready to get my collection going again.

I bought a baby ball python recently and she is not taking frozen. The people i got her from was feeding live. Shes still small so I dont want to give her a live prey with out stunning it or prekilling it, but I have been out of the swing of things for almost a year... and I am having trouble bringing myself to harm the mouse!!! BUT I want my snake safe... When I had the 3 snakes I had no problem taking care of the mouse for them.

How do you feed your snakes? How do you pre-kill your food?

I have owned ball pythons for a long time, now I just have my monitors. But if you want to feed them frozen thawed, try using a blow dryer to dry them and make the face nice and warm to try and get them to strike in that area. I used to feed my snakes frozen thawed, just to prevent injury. Some of the ball pythons just wouldn't eat them wet, others only wanted colored mice. The easiest way to kill them is to get a small pole or ledge and whack them on it. Of course you are trying to hit the neck area.

I do warm up the mouse before giving it to her, I soak it in very warm water and it heats the mouse pretty even.

Its the bashing I dont want to do :( im sure when time goes by ill be ok if she does have to eat pre killed but I just need different ideas for the pre-killing. I watched this one video on youtube where he took hemostats and just clamped on the neck..... it actually looked better to me than just whacking it on the head

I don't pre-kill myself. If you're offering him a mouse that's not too big for him, why not offer him live until he gets a good feeding routine with you and then switch him to f/t?

I feed hatchlings up to adults live with no problems.

I know you may warm the mouse in water, but some of my snakes would not eat them wet, which is where the blow dryer comes in. If you don't want to whack them you could also get dry ice and put it in a small styrofoam cup with a coffee top lid, and put it in a cooler, or rubber-maid container that it fits in, then put the mouse in the cooler with the cup and close the lid and wait about 15-30 minutes. What happens is they will fall unconscious and die in their sleep. It is better that whacking.

The way I've stunned is to flick them on the head with a finger. The way you'd flick away a cigarette.

Unless she's a very shy feeder, she should be able to handle a live mouse on her own. Give her small mice/hoppers if you're unsure.

thanks! ill look into the dry ice thing, I have never heard of that.

Oh and I always dried the mouse with a towel after the water so it was never sopping wet just slightly damp, but a blow dryer is a great idea.

thank you guys so much!

BPs are very well equipped to handle live prey, as long as it is appropriately sized. So if it is easier for you to feed live, that is perfectly ok. Just do so responsibly. Never leave live prey in with your snake unattended. The horror stories you hear about it are all due to owners who left a live rat or mouse in with their snake for an extended time.

If you wish to feed f/t, there are 2 things that I have found most useful. First, be sure to prescent. This just means allowing the snake to get the smell of the rodent for about 1/2 hour before you actually offer the food. This ensures the snake will be ready and eager to eat.

Second, just before offering the prey, give it a good shot with a hair dryer, focusing on the head. In a live mouse, the head is naturally the warmest part of the body, and so having the head warm helps the snake know where to strike. When I feed f/t, I try to get the entire mouse to about the same temp as a live mouse (which is warmer than human body temp), and the head a few degrees warmer than the head of a live mouse. For some reason the extra heat seems to help a reluctant snake decide to eat the prey.

thanks, helps alot.

omg I could never leave them unattended! I have heard horror stories too and
I dont want to have one of my own!

Ashlee, you sound like you are the same situation I was in recently... I ordered a BP from Pro Exotics who had started him on Rat Pups....

I tried for 3-4 weeks on F/T medium mice with no success, even with pre-scenting and zombie dancing...

So with the advice of some on the board, I bought a live adult mouse and asked the pet store for some used rat bedding. As soon as I brought the rat bedding in the room my BP came out of his hide as I could tell he knew the smell. Since the mice had been in a box with rat bedding, they smelled like the rats he had been eating. I got the mouse on the tongs and I could no more than put it in the box before he struck it.

Are there potential dangers in feeding live? Sure.

Would I rather feed f/t? Eh, doesn't really matter to me now.

The important thing to me is that he eats. Sometimes you just gotta try different things.

My snakes feed with live prey with no problem. Supervision is key and I have noticed that I only really have to worry about the small and medium rats when it comes to them feeding. **The rats get a little more aggressive at that age**. I'm not one to try and pre-kill anything, and defrosting sounds like an unnecessary chore.

Sometimes, you just have to think it as "the circle of life."

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Originally Posted by nickdolin

Ashlee, you sound like you are the same situation I was in recently... I ordered a BP from Pro Exotics who had started him on Rat Pups....

I tried for 3-4 weeks on F/T medium mice with no success, even with pre-scenting and zombie dancing...

So with the advice of some on the board, I bought a live adult mouse and asked the pet store for some used rat bedding. As soon as I brought the rat bedding in the room my BP came out of his hide as I could tell he knew the smell. Since the mice had been in a box with rat bedding, they smelled like the rats he had been eating. I got the mouse on the tongs and I could no more than put it in the box before he struck it.

Are there potential dangers in feeding live? Sure.

Would I rather feed f/t? Eh, doesn't really matter to me now.

The important thing to me is that he eats. Sometimes you just gotta try different things.

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Why would you take snake eating rats and swap them to mice...kinda backward isnt it?

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Originally Posted by jjmitchell

Why would you take snake eating rats and swap them to mice...kinda backward isnt it?

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I'm pretty sure I remember Nick's thread. I believe he couldn't get anything but adult rats in his area, which were way too big for his young BP.

You know, I prekilled almost everything for a long time. One of the things my snakes seem to enjoy the most however is the kill. When I was feeding prekilled they rather lazily took the mouse, might or might not have wrapped it. When I give them live food it's a whole different deal. My snakes become immediately engaged, going into hunt mode. While snakes are not dogs nor do they have the need for "regular cardio". I think it has to be good for them mentally and physically to become their true selves. I've not ever had an injury. This forum and the folks who feed live actually brought me to my decision to do this and I'm glad I did.
Now, if I ever have a mouse / rat cause an injury I may rethink that.

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Originally Posted by kc261

I'm pretty sure I remember Nick's thread. I believe he couldn't get anything but adult rats in his area, which were way too big for his young BP.

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Yes it is backwards, and yes, he is right, adult rats is all I can get so that's way too big... lol

If you feed your snake live, watch the feeding, if the snake grabs the mouse or rat incorrectly and has a chance of taking a bite. I use something long to put in the rodents mouth until the snake kills it. ( 18 inch tongs ) once you have a good feeding response and decide to go F/T, do a few freshly kill before the F/T, this sometimes helps to switch them over. Good luck and welcome back!