Alexander Ate

I gave up yesterday and bought a live hopper for him. It had been a week in my home and a week at the pet store without food and since he is a baby I didn't want him to croak cause he didn't want frozen mice.

I gave the Mickey apiece of Oatmeal cookie for his last meal. It's the favorite of my rats, so I knew he would like it. He romped around a bit...I left the room and Alexander must have gulped him down super fast. Cause I wasn't gone that long.

Assuming Alexander will not convert to frozen mice,I have a question. If I buy say 3 mice and put them all in at once....Will Alexander eat all three at once or will he just eat one at a time as he is hungry?

I'm asking cause it would be more convenient to do it that way if he will space his meals over 2 weeks time or however long.

Not a good idea feed one mice at a time to avoid your snake getting bit up.:D

You'd like to just throw some mice in his tank and let them live there until he eats them? That doesn't sound like the greatest of ideas :-\. They could hurt him. I've heard some bad stories about mice / rats harming peoples snakes. I'd just feed him when he's hungry one at a time, for safety.

but alas, I'm no expert. Just my 2 cents. :)

I would definitely not do that ever. Rodent bites are the worst. Also, he won't eat them as he's hungry, he'll at them all at once, it's a survival technique left over from being wild. And you're cage will get disgusting really quickly.

I wasn't sure on that very point if the mice would gang up on him. I guess I'll nix that idea.

You know it didn't make much of a bump inside him. Should I stay with hoppers next time or up the size? If so what do you call the next size up?

I'm going to wait a week and try the frozen one again if not I'll just give in and get him live.

I have always fed one mouse at a time for the reason that rodents, especially Rats, can be aggressive. My Last BP got tore up pretty bad by a rat and had to get stitches at the vet. It was a bloody mess. Ever since then I have always been careful to monitor the snake's progress Until I at least I know the rodent is dead. I have even seen rodents bite a snake while in the coils and the snake retract and let go and not eat. That is what happened to my last BP on one of his feedings. Best I can figure, I saw him strike the rat and coil around him and then I left the room. Came back about 5 minutes later and the rat was alive in one corner and my snake coiled and bleeding in the other. I know this is what must have happened and I've made sure never to leave when they are feeding. If one rat or mouse can do that much damage, think what a 3 on 1 battle could end up like.

On the amount I would try two if he's already eating one or feed him more often. My BP was eating one mouse every two weeks, then went to eating a mouse every week and now he is up to eating two mice every week and soon I think he will be ready for his first rat pup.

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

I wasn't sure on that very point if the mice would gang up on him. I guess I'll nix that idea.

You know it didn't make much of a bump inside him. Should I stay with hoppers next time or up the size? If so what do you call the next size up?

I'm going to wait a week and try the frozen one again if not I'll just give in and get him live.

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It might be worth your while to get a small kitchen scale to keep track of the weight of your snake. A good way to measure how much to feed is by using a scale to weight the snake and the feeders. I feed 10-15% of the snakes body weight for snakes under 1,000g.

I am not sure how old your snake is but hatchlings can eat adult mice after about a month out of the egg. The next size up from a hopper would be an adult mouse.

I wouldn't completely give up on f/t. Sometimes babies do better on a few live feedings and after that will gladly take f/t. If he doesn't eat f/t next week, don't give up. Wait another week and try again. He could easily go a few weeks without eating so don't worry. As long as he isn't loosing a lot of weight he will be fine!

He's about 13 weeks now.

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

He's about 13 weeks now.

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He could probably eat an adult mouse now no problem :)

I'm not giving up on frozen. But if he never will take it will it be possible to keep him on adult mice and just feed more often. I would be worried about going to rats since they are mean buggers when they defend themselves and are very likely to bite him up.

If so how often should I feed mice when he's a big guy?

Ya putting more that one mouse in a a time, not a good idea. I just fed my bp and im trying to get her to eat two mice every other week and she ate the first one no prob and then I put the second one in and it like freakin attacked her. So now the mouse is back in his box and poor Sophie got pwned by a mouse.

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Originally Posted by Arsinoe

I'm not giving up on frozen. But if he never will take it will it be possible to keep him on adult mice and just feed more often. I would be worried about going to rats since they are mean buggers when they defend themselves and are very likely to bite him up.

If so how often should I feed mice when he's a big guy?

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I would actually venture to say that mice are meaner then rats. There should be no risk of injury to your animal as long as you supervise feedings and don't leave a live rodent in there unattended. That is when the accidents happen.

If you still want to stick with mice then you will end up feeding multiple mice per feeding about once a week. If you do end up feeding multiple mice in one sitting, don't throw them all in at once. Wait for the snake to eat the first one and realign its jaws and then offer the second.