feeding live to a baby

i have a tiny little snake, 2 months old last sunday. everyone says that i need to feed live to a baby, even the guy i bought it from said that i am suppose to feed him a live mouse from petco. i have one upstairs and it seems a little too big for him but the guy said that he was feeding them these basically adult mice (not sure if i believe that). my question is how do i go about feeding him a live mouse without tongs or damage to my snake?
http://i772.photobucket.com/albums/y...g?t=1282326871

this is him last night while i was working his bad shed off with a wet towel. seems a little too small to eat a near adult mouse, does it to you? bad pic but only clear one i got.

The prey item should be as big as the widest part of your snake. My baby bp is a couple months old and Is about a foot and a half long and I fed her two days ago I fed her a small adult mouse and it was big. I didn't think she was going to eat it but she did and eveything is fine. They will surprise you. But if you feed a prey item that is way to big it will break your snakes ribs which is obiously not good. How long is your snake? The way I do it is I grab the mouse by it's tail At the very end and I hold it in front of my bp and she will stoke and constrict it. Don't hold on to tight so when she grabs it comes right out of your grip.

If you have the ability to get one, you could also try a few 2-3 week old rat pup. Your snake should be able to handle one without issue and they would pose next to no threat to the snake.

You don't have to use tongs, you can just feed him a live mouse in his enclosure with your supervision. Never leave a live feeder in with your snakes without your supervision, it's too risky. The best way to get new timers to eat is to turn off the bright lights also, and then just sit and wait. That's what I did.

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Originally Posted by Nick_bp

. But if you feed a prey item that is way to big it will break your snakes ribs which is obiously not good.

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When feeding live you want to keep the prey as calm as possible. Put it in the enclosure, maybe give it something really good to snack on, and wait. Don't leave it in the enclosure for more than 30-40 minutes, and SUPERVISE the whole time. If the prey starts to go after the snake, take it out immediately.

DO NOT hold it by the tail because they will drop their skin (deglove) which is very painful and quite cruel, even though you bought it as snake food it deserves respect. Also, don't use tongs on live prey they get scared and you have a higher chance of injury to the snake.

Also, I'm fairly certain that feeding a large prey item will NOT break the ribs of a snake. Could be wrong, but if the prey is too large your snake will simply not eat it.

No - feeding prey too large will not break your snake's ribs - that's the silliest thing I've heard in some time! LOL

It's not good to feed too large, because it can cause regurgitation.

No "tricks", no stunning, no holding with tongs, or dangling by tails is needed.

Pre-scent by putting the mouse in a critter keeper near the snake's enclosure for about 30 minutes, then drop the mouse in the enclosure at the opposite end of the enclosure from the snake, and the snake will take care of the rest.

I'd like to add in, if you think the snake will take Frozen/Thawed, you can always try it. There's no rule that you must use live prey.

Agreed.. breaking the ribs? Never even heard that one. Snakes are remarkably flexible, and I doubt highly that a large prey item would ever manage that.

If the mouse is about as big as the thickest part of the snake, it should be fine. Like the other poster mentioned, you could also try rat pups of a correct size and it would not be able to harm the snake.

That's what somebody told me, if it's too big it will break it's ribs. If you go to my started threads and read all my replies you can see what they said.

A) I think you should take everything that individual said to you with a grain of salt, based on the few things you've told us they said.

B) Your snake looks thin for its size. It can easily eat an adult mouse, based on your photo. I would give it an adult mouse, particularly if that's what it's used to. It looks like it needs fattening up.

C) Put the live mouse in the cage with the snake. Do not lift the hide, or disturb the snake, just put the mouse in. The snake will stalk and kill the mouse, and then eat it. I recommend keeping the area quiet and preventing a lot of motion outside of the cage while the snake is eating--they can be very shy, and kill but then refuse to swallow prey if there is too much activity. (They want to keep their jaws free in case they need to defend themselves--they are very vulnerable when swallowing).

i tried the adult mouse but he was afraid of it so i called every pet shop around and found a breeder about 20 min from home. fed him a fat rat pinky tonight, was sad to hear it squeal but happy to see him eat. thanks everyone.

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Originally Posted by Nick_bp

The way I do it is I grab the mouse by it's tail At the very end and I hold it in front of my bp and she will stoke and constrict it.

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Aren't you afraid of getting bitten in the strike? :O I've had a few snakes unexpectedly strike while I was holding the prey (over-excited), and their teeth were WAY too close for comfort! Not to mention it about gave me a heart attack, LOL. I use the method Rabernet explained above... drop in the mouse, close the tub, and let your snake do its thing. They hunt on the ground & from hiding places in the wild, so I figure it's best to keep things as "natural" as possible. As long as you're there to supervise, I believe the risk of injury to your snake is fairly minimal. I've been feeding live in this manner for almost 2 years, and so far I'm the only one who's been bitten (by the rodents). :cool:

I hold tails on a number of my snakes as that's how they've been fed their whole life and they feed very well that way.
I do also have numerous snakes that won't eat in front of me, so I drop and close the tub and watch from a distance.
Just a matter of knowing your snake and what it's likes and dislikes are.

*I can't believe he said broken ribs :rofl:*
I may have inadvertently broken many snakes ribs when I first entered the hobby :O
good thing I feed smaller now :P

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Originally Posted by deadsmiley

i tried the adult mouse but he was afraid of it so i called every pet shop around and found a breeder about 20 min from home. fed him a fat rat pinky tonight, was sad to hear it squeal but happy to see him eat. thanks everyone.

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Just to give you an idea, we don't feed rat pinkys to any BP, we start them immediately on rat fuzzies. The snake your size can easily take an adult mouse.

If he took a rat, then try to get a rat pup that is as wide around as your snake. Prescent like Rabernet explained, and drop the rat pup in.

Don't hover around the enclosure if he is shy, leave him in there for a half an hour to an hour, and if he does not eat, take it out and wait a week.

Really? I started all my BP hatchlings on rat pinks? I think I was told at one point that pinks(without insulating fur) will show up even warmer, and of course they are non-threatening because they can't crawl around.
Either way, small prey item suited to the snake and you should be fine!

I have fed hopper mice to my babies. They dont have any problems with those. You can also use rat pinks. I have always heard as a rule a snake can eat and item 1 and a half times the size of the smallest part of its body. That is usually right behind the head. I wouldn't try it though. My hatchlings are well over 120grams now and are eating sub adult mice. They grow soo fast when they are young and well fed.

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Originally Posted by Clint Bundy

I have always heard as a rule a snake can eat and item 1 and a half times the size of the smallest part of its body. That is usually right behind the head.

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They can generally eat 1 1/2 times their widest part, but it's not necessary nor especially good for their feeding schedule, so it's not advisable.
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/a...2419Medium.jpg

I just fed my 110 and 130g babys adult mice. They took them easily. My 80g ate a hopper mouse real easy. I feed live by holding the tail with a pair of pliers. Squeezing just enough to hold the tail. That's my method that works for me.

Big as in wide, a prey item should be no wider than ur snakes largest section. It would be good to start feeding rats as they will refuse them if they are unfamiliar with rats, mine always ate mice and it is really hard to try and get her to eat rats

Changing to rats depends on the snake. My 3 y.o. ate live mice all his life till i got him 2 months ago and he switched to frozen thawed rats immediately. I havnt tried rats yet with my babies but id like to get them up to at least 200g before i do. I believe there similar to a person eating. Not everyone likes the same things and getting a baby to eat it, is far more challenging than an adult.

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Originally Posted by SnakeKB

Changing to rats depends on the snake. My 3 y.o. ate live mice all his life till i got him 2 months ago and he switched to frozen thawed rats immediately. I havnt tried rats yet with my babies but id like to get them up to at least 200g before i do. I believe there similar to a person eating. Not everyone likes the same things and getting a baby to eat it, is far more challenging than an adult.

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Not always - babies are eating machines (when they're set up correctly and not stressed out) - they're the easiest to convert to something new - because they're hard wired to eat as much as they can and be as opportunistic as possible to grow quickly (and be less of a prey item for other predators).

I've got hatchlings that take rat fuzzies as their first meal.

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Originally Posted by SnakeKB

I just fed my 110 and 130g babys adult mice. They took them easily. My 80g ate a hopper mouse real easy. I feed live by holding the tail with a pair of pliers. Squeezing just enough to hold the tail. That's my method that works for me.

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Why? There's no need to restrain live prey. :confused:

In fact, using your method makes the prey more scared and therefore more likely to lash out and bite anything that comes near it.

Just put it in with the snake and let the snake do what a snake does.

I do it my way because it works. I don't tell you how to feed your bps do I? And I didn't say that all bps are better to switch when older. The very first sentence was that it all depends on the snake. Some will eat rats. Some won't. Some take time to switch. Some will never switch. Everyone needs to stop taking everyones info with a grain of salt. Do what works for you. Try new things. I'm only posting from my little bit of experience. If you don't like it then don't read it.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

no - feeding prey too large will not break your snake's ribs - that's the silliest thing i've heard in some time! Lol

it's not good to feed too large, because it can cause regurgitation.

No "tricks", no stunning, no holding with tongs, or dangling by tails is needed.

Pre-scent by putting the mouse in a critter keeper near the snake's enclosure for about 30 minutes, then drop the mouse in the enclosure at the opposite end of the enclosure from the snake, and the snake will take care of the rest.

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x2,