What do people do with "refused prey"?

We feed our BP frozen/thawed mice.

She has refused a few times since we had her....the first 3 times are because we just tried to feed her during shedding but we don't even bother trying to feed her during a shed anymore.


After her last shed she ate 2 weeks in a row but last week refused for unknown reasons and this week ate again.

I understand they are picky but these mice die for them to eat so I just want to know what people do with "refused food"?


We throw our snake's refused food out in the yard.(I hope others don't throw them in the trash)

I get mine killed, but if they deny then i freeze them an thaw them out next feeding and my snakes take them easy.
Though my male likes pre/thawed killed more then my female does.

I know lots of people who throw out dead animals in the trash. [Mostly rabbit breeder since i know more of them] But, i do not think that's allowed, i am pretty sure animal services is supposed to take all dead animals even if they are babies.

some flour some veggie oil and a nice hot skillet? :rolleyes: not me but ya never know :P

Feed them to another snake. If they don't eat it, then it goes into the trash.

Jim Smith

I flush it.

I do the same as JH I just move on to the next snake in my rotation with it.

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Originally Posted by derrabe

i do the same as jh i just move on to the next snake in my rotation with it.

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x3

trash. either way that rat was going to be money spent that day so if they dont eat i trash it and offer again next week.

It goes back in the bin and lives for another feeding day.

Like many others, I feed the refused prey to another snake. I don't have that many snakes yet, but there is always one that is willing to take it. :gj:

When one of my snakes refuses a f/t rat and the other one will not take it, I toss it out.

If it's live, it's easy to keep.
If it's pre-killed, then freeze it for another day.
If it's F/T, give it to the next snake. It really helps to have more than one ball python!

Give it to another snake or refreeze it. If it is refrozen I make sure to offer that one to a good eater, so I don't refreeze it again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by byrdie

some flour some veggie oil and a nice hot skillet? :rolleyes: Not me but ya never know :p

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just through up a little :O

You should be very careful with refreezing prey items. If it was pre-killed and hasn't set long, then freezing it is an option. But a thawed prey item has set in 80F temps for XX amount of time.. be cautious.

I feed to another snake, but if(on the rare occasion) that I fail in the game of 'rat shuffle' and no one wants a leftover rat(or more than one) I have the garbage disposal of a monitor lizard. They never refuse to eat a prey item.

So I never throw out a prey item, except once in a while if I have a snake kill one and I don't see it behind a water dish and it's spoiled looking. Then that's pitched out in the garbage. I won't throw dead animals in the yard because if a neighborhood pet grabs it to carry it home, I'll be accused of letting mice/rats/whatever loose. After all, I have no way to prove if the prey item was dead when I tossed it out. If I still had a mulch pile, it could go in there, but just out in the yard? Nooo.. I would rather waste it than risk getting a reputation for 'releasing' nonnative animals.