Transition to f/t

My baby "Rex" totally ignores fresh killed and f/t mice. The only thing I've been able to get him/her to eat is live mice (which s/he takes like a champ).

Today, during feeding time, I was horrified when Rex grabbed the mouse and the mouse grabbed Rex (Rex won). There's not a mark on Rex, but it scared the hell out of me. I believe in feeding f/t and my other snake eats f/t like a hog.

Can someone who has made the transition with a finicky ball tell me how you did it?

Thanks for the help.

Sorry to hear about your scare Ken, I'm glad to hear that Rex is ok. I was wondering how to make the transition myself. I've read the if you feed it a freshly killed mouse and follow it up with a F/T( wiggling to simulate movement) it may work. I guess if they are already in feeding mode, they will hit anything and not think much about it. This is just what I read, so I'm not sure if it actually works or not. Some of the more experienced members on the site should be able to offer more insight.

My bad, you said he ignores fresh killed.

Perhaps if you stunned it really well instead of killing it, he would take it. That's what I had to do for mine before he took f/k.

I have successfully gotten mine to eat f/t mice on several occaisions. I pull them out of the freezer in the morning and place them in a (dedicated) bowl, and let them sit on the counter all day until it is feeding time that night. This allows the mice to get to room temp. and if not a little warmer. I then use tongs or tweezers and dangle them in front of his hide box, that is in his feeding cage, until he takes it. Sometiimes you may need to move it around like it is still alive before he will even look at it. I have yet to have him refuse to eat one though. Hope that this helps y'all out. Convertly them over to eatting f/t mice only will take time and a lot of patience. Let us know how it goes.

I used to feed my ball python live, but that was back when I was a newbie and didn't know any better....my ball suffered a bite on his head because of my ignorance. I have had both good luck and bad luck when switching balls over to f/t. Some will take it, some just won't. At the very least try to get your animal to eat pre-killed....at least then there is no chance of the food harming the snake. It takes patience....believe me, lol.

One thing though.....NEVER just "stun" a prey item. This can be more dangerous than feeding live. A stunned mouse/rat could regain consciousness while the snake is swallowing it or while the snake is not on its guard and tear the poor snake to pieces from the inside. Make 100% SURE that the prey is dead.

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A stunned mouse/rat could regain consciousness while the snake is swallowing it or while the snake is not on its guard and tear the poor snake to pieces from the inside. Make 100% SURE that the prey is dead.

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Wow David, I never thought of that.
I always thought that when a snakes constricts, he constricts until death of the prey. Is that not correct? By looking at the prey after constriction and prior to eating, they are as flat as a pancake, I can't imaging it ever coming back to life.

He surely was talking about if the BP did not constrict. If the BP constricts, that is the purpose of doing so, to squeeze till there is no life left in its prey's body.

Yes, not all snakes constrict their prey before swallowing....I have several snakes who will just take them off the hemostats and start swallowing.

One thing I've learned when switching my BP over to FT was that temperature is important to my little guy. I tried thawing on in a bowl at room temperature, thawing in warm water, etc. But that didn't get it warm enough for him. So then I followed suggestions to warm the prey on a heating pad or with a blow dryer after it was thawed - no good. What finally worked for me is after it is thawed I sit it on the top of the light fixture for his tank for about 10 minutes. Then I flip it for about 1-2 minutes (these are all estimates). Then when I grab the mouse with tongs and present it to him - I make sure the hotter side is facing him. I can always tell I've got his attention as he is mesmerized and gets in strike mode. If I've gotten it hot enough (one time I zapped the mouse with my temp gun and I think it was like 103 degrees or something-I'll have to double check that) then he'll strike when I wiggle it. If he doesn't strike right away (may not have gotten it just hot enough), then I wiggle a bit and drop it - when it hits the ground he strikes. I actually discovered this by accident one day when I lost my grip and the mouse fell out of the tongs. No problems since.

Thanks Ironhead, I thought maybe that's what he meant.
My milksnake has always eaten f/t and the way he attacks it and constricts, you would think that sucker was alive and running around the way he whips into a frenzy. Thanks for the insight. I'm here to learn :)

My daughter thought I was being pretty sick when I made the F/T rat "Dance" in Phil's cage.

Phil didn't seem to mind, though...

a few small things that seem to trigger the response better for me....some are obvious some arent.
when i present the mouse or rat...instead of holding the rat by the tail or but, i hold it in the middle of the back or closer to the neck. for some reason my snakes like that better...or maybe by coincidence theyve been hungry when i do that.
another thing...(this ones obvious) i wait until they are cruising around the cage at night. i lay some newspaper down over the bark and present the food on that. this way i dont have to disturb them buy picking them up and putting them in a seperate cage.
when you thaw out the food, put the rodent in a plastic bag and submerge it in the hot water...(i do this in the sink and i pin a corner of the bag inder the drain thingy) make sure you get most of the air out of the bag first. your rat will still probably be wet because they get drenched in urin before they are frozen (thats what happens when they are put down with CO2) but that should just make it more appealing to the snake.
good luck. -Mike

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when i present the mouse or rat...instead of holding the rat by the tail or but, i hold it in the middle of the back or closer to the neck.

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Guess I'd be in trouble if I did it that way - my little guy invariably grabs the mouse by the neck when he strikes. Just goes to show how they are all different and it can sometimes take a few stabs at different methods to find what works for your snake.

good luck!

Thanks for all the very helpful input. This site is great for support and guidance. We'll be starting the transition on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes.

K

when i saw hold it by the back or closer to the neck...im still saying to present the food head first...but it doesnt look very alive if its dangling with its but way up in the air...so probably just hold it with tong in the middle of the back and present it head first. good luck! let us know what ends up working. -Mike