Transferring from live feeders to frozen/thawed?

I recently acquired a two year old BP who has been fed live his entire life, but I'm not currently in a position to be able to feed live, so I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to transfer him to frozen/thawed? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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Have you tried f/t yet?

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Originally Posted by bmezzo

I recently acquired a two year old BP who has been fed live his entire life, but I'm not currently in a position to be able to feed live, so I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to transfer him to frozen/thawed? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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If you haven't tried yet, just thaw one and offer it. See what happens and go from there.

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Originally Posted by 200xth

If you haven't tried yet, just thaw one and offer it. See what happens and go from there.

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Exactly.

Just offer the snake one and see if he takes it.

I have found that it works better to take the rat above room temp and feed in the dark with picky feeders. I have one BP that won't eat with the lights on or if it's to cold.

We've offered twice now and he hasn't eaten yet. Last night we had his tank dark for a while, tried to feed him at around 9 PM. We thawed the rat and heated it up with a hairdryer before braining it. We danced it around in front of him for a while with some tongs, and when he didn't strike, we put it in his hide and covered his tank up and left it in with him overnight, and when I checked this morning, he hadn't eaten it.

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Originally Posted by bmezzo

We've offered twice now and he hasn't eaten yet. Last night we had his tank dark for a while, tried to feed him at around 9 PM. We thawed the rat and heated it up with a hairdryer before braining it. We danced it around in front of him for a while with some tongs, and when he didn't strike, we put it in his hide and covered his tank up and left it in with him overnight, and when I checked this morning, he hadn't eaten it.

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I had heard that braining is just a myth that in't proven to help OR not help. :s

You can also try heating up a bowl of hot water- not boiling, but still hot to the touch. Dunk the whole (thawed) rat in it for 10 seconds, and then dunk only the head in it for another 10 seconds, so that the head is the warmest part of the body... offer it immediately. Some snakes seem to find a hot, wet rat more appetizing? Something to try.

Another thing to try is getting some dirty mouse aspen from the reptile store who has feeder mice... used aspen with some mouse poop and heavy scent in it, of course... and rolling the rat around in that first. Some snakes find mice a LOT more appetizing than rats. I roll the wet rat around in it after dunking in the hot water.

Go live

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Originally Posted by frostysBP

Go live

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Not an option... her parents won't allow live feeding :/ or generally live rodents in the house at all...

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Not to be mean. But you should rehome the snake. if you cant provide live food then give it to someone who can. If it wont eat frozen it still needs food some snakes will some won't. Should have thought about this before you asked this question

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Originally Posted by frostysBP

Not to be mean. But you should rehome the snake. if you cant provide live food then give it to someone who can. If it wont eat frozen it still needs food some snakes will some won't. Should have thought about this before you asked this question

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Ok... this comment is COMPLETELY uncalled for at this point. She has had this snake for a week, and only offered over the last couple of days. Obviously IF he absolutely will not eat f/t something will be done, but very few things have been tried so far, and it is incredibly drastic and close minded to recommend rehoming just because live isn't an option at this point.

Many snakes won't eat PERIOD for the first couple of weeks in a new home, sometimes longer. Before rehoming, or even resorting to live, is recommended there are dozens of things to try first. She was obviously asking early on (before she had even offered a f/t) in order to stay out with the best chance of early success.

I got a 1yr old Bumblee Bee that was only ever fed Live.. I wanted to get him over to F/T as quickly as possible..
I put him in a feeding tub, danced the F/T rat around w/ zero interest. So I placed the rat inside the tub, put the lid on, turned off the lights and went back an hour later and checked on him, and unfortunately the rat was still there..

Gave it a few days, and tried again.. turned off the lights, and left the F/T rat in there.. came back an hour later and he had eaten the rat! Now all he eats is F/T each time!
Give this a shot and see if it works.. I've tried this method now with a few that i've switched over, and for me, it's worked each time.. Except with one.. who just wont take F/T .. sometimes Live is the only way! :)

How is not being able to provide live uncalled for???? Some wont get on frozen thawed.....if you cant fed live because of what ever reason then you should have considered that before you got a species of snake know to be picky.....its the honest truth...sorry for that but it is

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Of you are a vegetarian im not going to starve you because you wont eat meat...right....

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She can't feed live and is asking for help - end of story. Yes, the snake may need to be rehomed at some time, but not today. Let's try to be helpful, instead of judgmental.

Bmezzo, this is going to take time, and you will most likely go through A LOT of mice/rats before your snake eats frozen/thawed. In fact, he/she may never eat f/t. But you've gotten some very good advice, so just see how it goes.


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My question is why would you take in a two year old snake knowing that it only eats live if you cant provide that? Its not right to starve a snake because you cant feed live?

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Listen, I have a 6-7 year old rescue who was fed live all his life up until he was mine. He hated f/t but I kept offering over and over again. Finally, he went into shed and I waited 2 weeks, then another 3 after that and offered and he snatched it and has been eating well ever since. It takes time and patience. Usually, a snake can go without eating for several months in the wild. If your snake is perfectly healthy, I say go for it. Another method would be to offer one small live and then an immediate f/t after. Usually works [emoji14]

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I may have missed what kid of food you're feeding, but I would try switching between f/t rat and mouse. It could come down to a preference of either or. My boy was on mice and once I switched him to rat he wanted nothing to do with mice lol. I let it thaw out completely in a plasitc baggie and then right before I feed I let the bag sit in warm water so the rat warms a little for a couple min (not too much you don't want to cook it). That seemed to get him interested in f/t. Plus a very convincing zombie dance. Good luck! I hope the snake decides to start eating for you soon! I find their picky eating habits to be the most frustrating thing about Royals, still love them though!

I would get the weight recorded now. It will give an objective marker for when you should start to be concerned if the snake persists on a long fast.

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Originally Posted by frostysBP

How is not being able to provide live uncalled for???? Some wont get on frozen thawed.....if you cant fed live because of what ever reason then you should have considered that before you got a species of snake know to be picky.....its the honest truth...sorry for that but it is

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Like, I want to make it clear that if the situation calls for it I would be willing to feed live. That's not something that's like, completely out of the question. I'm not gonna let this darn snake starve or become unhealthy due to my own potential discomfort with feeding live; I understand the commitment that I've made and I plan on fulfilling that commitment. If the situation honestly calls for it, I will totally get over myself and just do it.

Snakes, like all pets, are a serious commitment and I have to be prepared to make certain sacrifices if I must. I understand and accept that and I kind of don't appreciate the implication that I DON'T, but whatever, I'm not here to fight, I'm here for advice on how to best care for my snake, and if the extent of your "advice" is to tell me I shouldn't have gotten him and make uncalled for implications of my abilities to care for him, then whatever, I'll still take it.

Anyway, again, I am willing to feed live if I must, but I'd still like to transfer him to F/T if possible, because it's simpler for me and probably for him as well. You're allowed to have your own ideas of ideal snake caretaking, but it's in no way unheard of to transfer adult snakes to F/T, even if it takes some time and effort. But I HAVE only had him for about a week, and have only tried to feed him twice, it's certainly not been long enough to come to decision to rehome him.

Anyway, I'm keeping an eye on his weight and I already know of a reptile shop near me that sells live rats if it really comes to that. I would like to get him on F/T of possible, but I can assure you that that desire is in no way going to result in me neglecting him or letting him become unhealthy over just feeding the darn thing live rats.

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Originally Posted by HospiceNHeartsRN

Not an option... her parents won't allow live feeding :/ or generally live rodents in the house at all...

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This is were I got the no live food thing...... if you would have stated that live was a last resort I would have responded different. If you have only had him a week i would limit handling to cage cleaning only...wait a full week then try. Heat the head with a hair dryer and get it over 100. If he refuses wait a week and try a mouse..... if he doesn't take it right away leave it my his hide for the night and cross your fingers. Good luck.

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Treat him like you would any new snake, make sure heat and humidity are good, low traffic area, right size tub, no handling and offer food once per week.

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Originally Posted by frostysBP

This is were I got the no live food thing...... if you would have stated that live was a last resort I would have responded different. If you have only had him a week i would limit handling to cage cleaning only...wait a full week then try. Heat the head with a hair dryer and get it over 100. If he refuses wait a week and try a mouse..... if he doesn't take it right away leave it my his hide for the night and cross your fingers. Good luck.

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Yeah, it's fine/totally understandable. The whole parents thing was an issue at first but they've quickly gotten attached to him and have made it clear that, although they'd prefer to not have live rodents in the house, if it came down to it they would be willing to let me feed him live.

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You're not going to have a live rodent in your house, because once you get back from the store with your rat, you'll put it in with your snake, and then poof! it disappears [emoji6]


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