Feeding frozen/thawed rats

I bought some snakes from a breeder, he said they eat frozen/thawed rats. They won't eat. Any advice? Maybe I'm thawing them wrong? How do I get them to eat?

And the snake I've had for years eats live rats, how do I convert her to frozen/thawed?
Are frozen/thawed better then live? Which one is cheaper?
Which one do you prefer to feed your snake?

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Depends on the size of the snake.what size rats are they on? Pups, small mediu,, large, jumbo? I thaw mine in the fridge the morning of. Throw in warm water for an hour when I get home then hotter water for another hour. I take her out to weigh and spot clean her tank and put the rat in then put her in after that. She knows to eat at that time.

Also make sure their husbandry is correct. Temps, humidity ok? Wait a week so they can de stress then try to feed. Pics of a setup are always a plus to help.

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Originally Posted by Sunnieskys

Depends on the size of the snake.what size rats are they on? Pups, small mediu,, large, jumbo? I thaw mine in the fridge the morning of. Throw in warm water for an hour when I get home then hotter water for another hour. I take her out to weigh and spot clean her tank and put the rat in then put her in after that. She knows to eat at that time.

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He gave me what he had left. Which were weaned. But they could be eating medium. I just need to get some.

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So pup rats? Ft are always better (my opinion) since they can't harm your snakes if they are already gone. Live can scratch and bite your snake. Are you feeding in their enclosure or a feed box? More info is needed to help you.

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Originally Posted by Sunnieskys

So pup rats? Ft are always better (my opinion) since they can't harm your snakes if they are already gone. Live can scratch and bite your snake. Are you feeding in their enclosure or a feed box? More info is needed to help you.

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They've been fed in their own enclosures, to my knowledge. But I do have an empty enclosure that I could use to feed them, if need be.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sunnieskys

Also make sure their husbandry is correct. Temps, humidity ok? Wait a week so they can de stress then try to feed. Pics of a setup are always a plus to help.

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This is their current enclosure along with the empty one. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a309dacd29.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...37b3d682e4.jpg

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We don't feed LIVE over here in the UK so my 21 snakes have only ever eaten thawed frozen - it's easy to be honest .

This method WORKS if done properly ...
I wait until evening as they're nocturnal of course . I let the rodent thaw out in the reptile room so they get the smell ..
Then I warm up the mouse / rat with a hairdryer and offer with tongs IMMEDIATELY whilst still warm . If refused simply repeat the heating and offering as many times as needed. .
A couple of mine will only strike feed from within their hides so I dangle the warm rodent in front of the hide's entrance - usually works but if it fails simply reheat the rodent with a hairdryer and immediately offer again whilst it's still warm continue until it's grabbed ...


Incidentally , if it shows no interest at all not even a tongue flicker maybe it's best to leave for a week or so.


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Its always better to feed them in their enclosure from what I've heard and experienced, just less stressful for you and the snake and you don't have to risk regurgitation when placing them back in their home. As for the new ones how long have you had them for? Could their reason for not eating be from not being comfortable yet? I know there are some ball pythons that will refuse to eat frozen thawed but sense they were on it before that shouldn't be a problem. I have always had success using a similar thawing method that was stated earlier, I leave it in the fridge all morning then place it in a bowl of luke warm water for about an hour then use a hair dryer to warm it up. Some snakes are picky with the way you offer the food, some of the methods people use are having it do a little zombie dance wiggling the mouse around of the tongs while holding it by the back legs or tail, tapping the snake gently on the snoot with the mouse, or simply dropping it into the enclosure and the snake will come out and eat it on its own. There are plenty other methods but those are the most common I believe and the ones I personally have had success with.

Just as a side note did you make or buy your racks? And where did you get or what references did you use to make them? Sorry I've just been looking into to ranks myself and I like the look of yours ^-^


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Originally Posted by BluuWolf

Its always better to feed them in their enclosure from what I've heard and experienced, just less stressful for you and the snake and you don't have to risk regurgitation when placing them back in their home. As for the new ones how long have you had them for? Could their reason for not eating be from not being comfortable yet? I know there are some ball pythons that will refuse to eat frozen thawed but sense they were on it before that shouldn't be a problem. I have always had success using a similar thawing method that was stated earlier, I leave it in the fridge all morning then place it in a bowl of luke warm water for about an hour then use a hair dryer to warm it up. Some snakes are picky with the way you offer the food, some of the methods people use are having it do a little zombie dance wiggling the mouse around of the tongs while holding it by the back legs or tail, tapping the snake gently on the snoot with the mouse, or simply dropping it into the enclosure and the snake will come out and eat it on its own. There are plenty other methods but those are the most common I believe and the ones I personally have had success with.

Just as a side note did you make or buy your racks? And where did you get or what references did you use to make them? Sorry I've just been looking into to ranks myself and I like the look of yours ^-^


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I bought them with some of my snakes. The guy I bought them from had gotten them from a reptile expo. I'm actually going to an expo that's in California in August in hopes to find some taller and larger racks.
(Along with some more snakes. [emoji1] )

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Do all of them have hide boxes? It's a little hard to tell. If not, try adding hides. Security is always an issue with BPs, as are proper temps and humidity (humidity, less so with larger juveniles and adults, but it can still be a factor). Too warm, as well as too cold, can inhibit feeding.

Do you know how the breeder presented their rats? Wet/dry/warmed?

I pretty much do what Zincubus does, just with an incandescent light bulb. I let the rodents thaw fully at room temperature in the room with the snakes over several hours. By evening, when the rats are thawed all the way through, I put them under the light for ~12 minutes until they reach a living temp or slightly over to account for cooling. New snakes aren't re-offered, as I don't want to stress them. I just wait them out.

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Originally Posted by Alicia

Do all of them have hide boxes? It's a little hard to tell. If not, try adding hides. Security is always an issue with BPs, as are proper temps and humidity (humidity, less so with larger juveniles and adults, but it can still be a factor). Too warm, as well as too cold, can inhibit feeding.

Do you know how the breeder presented their rats? Wet/dry/warmed?

I pretty much do what Zincubus does, just with an incandescent light bulb. I let the rodents thaw fully at room temperature in the room with the snakes over several hours. By evening, when the rats are thawed all the way through, I put them under the light for ~12 minutes until they reach a living temp or slightly over to account for cooling. New snakes aren't re-offered, as I don't want to stress them. I just wait them out.

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Thank you. I'll try again in a few days

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I have four ball pythons that just went off feed and haven't eaten in about two months. Before that they were slamming fresh killed rats. They all got to be around 1500 grams, about breeding size for the first time. I'm thinking they went into breeding mode and just refuse to eat. I was thinking of pairing them up but I may wait until November and then pair up all my snakes that are old enough. A lot of my ball pythons will also fast around 1000 grams, they call it the '1000 gram wall'. I imagine with just one snake it can be pretty confusing when they refuse to eat but with a rack full of snakes I'm starting to see a pattern...