Feeding live mice

I have been feeding my BP live for as long as i have had him, well i felt bad because for the mice we were using we had news paper as the substrate and their poo was the color of what the paper was... EWE so i went to wallies and bought pine... only to realize later that it was pine everyone says is deadly to snakes... well i was wondering does that apply... If my mouse is in pine will it hurt the snake? and if so how long does the mouse need to be out b4 feeding the snake?

i would avoid the pine just to be safe. anyways, whats the problem with the poo color? you have to take care of your feeders and make sure they are sanitarry as well. keeps them healthy so they are good food items.

using a different substrate to hide the visual aspect of the poo does not help. cleaning it does. i would just stick to news paper and when its dirty clean it rather then trying to hide it.

I use aspen because that's what in my BP's cages and I have it in bulk...I clean the feeders cages once a week...Keep it simple and clean is my motto...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pitsandpythons

I use aspen because that's what in my BP's cages and I have it in bulk...I clean the feeders cages once a week...Keep it simple and clean is my motto...

---

i agree.

oh no i cleaned their cage every 4 days it wasnt that... believe me they are treated like pets aside from not being petted! The color was green and kinda gooey (not what they started out like) i assumed they were eating the news paper and that was y they were pooping that... i can get cedar is that ok for the snake?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PythonKaa

oh no i cleaned their cage every 4 days it wasnt that... believe me they are treated like pets aside from not being petted! The color was green and kinda gooey (not what they started out like) i assumed they were eating the news paper and that was y they were pooping that... i can get cedar is that ok for the snake?

---

:O :O cedar will kill your Snake for sure. Aspen or Newspaper is ideal.

and i wouldn't worry about the mice/rats eating the news paper its not going to hurt them, as for them having odd poop, i wouldn't really put much thought into it unless you think there is something wrong with them.

If the feeders are eating toxic substrates and then you ball python is eating the feeder then the toxicity is passed and you kill your python. Get aspen bedding or stick to the newsprint. Neither of those will kill your snake.

Bloodsong

kk... i have also read that aspen is ok so i will probably use that... but thanks... i just wanted to make sure b4 i fed the one i have left to the snake... how long after i remove it from the pine can i feed it? or should i?

With how fast rodents metabolize I would say 3-4 days would make sure that the toxins are not only out of the digestive tract but also out of the bloodstream.

Bloodsong

super... thanks

Pine is readily available, cheap and smells fresh. This is OK for your rodents. I use pine as a substrate for my rats, mice, etc. Actually some people report mice get allergies from pine, mine have not. Theres many top breeders that use Pine also, Ralph Davis to name the best :gj:. Anyways Aspen would be great, I just dont use it because nobody local carries it, as I said, Pines worked for me for years.......and many top breeders too. DO NOT however use pine or cedar as a snake bedding, Both are extremely harmful to snakes.

I use corn cob bedding as I use it for my rabbit and rats.

Many snake breeders house their rodents on pine, and feed their rodents to their snakes without issues. I used to house my rodents on pine, but just switched to wood pellets. I don't see any issues with feeding rodents to snakes that were housed on pine.

Hope this helps.