Sorry but i have a few more questions

[snakeys1996]

well i started to handle my ball python buddy yesterday. first i was wondering if that was too early and if it is then i was wondering if i stopped now if it would get better. he diddnt seem very scared, but he kept on the move mostly. he really liked my head lol. then i have a few, kinda dumb, questions about frozen/thawed mice. first is what is an effective way to thaw a mouse. and if you thaw a mouse, then try to feed you snake and he ignores it, can you refreeze and rethaw your mouse? i was also told that a good way to feed is by dangling the food in front of the snake. i did that but he just climbed up my hand lol. im not sure what that means but i would appreciate your advice. thank you

[JLC]

If your little guy seems to be handling easily, then I wouldn't worry about if it's "too soon" or not. But I would keep the sessions short and infrequent until you get him eating consistently. If he doesn't start eating, you may have to stop handling him altogether until he does.

The easiest way to thaw a mouse is to put it in a baggie and set the baggie in a bowl of hot tap water. You may have to change the water when it cools. Be sure the mouse is completely thawed and heated through. I thaw mine overnight in the fridge and then warm them up in the water when I'm ready to feed.

You can refreeze it once, if you want, but I wouldn't do that more than once.

One last thing...when you're dangling a mouse for your snake...you really should use tongs or something to distance your hand from the prey. You're lucky the snake just climbed up your hand, rather than striking and biting. Your hand is nice and warm and very close to a yummy smelling mouse...very easy for the snake to miss and hit the wrong target.

Sounds like he just wasn't ready to eat yet...or he may not be too sure about the frozen/thawed thing as actual food. Some snakes are skeptical and take some convincing.

[JLC]

PS - You don't have to apologize for asking question!

[snakeys1996]

ok thank you but... how do i convince my snake lol

[snakeys1996]

oh and i was also wondering if i could as some questions to someone familier with marlas picture program. i was wondering i would make a picture take up kb's so i wont run out of room in my gallery.

[JLC]

I'm not sure. There's lots of different techniques to try. First off...I'd wait a week after each refusal to feed. If you try to feed too often, you'll just stress the snake and it'll be anti-productive. It'll improve his appetite if he waits some.

--Make sure the mouse is very warm
--You might try a freshly pre-killed mouse...if you can bring yourself to do that
--Try putting the snake with the mouse in a small, dark container that is also warm and escape-proof (setting this container back into the snake's cage is the best way to do this) and then just leave them alone. Many balls are very shy eaters and will not strike/eat while being watched.

[Mike]

besides the rule of not handling your snake for at least week after you get it, i dont start handling them until they eat. a few days after it eats ill take it out for a while. but not handle it too much. once its eaten a few meals then i handle them just like the rest of my snakes.
the easiest way to thatw a mous (imo) is to put it in a ziplock bag and pin the bag underwater. make sure ya got as much air out of the bag as possible. you can refreez them as long as they havent been out for too long. for mice, i dont use them if theyve been out for 15 minutes (not including thaw time).
hope this helped...
Mike

[JLC]

I've never used Marla's program, so I don't know about that. Usually, converting them to .jpg format compresses them quite a bit. I use a program called "Photo Impact" from Ulead that allows me to choose how much each picture is compressed when I convert it to .jpg.

[Mike]

ok...apparently i was away for like an hour and forgot to refresh my comp. so i was alittle late on that.

have you tried leaving the mous in the cage over night?

[Hoomi]

What I do for thawing the food animals (varies with me depending on whether the reptile shop has the right sized rats available, or whether I just have to settle for some large mice) is I use a medium large insulated mug. I fill this with hot tap water, seal the mouse/rat in a ziploc style bag, and using a short metal handle prop it under the hot water in the mug. I have a kitchen "Candy" thermometer which I use to monitor the temperature of the water. When the water drops down to about 100 degrees, I check the mouse/rat and make sure it feels warm all the way through. If not, I'll refresh the water with some more hot and continue thawing a little longer.

When I feed, I hold the mouse/rat with a pair of long needlenose pliers that I've placed heat-shrinkable tubing around the jaws (makes sure there are no harsh metal edges to potentially abrade the snake). I dangle the prey nearby in front of the snake, or, if the snake is in its hide, I jiggle the mouse/rat in and out of the hole on the hide. Some snakes have no problem taking the prey without any motion, while others seem to need some jiggling to simulate a living prey. Remember that your snake starts the strike on visual mode, but switches to "heat seeking" for the final "hit". This is a very important point to remember when you dangle the mouse or rat with your hand, as your hand is going to be very close to the same temperature as the prey. On visual, the snake saw a rather small target, but on thermal mode, it suddenly "sees" a very large target, and it may strike for center of the heat mass. That might just mean it hits your hand instead of the mouse. While BP's don't have very large teeth, they do have a lot of very sharp teeth, which can leave numerous puncture wounds, and worse, if you jerk away from the strike, numerous nasty lacerations. You may also injure your snake if you snatch your hand away from a strike.

It's better all around to avoid the problem and use forceps or pliers. It also helps prevent the snake from associating your hand with food, so when you reach in to pick him or her up, you won't have as much chance of them getting excited and striking for a mouse that isn't there.

As Mike suggested also, some BP's can be a little shy about eating in front of an audience. Leaving the prey in the enclosure overnight, or for a while with the enclosure covered or the room darkened, can sometimes encourage the BP to feed. Magellan seems more likely to feed when I'm not looking. Phil will feed no matter what's going on, but Magellan is a little more shy about it. I'll have to see how Dixie is the first time I feed her.