feeding

[shorty]

quick question. Just wondering what to watch out for when choosing a live mouse for my snake. like if the mice have any scabs on them and what is should look for that would be risky for the snake.

[JLC]

I would choose a mouse from a trustworthy petstore...one that comes from healthy-looking stock that doesn't stink. (Within reason...there's bound to be some odor involved wherever you stock breeding mice!) So far as we know, health issues from the mouse don't transfer to the snake, so if you accidently get a sick mouse, or one with mites, it won't hurt your snake....but why risk your own peace of mind by choosing a sickly or infested looking mouse?

[frankykeno]

Like Judy said pick a healthy looking mouse then I'd suggest you take it home and give it something to eat and drink before feeding it off. Better for your snake to have a fed, hydrated mouse in there to eat.

[Adam_Wysocki]

or one with mites, it won't hurt your snake.

Unless the mites are snake mites.

Pick a chubby one! ... And FWIW, I never feed and water my rodents "before" I feed them to my snakes ... LOL ... and the snakes never complain.



ROCK ON!

-adam

[JLC]

Unless the mites are snake mites.

Well...yeah!

Pick a chubby one! ... And FWIW, I never feed and water my rodents "before" I feed them to my snakes ... LOL ... and the snakes never complain.

-adam

Well...don't you breed your own feeders on site? If that's the case, then every rodent you feed is "fed and watered" before they are fed to the snakes. LOL Jo just means to feed/water a store-bought rodent because it may come home a lot hungrier and/or thirstier than it should be...and no sense tempting fate by putting a hungry rat in with your snake.

[jglass38]

I could be wrong, but I think Adam goes and picks up his rats weekly before feeding. All I saw at his place were some decrepit looking Gerbils . I',m not even sure if he feeds those to anything or just hangs out and talks to them...

Incidentally, I am not sure what the point is of feeding/watering your store bought rodents before feeding them off is...

[frankykeno]

I'm assuming if Adam buys his feeders from a good supplier, which I'm sure he does, they've been fed and watered recently. Why I suggest it is because a lot of members here buy from pet stores. Some pet stores are decent, some are horrible. I don't see why it's a problem to take time to make sure a creature has a meal and some water before you use it for a food item for your snake. We're not talking 500 mice/rats here, we're talking a person buying a few rodents a week. I don't have to do this, I raise my own but when I bought from pet stores, I did it because those rodents are often so overcrowded I can't imagine they've had much of a chance at the food supply or water bottle. I'd rather put in a hydrated, recently fed prey item.

[Adam_Wysocki]

Well...don't you breed your own feeders on site?

No. I sure don't.

Jo just means to feed/water a store-bought rodent because it may come home a lot hungrier and/or thirstier than it should be.

I know exactly what Jo means, but thanks for the clarification. ... I was just trying to share my own experience since I feed well over 250 rodents every week ... Sometimes it's several hours between the time my rodents are pulled, boxed up, delivered, and then fed out and I've never had a problem with them not having food and water in between.

If I had to feed and water a couple hundred rodents before I fed them to my collection, feeding my snakes would take two days instead of one ... LOL.

It's really nothing to worry about.

-adam

[shorty]

...Ok well thanks a lot for all the good advice. I have been getting live feeders from the pet store around my area. They are pretty good at having fairly healthy mice for the twice a week i feed my snake. it was just the past two times i got one, i had to exchange the first one since it had a swollen foot, and the second one had scabs on it, and i was not sure if it was safe or not. The clerk told me it should not bother him, and it didnt and thats what matters.

[Ginevive]

If you're buying mice/rats on a weekly basis, just make sure to choose a good pet store that has its animals in clean conditions and keeps them undercrowded and fed/watered. Any that have constant wetness under their tails, scabbiness or red bloodlike substances dripping from their eyes, should be avoided; they are unhealthy and thus are not the best choice, as some BPs will go off feed at various times, and with each feeding you want to pack them as full of nutrients as you can!