Strike feeding only when live but too lazy when thawn ?

[JibbaJabba]

That is an odd one .. When using medium weaner, thawned from frozen, he does not strike feed - I have to leave the rat in the viv and half an hour later he just grabs it ...

Now I had a small spare mouse which annoyed me with his smell so I chucked it in ... (other ones are in shed so I had to get rid of it) .. anyway .... he seemed a bit interested and then, what looked like pure out of annoyance - he actually did strike like crazy and had the mouse ... As the mouse was way too small I chucked in the usual weaner as well.. and again .. left it and half an hour later he had it ...

I know royals are lazy - but can he really be too lazy to strike when he realizes he doesn't really have to in order to eat ? Is the thawned rat maybe too cold ?

[Kaorte]

If they sense it is already dead (especially if you just put it in the cage and don't offer it) they will just start eating it.

They can tell the difference between a live prey item and a dead one.

Its not a big deal as long as the snake is eating consistently. You could try hitting the f/t with a hair dryer for a few seconds before offering it. heating up the head will help them see it better.

[x_gilmore_x]

I had a red tail swallow the rat slowly while i held it in the air nooooo constriction just started swallowing not even a strike

[Allysen]

I have several that come FLYING out of their tubs to strike and "kill" their frozen/thawed rodents, lol! Maybe it just depends on their mood.

[JibbaJabba]

If they sense it is already dead (especially if you just put it in the cage and don't offer it) they will just start eating it.

They can tell the difference between a live prey item and a dead one.

Its not a big deal as long as the snake is eating consistently. You could try hitting the f/t with a hair dryer for a few seconds before offering it. heating up the head will help them see it better.

I only just put it in when I get bored wiggling it I don't have a hair dryer which is why I haven't tried it .. might get a cheapo one and try that .. But yea - not a big deal as he was eating straight from the beginning, never missed a meal which is great ... was just something odd to notice

I had a red tail swallow the rat slowly while i held it in the air nooooo constriction just started swallowing not even a strike

Lol he also just stretches out of his hide until he can reach it

I have several that come FLYING out of their tubs to strike and "kill" their frozen/thawed rodents, lol! Maybe it just depends on their mood.

Nice lol .. one of my king snakes is like that - mind you - they would probably kill dirt too if they could lol - one king once attacked the water stream when filling up his waterbowl LOL ....

[BallsUnlimited]

i have ones that sense the frozen thawed rats right away and come out there tub to bite at the rat and i have ones you have to do the rat dance and they strike coil and then eat

[Arsinoe]

I actually put the mouse in the habitat and then wake Alexander up and he dispatches the intruder ASAP.

[mommanessy247]

the snake i plan on getting will most likely already be established on live prey...will it be bad to just put the mouse in the terrarium & watch it closely? do mice instinctively "go after" snakes to hurt them, or is that just the way rats are?

[JibbaJabba]

the snake i plan on getting will most likely already be established on live prey...will it be bad to just put the mouse in the terrarium & watch it closely? do mice instinctively "go after" snakes to hurt them, or is that just the way rats are?

Why not trying frozen first and see how it goes ?

But I think mice do put up less than a fight. I did feed a royal a small mouse yesterday (live) as I had him "spare" and he started to stink (all other snakes were fed) so I chucked him in ... What I watched was that the mouse did crawl over the snake a few times but was more scared than anything else. Pretty much jumped away as soon as the snake moved ...

A king snake I feed live same thing - the mouse rather runs / jumps away (or even drinks from the bowl not knowing whats going to happen) and doesn't fight.

But every animal is unpredictable so I would always expect them to fight, just to be on the save side.

A lot of people watch closely when feeding live (which is a given anyway), but I am not sure how many people would be quick enough to get the mouse / rat away from the snake once it starts biting...

Personally I only feed live if the snake doesn't eat frozen / thawned and I tried everything else (I am not assist feeding or force feeding myself but rather try to feed live first)

[BigBlue56]

I left my thawed under the red light for 5-10 min to heat up. Then dangling in front of my baby.. He got annoyed and went in his hide so I just kept annoying him by touching the mouse to him till he got pissed off enough to strike..

Second feeding attempt was a success I guess you can say.

I am just glad the first F/T has been consumed since the snake was feed live up till now.