why not frozen food

[ms381]

I am trying to get my snakes on frozen thawed and man it its a hard task.
I know all the tricks and this thread isnt a help wanted thread.

My question is simply. Why dont some snakes take frozen food? There must be some answers. My first guess is that they must smell different? Obviously heat is a major factor, but if you get it right surely they must be interested.

A mouse is a mouse if your hungry right!

[Keyboard Warrior]

You answered your own question. A major portion of snakes vision, is based off of heat. If its frozen, theres little to no heat coming off of it, so they wont see it.

Plus how good would it feel to bite down on a big frozen chunk of meat?

[iCandiBallPythons]

I've never had any trouble, my whole collection is on f/t.

[ms381]

You answered your own question. A major portion of snakes vision, is based off of heat. If its frozen, theres little to no heat coming off of it, so they wont see it.

Plus how good would it feel to bite down on a big frozen chunk of meat?

i dont know if i should take that comment as a joke, Obviously the rodents are thawed and then heated with a hairdryer and then the heat of the mouse is measured with my heat gun to get the right temp. Why would you offer any animal frozen food!

My first post was asking simply, is there a known reason why some balls dont take to frozen thawed, is it because they loose there scent.

[Keyboard Warrior]

i dont know if i should take that comment as a joke, Obviously the rodents are thawed and then heated with a hairdryer and then the heat of the mouse is measured with my heat gun to get the right temp. Why would you offer any animal frozen food!

My first post was asking simply, is there a known reason why some balls dont take to frozen thawed, is it because they loose there scent.

Your wording threw me off...i thought you were asking and arguing for snakes to eat frozen food.

[ms381]

Your wording threw me off...i thought you were asking and arguing for snakes to eat frozen food.

Sorry, my wording is a bit misleading. But im asking about frozen thawed rodents loosing there scent or other reasons why bps might not take to them.

[darkbloodwyvern]

Plus how good would it feel to bite down on a big frozen chunk of meat?

You're doing it wrong.... >< feeding a snake an unthawed mousicle can very well kill them. Snakes do not deal with ice and snow the way animals like polar bears can! Shock to the system and all that...


I heat up my FT mice for the babies and picky adults. I put them in a plastic baggie and run tap water until it is hot (I use hot but not so hot I an't stick my finger in the water for five+ seconds. Too hot will cook the mouse and few snakes will be very excited about that)

FT smell different than live mice. They smell dead, something that even I, with human smell, can tell the difference. I bet you anything their heat signature patterns LOOK different to a snake with sensitive heat pits. Mice that are alive are hottest at their core, where the organs and heart are. FT are warmest wherever the heat gets into them (or not if you don't warm them). They MOVE differently than live mice, especially if you don't wiggle them around with tongs.
Imagine a steak/chicken/hunk of tofu, or you favorite vegetable/fruit, FRESH and ripe and juicy. Whatever the heck you love to eat most done right and in top form. Now imagine the least appetizing version of it. I LOVE fresh peas, will eat them raw in the garden. I DESPISE canned peas and will never eat them if I can help it! I would have a hard time eating well in prison/the hospital/even at a friend's home if all they fed me was nasty, canned, grey peas. Some snakes, especially BP's would rather not eat than go for the unappealing option. And make sure you really ARE doing everything. I get the mice out of the freezer and thaw them right before the snakes eat. Sometimes I have to refresh the water if it cool before the mice are warmed. And even then, if the mouse was freezer burnt, or previously thawed, or has been frozen for too long (usually 6+ months) they might refuse it. Last monday, my pied girl refused her mouse and when I took it out, the foot just fell off! it had either been freezerburnt or overcooked (my fault either way) to the point where she wasn't into it. Additionally, you may have thawed one PERFECTLY, but if you offer a slightly gross one before the perfect mouse, they may lose their appetite altogether.

Finally, you. Your body language. Are you nervous? The FT mouse is propelled by you, not by its animal nature. If you are all jittery and worried they won't eat, that snake will KNOW. They won't understand you are worried about them. Rather, they will be scared that you are going to do something bad! If a snake gets grabbed in the wild, a predator is usually hyped up on adrenaline, ready to fight and kill. Hunting is dangerous and most animals are not terribly calm when they are about to catch prey, or when they are trying to subdue it. When you are nervous, you are broadcasting that something bad is going on. They maybe trust you not to eat them, but they are still wild animals. Even domesticated dogs and cats respond negatively to anxiety and nervousness in humans. The keys to being a "horse/snake/dog" whisperer are being calm and knowledgeable. Knowing the species and being confident, calm and in control of yourself and the situation will do wonders.

If you snake doesn't eat this one time, don't stress. Don't think about the little dumb things like 'oh this mouse will be wasted', or 'what if he'll never switch'. they will either eat it or they won't and you can't change that. You CAN increase your chances of success by not overwhelming yourself or your snake and not worrying!

[BigByrd47119]

Some have suggested on other forums that people try using scentless (or Ivory) soap.

Think about it. A "wild" mouse (or ones housed in small colonies in pet stores) will smell a lot different than one that was crowded in with hundreds of others over the course of its life. Not to mention there are certain bodily functions that may take place when death was incurred. If the animal was not washed afterwords then it probably still smells of bodily fluids. This has proven to be a valuable method when working with non-feeder corns.

[ms381]

You're doing it wrong.... >< feeding a snake an unthawed mousicle can very well kill them. Snakes do not deal with ice and snow the way animals like polar bears can! Shock to the system and all that...


I heat up my FT mice for the babies and picky adults. I put them in a plastic baggie and run tap water until it is hot (I use hot but not so hot I an't stick my finger in the water for five+ seconds. Too hot will cook the mouse and few snakes will be very excited about that)

FT smell different than live mice. They smell dead, something that even I, with human smell, can tell the difference. I bet you anything their heat signature patterns LOOK different to a snake with sensitive heat pits. Mice that are alive are hottest at their core, where the organs and heart are. FT are warmest wherever the heat gets into them (or not if you don't warm them). They MOVE differently than live mice, especially if you don't wiggle them around with tongs.
Imagine a steak/chicken/hunk of tofu, or you favorite vegetable/fruit, FRESH and ripe and juicy. Whatever the heck you love to eat most done right and in top form. Now imagine the least appetizing version of it. I LOVE fresh peas, will eat them raw in the garden. I DESPISE canned peas and will never eat them if I can help it! I would have a hard time eating well in prison/the hospital/even at a friend's home if all they fed me was nasty, canned, grey peas. Some snakes, especially BP's would rather not eat than go for the unappealing option. And make sure you really ARE doing everything. I get the mice out of the freezer and thaw them right before the snakes eat. Sometimes I have to refresh the water if it cool before the mice are warmed. And even then, if the mouse was freezer burnt, or previously thawed, or has been frozen for too long (usually 6+ months) they might refuse it. Last monday, my pied girl refused her mouse and when I took it out, the foot just fell off! it had either been freezerburnt or overcooked (my fault either way) to the point where she wasn't into it. Additionally, you may have thawed one PERFECTLY, but if you offer a slightly gross one before the perfect mouse, they may lose their appetite altogether.

Finally, you. Your body language. Are you nervous? The FT mouse is propelled by you, not by its animal nature. If you are all jittery and worried they won't eat, that snake will KNOW. They won't understand you are worried about them. Rather, they will be scared that you are going to do something bad! If a snake gets grabbed in the wild, a predator is usually hyped up on adrenaline, ready to fight and kill. Hunting is dangerous and most animals are not terribly calm when they are about to catch prey, or when they are trying to subdue it. When you are nervous, you are broadcasting that something bad is going on. They maybe trust you not to eat them, but they are still wild animals. Even domesticated dogs and cats respond negatively to anxiety and nervousness in humans. The keys to being a "horse/snake/dog" whisperer are being calm and knowledgeable. Knowing the species and being confident, calm and in control of yourself and the situation will do wonders.

If you snake doesn't eat this one time, don't stress. Don't think about the little dumb things like 'oh this mouse will be wasted', or 'what if he'll never switch'. they will either eat it or they won't and you can't change that. You CAN increase your chances of success by not overwhelming yourself or your snake and not worrying!

Thanks fo rthe reply, some interesting points. But for the RECORD im not offering frozen rodents. aaggghh

[mues155]

Snakes are not scavengers, they do not eat dead prey in the wild.
Tricking them into eating frozen thawed is actually a great feat on our part.
Of course the f/t smell different and getting that core body temp up to suitable is hard to do sometimes.
Ive got some picky little BPs im converting over to f/t myself and im having to pull out all the stops. But its the task of tricking their instinct and it takes patience above all things. Just make sure the body temp of the f/t is good and rub it in some rat/mouse urine and that usually does the trick.