2nd failed attempt at feeding frozen... suggestions?

[icygirl]

This Monday, I tried again offering a frozen mouse to Luke (whose last meal was a live mouse, on 4/11/08, according to his breeder). He had refused it last week, but I also botched the introduction (this thread). This time around I decided to do it right. I let the mouse thaw on top of his enclosure for a while (there are holes drilled in the lid), then further warmed it up with a heat lamp. (Prescenting.) I'm positive that he could smell it - heck I could smell it after it thawed, and I'm only human. All through this process Luke did not budge from his hide. Mind you he is also particularly sensitive to lights being on or off, and I made sure it was dark in the room. After it thawed completely and was a bit warm, I dropped the mouse in outside his hide (NOT right up in his face ), and still nothing. Left it in overnight, and he did not take.

I forgot how frustrating it can be when they don't eat.

My other snakes are going to eat on Thursday, but I may wait a bit longer before offering again to Luke.

Is it possible that I could keep offering frozen for months and he would never take them? I know he's hungry as I have caught him roaming around at night a few times. How much more time should I not be worried about his not eating, until it is considered unhealthy and I should just go ahead and do live?

Also, I appreciate everyone who answered on my last post - you all are a great help.

[Blue Apple Herps]

Have you tried p/k? That could possibly be a good stepping stone, so to speak, to getting him to eat f/t.

[icygirl]

Have you tried p/k? That could possibly be a good stepping stone, so to speak, to getting him to eat f/t.

I have been considering it. I am just not sure which is the right step to take. Also, I've never killed a live mouse before, and am unsure about it. The paper bag whack method seems more detached than, for example, cutting the spinal cord at the neck. What would you suggest seeing as I don't have a CO2 chamber?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I do understand your wish to feed f/t however I always recommend anyone to feed the same type prey for at least 4 to 6 feedings before attempting any switch.

Remember that changing environment is stressful for a BP, and keeping one thing constant (like feeding) is always a good idea.

Get him to eat for you first, make sure he eats with consistency for you and than try to switch him.

Your priority is to get him to eat for you first and foremost, switching is secondary.

[icygirl]

I do understand your wish to feed f/t however I always recommend anyone to feed the same type prey for at least 4 to 6 feedings before attempting any switch.

Remember that changing environment is stressful for a BP, and keeping one thing constant (like feeding) is always a good idea.

Get him to eat for you first, make sure he eats with consistency for you and than try to switch him.

Your priority is to get him to eat for you first and foremost, switching is secondary.

That makes sense. I am not opposed to live feeding; I would prefer that he gets on frozen, but I want to do what's best for him first, and best for me second. Now that being said, I do not want to frighten him with the mouse like I did last time. Would it be smart to hold the [live] mouse out to him by tongs, or just let it run around in there (supervised of course) until he figures it out?

I will try and feed him live on Saturday and go from there... thank you for the advice.

And as a further note: Those bamboo tongs are crap! They broke on me not too soon after I bought them, and now they're just awkward chopsticks... I'm going to see if the pet store has any metal ones.

[icygirl]

And by the way, to Kc261, I completely misread your post in the last thread. For some reason I thought that you said to continue feeding frozen for awhile. So just know that I wasn't intentionally ignoring what you said...

[NightLad]

Salzedo absolutely refused f/t for a long time, still does, but he has started taking pre-killed which is one step closer. I'd suggest pre-killed.

Getting the snake to recognize the dead rodent as food, and to successfully take it from the feeding tongs, will be a big step in the right direction.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

[myreptiles]

You can try what my friend did, he took the F/T mouse after he warm it up under the heat lamp his snake still would not take it so he rub it up on a live mouse and then gave it to his snake and his snake took it in no time. So now that's what he does. Hope it helps. almost mine take F/T's except 1 a Cal. king.

[waltah!]

I'm going through the same thing right now. Advice I got from the breeder was to continue with live since he's very young. I did so last week, and will probably feed live again once or twice more before attempting to switch to f/t again with him. I believe that once he really settles in here and is not stressed, maybe he will be ready for me to try again. My new amazon tree boa switched for me the same day I brought him home...wish they could all be that easy. After thawing the mouse out, i put it in some pretty hot water for a min or so to really warm it up and he took it right away. Good luck with yours!

[Noek]

I've been lucky to have two real good feeders. In shed, out of their cage, day or night, rats or mice, they both eat very well. I started them on f/t mice and graduated them to /ft small rats. I thaw the rat out for about an hour, then place it in a small sandwich bag and run hot water over it, then feed with tongs.

One day, my male spider wouldn't take the rat. I tried for about ten minutes to gain his interest and he definitely seemed ready to eat, but would not strike it. I decided to leave the rat in his tub for a little while. Ten minutes later it was gone. Since then, he has never taken from the tongs again.

I guess he found his niche as far as feeding goes, I hope yours finds his/hers.