first feeding questions

[starmom]

I feed frozen/thawed because I don't want to be a rodent farmer
I have not had any problems with any of my snakes not wanting to eat, except for one girl who has been a problem feeder from the day I got her.
I pre-scent and do things pretty much the same way Becky does except I hold the rats with tongs and make them do a little zombie dance. The snakes hit them hard and fast with a strike and a a few coils. Happy snakes!
I DO make certain that the rodents are very thawed and very smooshy and war and then I zap their head with a blow dryer for about a minute...

[Jenn]

I think the FT/live debate depends on how many snakes you have. Seems like the more snakes people have the more likely they are to feed live.

[starmom]

Yeah- I've never understood 'the debate'
For me, I only have 16 snakes and I also don't want to raise rodents. I'm happy to get them frozen and the snakes grow and thrive on frozen thawed so that's good I think it's really important for those feeding f/t to really find a good supplier of rodents who offer quality rodents (not laboratory left-overs) and who kill humanely and package without feces and etc.
For others, feeding live is good. They raise their own food and so they know just what their snakes are getting- a bonus! Also, feeding live is as close to natural as the snakes can get for food- also a bonus!
So, no debate- just whatever works for each herper...

[SatanicIntention]

I don't raise rodents, I just go buy 250-275 every month

If you want to feed frozen, that's fine, but you need to feed what the snake is used to a couple more times to get him/her happy with eating. If the snake is on live adult mice, then slowly switch over to pre-killed mice offered on tongs/hemostats. After a few meals of the PK mice, then offer a VERY warm, fully thawed mouse on tongs.

It may take awhile, and some snakes just never accept f/t food. If you want a snake that will 98% of the time take frozen, get a boa. They are garbage disposals. Mine would eat a wood block covered in fur if I offered it to her, haha.

[halfwaynowhere]

i think i'm going to stick with live for awhile.

I was told to wait 3 days before trying to feed her, but she seems active and hungry now. Would it be bad if I offered food sooner than three days?

[SatanicIntention]

If she's active, it's likely she's stressed out. From the picture you posted in your other thread, her enclosure looks big and her hides are much too big.

Try a 6qt tub, with one 4" plastic planter saucer(hole cut in the side and turned upside down), and a water bowl. You can get the 6qt shoebox tub and the planter saucer at WalMart.

Once you move her, and she's settled in, her acting hungry will consist of her sitting in her hides with her head out("lurking"). Then you can pre-scent the room, turn off the lights and drop a live small adult mouse in her enclosure. She'd do fine on either a large hopper or a small adult mouse.

[Sonya610]

There's no reason to refreeze a prey item. Refreezing, then thawing again breaks down the cell walls even more, which will result in an exploded rodent. It's not pretty nor does it smell good AT ALL. Even the snake is usually turned off of it.

The guy that wrote the article and mentioned refreezing did it to entice a picky eater, he thought the fact that it breaks down the cell walls and changed the smell might have been why his BP preferred the twice frozen mice.

I agree it does sound icky, and could harbor bacteria, but if it was promptly refrozen it probably isn't so bad bacteria wise.

[starmom]

I don't raise rodents, I just go buy 250-275 every month

If you want to feed frozen, that's fine, but you need to feed what the snake is used to a couple more times to get him/her happy with eating. If the snake is on live adult mice, then slowly switch over to pre-killed mice offered on tongs/hemostats. After a few meals of the PK mice, then offer a VERY warm, fully thawed mouse on tongs.

It may take awhile, and some snakes just never accept f/t food. If you want a snake that will 98% of the time take frozen, get a boa. They are garbage disposals. Mine would eat a wood block covered in fur if I offered it to her, haha.

OMG
No way!! That's an idea I had never considered!! Now, I still don't want rodents around, but this is a great way of doing things! Oh Becky- you are so smart!!!!
So, what, you buy them all different sizes and then just keep feeding them and offering? Do you keep them in sex segregated housing? I'd LOVE to know more!!!!

[SatanicIntention]

I just go up to Big Cheese Rodents(Ft Worth) every month or so, buy what I need(their live prices are wonderful BTW, same price as frozen), bring them home in this huge modified underbed box I have with ice packs inside, and separate them out when I get home. I didn't separate them this time because they were going to get fed off quickly. I only buy medium adults, which are around 15-20g each. They always give me a 50/50 split, sometimes more males(which I like because they get bigger faster).

I just can't see feeding any of my snakes a refrozen/rethawed prey item because of the chance of regurge and chance of exploding rodent. I don't want disintigrating intestines all over my snakes or all over their tubs. Bleh.

If it's thawed once, over a couple of hours in the fridge or on a counter in room temp, then warmed up to over 100 degrees to be offered to a snake, possibly left for a few hours(and it's decomposing all this time) to see if the snake will eat it, and then frozen again, isn't that a bit gross? I can't say that I would eat something that is thawed, left out for hours, then refrozen, then thawed and warmed up again. The amount of bacteria present would be astronomical. Anything that gets thawed and warmed up here, and is refused, is tossed out or offered to someone else(not that anyone else can eat a 2.5lb rabbit). If Sonja, my boa, doesn't eat(which is a rarity unless she's deep in shed), then I'll put the rabbit in a bag, and back in the fridge for a few days. I've done that once in the time I've had her, haha.