Pre-killed, F/T Inquiries

[Pandora]

Pandora has been a very responsive feeder to both mice and rats, and live and frozen. She's never refused a meal and can eat two rat pups in one sitting.

A few feedings ago, I started spraying her food with some water to help aid in hydration. Since then, she started doing this funny thing where she constricts, and then dances around the prey nudging it with her nose until she finally eats it. Before then, she ate perfectly.

I decided to try feeding her frozen to see if she would respond because her last rat was very jumpy and gave her a few missing scales from very minor scratches. I put the rat in a bag, and placed the bag in hot water, then warmed the head with a blow dryer. Mind you, a professional blow dryer gets quite hot and I'm pretty sure the rat was more than warm enough when I offered it to her. Anyway, although there were no holes in the bag, the rat seemed a bit damp on the outside probably from the melted frost (?). She struck instantly but still did that funny nudging thing.

I'm starting to think that maybe I should start pre-killing her live prey. Is there ANY humane way of doing this other than using dry ice or freezing the rat or getting bloody? I'd continue feeding her live but as her prey gets bigger, I really don't want to take the risk with more serious bites or scratches. I don't know if there's any way to absolutely ensure that F/T prey is COMPLETELY dry when being offered. I keep her tank in my room so thawing the prey throughout the day or overnight may very well stink up my whole room. I know that I can put it in an airtight plastic container but then I can't pre-scent.

Anyway, how many of you actually feed pre-killed? Could there possibly be a reason for her doing this weird nudging dance around the rodent? It just bothers me because then the forgets where the head is after constricting it and starts biting it's bum or in the middle of it's body, even when I warmed the head up with a blow dryer. She eventually gets the point but it's still rather annoying to watch especially after all her initial feedings were perfect.

What to do... what to do...

[Pandora]

Sorry, I meant she's been a responsive EATER not feeder

[Oxylepy]

If you want to feed prekilled I've heard a few ways of doing it yourself.

First you can stick it in a sock and smack it against a wall nice and hard. That will definitely kill it, and give you a pretty red sock (I'm kidding, never do that). I did hear that you can pin them down with a ruler by the back of the neck and then pull upwards with their tail and it's supposed to sever the spine. Never tried, personally. I only buy live feeders as "treats" to let my snakes hunt every once in a while (mind you I also feed them lives that are about a quarter of the size of their normal frozen food, so yeah an adult mouse is not going to do much damage to a 4 foot 1500g ball python).

[Wh00h0069]

I feed all of my ball pythons live, and take the rats out after an hour if not eaten. I have never had any issues. I was listening to reptile radio, and BHB said that he feeds all of his balls live, and leaves the rats in overnight, and never has any issues either. I imagine that he has a TON of ball pythons too, and that he has been doing this for years.

I used to feed f/t. The best way to do this is to thaw the rat out to room temp before heating it up. This may solve your problem.

To prekill, you can use carbon dioxide in solid or gas form. That will first put them to sleep, then kill them. You can also sever their spine, as the poster above stated.

[Pandora]

If you want to feed prekilled I've heard a few ways of doing it yourself.

First you can stick it in a sock and smack it against a wall nice and hard. That will definitely kill it, and give you a pretty red sock (I'm kidding, never do that). I did hear that you can pin them down with a ruler by the back of the neck and then pull upwards with their tail and it's supposed to sever the spine. Never tried, personally. I only buy live feeders as "treats" to let my snakes hunt every once in a while (mind you I also feed them lives that are about a quarter of the size of their normal frozen food, so yeah an adult mouse is not going to do much damage to a 4 foot 1500g ball python).

Yeah... I don't think pre-killed is for me. Is there any way to thaw the rats and keep them completely dry?

[instinct27]

Yeah... I don't think pre-killed is for me. Is there any way to thaw the rats and keep them completely dry?

I haven't had the problem you are describing but I simply let the mouse thaw to room temperature with the bag open. I think most of the condensation simply evaporated. After that I resealed the bag and submerged the mouse in warm water. Then fed.

I feel the thawing to room temp with an open bag should help...

[Beardedragon]

I feed all of my ball pythons live, and take the rats out after an hour if not eaten. I have never had any issues. I was listening to reptile radio, and BHB said that he feeds all of his balls live, and leaves the rats in overnight, and never has any issues either. I imagine that he has a TON of ball pythons too, and that he has been doing this for years.

I used to feed f/t. The best way to do this is to thaw the rat out to room temp before heating it up. This may solve your problem.

To prekill, you can use carbon dioxide in solid or gas form. That will first put them to sleep, then kill them. You can also sever their spine, as the poster above stated.

Doesnt he feed f/t in all of his snakebyte videos? I feed live, but I hate it because of all the poop the rats leave behind that I have to clean if they do not eat right away

[Pandora]

I would not feel comfortable leaving a live rat in the same tank as her for more than 15-20 minutes, let alone overnight. I always watch her eat regardless of live or frozen just to make sure everything is okay. I feed her out of her tank anyway. But my concern is not her feeding response, it's the fact that she constricts and then leave it alone, nudging all around it until she finally remembers where the head is. Let's stay on topic, please

[Pandora]

I haven't had the problem you are describing but I simply let the mouse thaw to room temperature with the bag open. I think most of the condensation simply evaporated. After that I resealed the bag and submerged the mouse in warm water. Then fed.

I feel the thawing to room temp with an open bag should help...

Does thawing them at room temperature make the room stink at all? What's the minimum time they need to thaw at room temp?

[ride_gnu]

I have had a problem with wet F/T especially when it comes to rats, and to boot they are way to finicky. I havent found a best way yet. If you let if thaw bag open, it seems to help with the moisture but for me i get unlucky and they seem to slpit once i put them in hot water after leaving them out for a day. If you put them in hot water right away from the freezer it can help to dry them out with a paper towel and a blowdryer too.