Feeding problem

[MattA*]

ya i heard u only have to have one male also..
but dont they need to stay with the with the mother for a a week or soo to get milk??

[Bruce Whitehead]

We just started. Haven't had any babies yet, but it seems pretty basic there are a few preg ones in there now. Make sure you only get 1 male or else the cage will stink like no ones business. I'm also told you should separate the mother and babies as soon as they are born. The ones in the petstore are usually around 4 weeks or so and they have to be 6 to start breeding, so don't be surprised if you don't notice anything for the first few weeks.

There is no need to separate the mothers and babes.

I hate saying this, but it may be beneficial to read and research a bit before offering advice.

Bruce

[Bruce Whitehead]

ya i heard u only have to have one male also..
but dont they need to stay with the with the mother for a a week or soo to get milk??

I believe he is suggesting separating the mother AND the babies together.

Again, this is not necessary. A well established colony will co-parent without concern.

bruce

[MattA*]

ya i thought so..well if mice are anything like hamsters then it would prob. be better to take the father out because my sister had a litter and the male ended up eating like 3 before we separated them...well thank you for helping me out..and ya if i do actually start breeding ill be sure to do my research..

[Kevin_Hornby]

Yes I was referring to separate the mother and her babies from the rest of them. A friend of mine that I work with had the problem with the male eating the babies apparently (I think he had 2 males though). Also forgot to mention, but make sure you have some sort of salt for them otherwise they may start to eat others ears and stuff.

[MattA*]

salt?? what do u mean like just cubes of salt..or is there some special one i have to buy at a pet store?....and ya a friend of mine has mice and few of them are missing ears..i know why now lol

[Kevin_Hornby]

Ya if you go to PetCo or anything like that you will find rodent salt. Its just a wheel they can lick when they need it. Otherwise they go for blood.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

I don't have words...

Well I do

Kevin before giving out ridiculous and potentially dangerous advice you might want to do some research! How about that?

[Kevin_Hornby]

I don't see what the big issue is. If you shake a mouse it doesn't get agressive it gets disoriented hence making it an easy kill. I don't know what kind of mice you feed to your snakes, but i've done this many times and its worked every time. I've never had a mouse bite my snake. Maybe if you do this to a rat or something that may be different, but we were talking about mice here. So before you go critising someones advice please read the entire thread.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Bruce Whitehead]

Kevin it is a VERY big deal.

Not all snakes hit right off the bat, not all of them are efficient constrictors.

Putting a disorientated and confused rodent in with a snake can result in some VERY nasty bites.

Live feeding can be done effectively and safely, but it is imperative that live feedings be done responsibly.

Not to mention it is not a very respectful way to treat your prey item (yeah, I know it is getting fed off). But for many of us, feeding live means treating BOTH of our animals with respect.

I seldom tell someone that their advice is *wrong*... but in this case I think that is a very inappropriate piece of advice to give a new keeper.

Bruce