I got him three weeks ago at a reptile convention; he is four and a half months old and the breeder had only ever fed him live hoppers. I want to switch him to frozen not only because it's safer (my boyfriend keeps insisting it's not that unsafe to feed live, but I'd rather not risk it either way), but mostly because trying to buy live mice of the right size every week from my small local pet shop is a huge hassle. I've done my homework and know all about a lot of the tricks (although please feel free to reiterate! Any advice is helpful), but he just won't go for it ...
Apart from tips and advice, I really want to know how long I should let him go without food. A lot of the "switching over" things I've read advocate not attempting to feed anything but frozen and letting them go hungry (within reason) until they take it, but this is usually applied to adults. How long would it be safe to do this with a baby? If I give in and buy a live mouse to tide him over, am I doing more harm than good in the long run?
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
Also, the tweezers I'm using aren't terribly long, only about eight inches. Is it possible that he's nervous about my hand when I try to move the mouse, and then uninterested in it once it's not moving anymore?
Also, I'm feeding him in a separate container from his cage. How long should I reasonably leave him in there with the food? It's warm and well ventilated.
One last thing-will a snake take more than one prey item at a time? For example, if I have to give in and feed live, can I feed him, say, two fuzzies in one sitting if the pet store doesn't have any hoppers at the time?
Any and all advice is very appreciated. Thanks:)
1st, yes 2 fuzzies is fine. If he readily takes live food, pre kill it and let it set for a while and cool off a little. Each time you feed let it cool a little longer until he will take them at room temp. One that is done simply let your frozen food warm up to room temp. On the other hand you can heat up the frozen mice in hot water or in the microwave on the defrost setting (not too long!) I frequently put them in a small paper sack with the food (in their enclosure) over night. staple or paperclip the bag shut. It usually stimulates the feeding response. They can go quite a long time if they put their mind to it.2-3 months for a baby.
Try braining the thawing food. That means exposing or opening part of the brain so the animal can scent the cerebral fluids which stimulate the appetite
Try going from Live to freshly killed and then make your way to thawed. Sometimes live mice can carry mites and other parasites. Freezing them allows all of those components to die.
you could feed him three pinkies. one alive, one dead and one fresh killed.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com of you could rub mouse blood on the dead mouse.
I'm guessing you've picked up on the "Zombie" mouse trick already, but just in case you haven't, that's a useful trick to getting snakes interested in their dead food.
Dangling it around, moving it, making it "dance" so that it might trigger some of the hunting reflexes.
I have a couple bps one of them WILL NOT EAT FROZEN N THAWED one will not eat with lights on they can be picky. I have trouble with live mice sizes a pet store an feed one ball python one large mouse a week on average sometimes 2 med a week depends on what i can find. @ 4.5 mths 1-2 med mice should be fine, depending on how active it is.
