Posted: 4/25/2005 1:43:36 PM EDT
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I fed my snake a mouse today, and he refused to eat it. Now, the joker is curled up in the corner of his cage with the mouse tucked in his coils and they are having a nice peaceful afternoon nap. Our society is over if even snakes have stooped to this level. 
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Although I'm not a snake expert, I thought it was a big no-no to feed snakes live animals like mice etc. One person told me (he was a snake expert) that he's lost too many snakes, some of them rattlers, to live mice that he never feeds them to his snakes. The mice get on the snakes head and bite the back of the neck, killing the snake. Merlin |
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I always fed my python live rats.The other option is to freeze them,and basically force feed the snake,I never did that.My python seemed to prefer live animals,plus it was more "natural" for him to track and strike. My python didn't eat a couple of times.I left the rat in there a max of 2-3 hours,and kept an eye on them.When he didn't eat,I gave the rat freedom.I always just figured the rat might chomp on my snakes head when he was sleeping or something. Take the food out after 2 hours.Don't do it for the snake,do it for the children. |
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LOTS of snake people advise NEVER, NEVER, NEVER to feed live animals to your snakes. The mice/rats/whatever, have a survival instinct just like everything else...and can definitely fight back. MANY pet snakes have lost an eye, or even had their tounge bitten off. Its not worth the risk. The snake will eat the frozen mice just as well. |
Wouldn't surprise me... I put a full size rat in with my old Savannah Monitor. When I bought it I didn't realize the damn thing was almost ast big as my lizard... fuckers battle for almost an hour. My lizard clamped on each limb for about 15 minutes each, crippling them one at a time. Crazy the instinct they are born with. The rat just tried to knaw on my lizards head but it has very thick armor up there... the rat easily would have bit through a snakes skin, but snakes can constrict and kill things pretty quick. |
+1 Also some snakes get used to live things to eat and OFTEN bite a hand mistakin it for a rat or mouse. |
Fair is fair. I think snakes killing and eating in nature is great but people who keep snakes are weird. 
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| If your snake doesn't eat him soon, take the mouse out. Mice carry diseases that can kill the snake. I have personally lost a Columbian Boa to a rat (9ft snake). My snake didn't eat him right away and when I got home the rat was still alive in the cage. I noticed that my snake had been biten by the rat and had a couple of teeth marks on him with very little blood, I thought nothing of it at the time, and I took the rat out and fed him to another snake (which ate him right away). The next morning I checked on my snake and he was as stiff as a board. I liked that snake and in retrospect I should have made boots out of him. But take the mouse out soon, one will kill the other thats how nature works. |
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The St. Cloud (FL) Serpaterium routinely feeds dead mice to their snakes. I've watched them feed dead ones to 2 copperheads, the snakes got on them like white on rice. A friend of mine feeds his corn snake dead mice, bought frozen from a local pet store. Since we're on a snake thread, here's my obligatory Black Mamba snake pic: Black Mamba pic Thanks, Merlin |
You can buy frozen mice online from a few suppliers. They sell them to snake owners, and even some ferret owners (long time ferret owner...thats how I found out about the frozen mice) It is actually HEALTHIER to feed your pet frozen mice as opposed to live ones. Not only because of the danger from the mice fighting back, but also because freezing them kills the parasites and nasty stuff. I only feed my ferrets high quality ferret food though...no mice. |
Um... Aren't black mambas among the deadliest and most aggressive snakes in the world? |
LoL...Thats not a black mamba. |
That would be badass IMO. I don't care for either animal, but It'd be cool if a cornered mouse killed a snake. 
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I realize that. That's why I made that comment. Think about it a second. |
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I have raised scores of snakes, both colubrid and boids, and they will all take frozen food. Pythons have heat receptors and track heat AND movement, so get some really hot water and put the rat/mouse in there to warm it up. You can get it pretty hot. Even if they are still hesitant to take it, with practice you can entice them to take a dead rodent. Snakes aren't smart enough to realize if a prey item is alive or dead... they just know if it's warm and moving, or cold and still. |
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Never feed live food, I've known too many people that lost snakes this way. I always fed my Ball Pythons dead rats. my preferred method: grab rat by tail smack on suitable hard surface to stun grab head and give it a stretch till neck pops feed as usual My Ball python wouldn't eat from December to May but when they came out of "hibernation" they were pretty hungry 
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I always hold by tail and whack their head on something.Stuns them,yet they keep twitching.Hmmm,Good! Frozen ones,I let thaw ,then stick them (in a paper towel) on top an old lamp we have,within an inch or two of the bulb.Heats them up,but don't forget them.They'll cook and pop,or the towel will catch fire.Tried the microwave.Once. |