From live to F/T

[sinverse]

Hey guys, I'm sure this question has been asked many times, and if someone could point me in the direction of the thread I'd appreciate it.

As some of you may know, I recently acquired an adult female snow. She wasn't living in the best conditions, but she seems so much happier and content in my care now. I knew that she had been feeding on live as her previous owner offered me the mice colony she bred for the snow, but I refused as I want her to feed on F/T like the rest of my corns. Of course, she'll have nothing to do with the F/T mice. She doesn't appear to be in blue, as I haven't seen her eyes change since I've had her. Then again, I haven't had a light colored snake to compare her to. Oh, and I have had her for about a week and a half. She had fed the day the woman gave her to me; I didn't receive that information until later that night.

So my question is, what kinds of tips or tricks work the best for you when transitioning your snakes from live to F/T? I haven't tried braining or slitting or scenting yet, I just warmed the mouse up and did the zombie dance as I have to leave for work in a little bit.

[7legion77]

She doesn't appear to be in blue, as I haven't seen her eyes change since I've had her.

I have a snow and its very hard to tell when's he's blue because the eyecaps are translucent. I anticipate a shed when the snake becomes very still and less active.

As for feeding, you could always try fresh-killed.

[bitsy]

Firstly, as long as she's otherwise in good shape, I'd leave her for at least another week - two if you can hold your nerve - before offering food again. Healthy adult Corns can go for many weeks without food and won't suffer ill-effects. Maybe an edge on her appetite will make her more receptive.

As she's only been with you for a week and a half, she's still settling in.

[Shiari]

You can try:

Keeping it really hot + wet fur
Keeping it really hot + dry fut (blow dryer works great)
Scenting with Tuna
Scenting with Chicken
Scenting with Lizard
Leaving it in the cage overnight
Feeding at night
Feeding in the morning

[Dakota314]

You could try putting her in a seperate feeding container and covering it with a towel. This has worked well for me.

[Lyion]

Putting her in a small container w/ the mouse overnight helped my stubborn boy.

[AliCat37]

I would try thawing out the mouse with hot water and drying it off with a hair dryer... then .. zombie dance! Some of them like the movement.

[sinverse]

Thanks for the replies, guys! Definitely gonna take bitsy's advice and wait a while, then I'll see what works for her. :) Hopefully I'll have something positive to report back with.

[cornsnakeforsale_com]

And sometimes there's not a lot you can do and you just have to give in. I have rats on hand for snakes that won't take mice and live for those who won't do dead.

You should of course try to make the switch and likely will get it to happen, but be prepared just in case.

[sinverse]

So I followed Bitsy's advice and waited a while longer after posting. Good timing too, since she was actually in blue and shed a week later.

Long story short, she took her first frozen mouse today with absolutely no tricks, no complications. Guess I was worried for nothing, right? :shrugs:

[cornsnakeforsale_com]

Cool, hopefully she'll keep it up!