digesting

i have a 9-10 month old corn. i bought it about two weeks ago.The previous owner had been feeding it 1 pinky every 7 days. after finding out on here i should be feeding it more often i started giving 2 pinkys every 7 days and it should now be ready for fuzzies. But since i have been feeding it two every 7 days (for the past two weeks) it hasnt seem to be digesting the mice by this i mean there hasnt been any poo around the tank. does anybody know why this could be? :shrugs: :shrugs:

and another thing what is the best way to defrost the mice? :cheers:

I have two thoughts on your situation:
1. A 9-10 month old corn snake should be eating mice larger than pinkies and even fuzzies. Remember you can feed your snake prey that are 1 1/2 times the size of the thickest part of the snake. So, by feeding it these small prey items, your snake may actually be digesting the entire pinkies.
2. Some of my snakes do not defecate as often as others. 14 days is not that unusual. If they have defecated, the feces may be very, very small because of the size of the prey (see above).

Hope this helps.

im gradually building up the size of the food i was told not to move straight onto the bigger mice. thanks for your help :cheers:
what is the best way to defrost the mice? at the moment i am just leaving it in boiling hot water for 10 mins or so.

hot water, but not boiling (don't want to cook it), and maybe leave it in a ziploc bag so you don't have to dry it out.

I agree with sbourget. I'd say just hot hot water from the tap and in an airtight ziploc baggie, and it should thaw fairly quickly.

I use just hot water from the tap also. But I have found that my snakes like it better when I put them directly in the water and pat them dry with a paper towel. I guess they just prefer clean food.

LOL yes clean, moistened food. It's mainly because your "re-hydrating" them so to speak. being in the freezer can sometimes dehydrate the mice. sometimes this doesn't happen. But if you vacuum seal mice. or have them in the freezer for long periods of time. they really tend to dehydrate, and but dipping them or placing them in hot tap water you don't over cook them and you rehydrate them. So I guess they seem more "freshly killed" to the snake.

ok thanks

You can also place the mouse in a small container and put this on the edge of the heat mat for a couple of hours (or less). The time required to warm it will depend on how big the item is. However, don't forget about it. It will "over cook". Bleck! And be wasted.

Usually I use the hot tap water method.

I have an asian rat snake that will only eat quail chicks-no rodents at all. And it does not like them to be wet. On feeding day I place the frozen chicks on top of this snakes cage. They thaw at room temp. Many hours later I toss them into the hide with the snake. This method will not work if you have cats, loose ferrets or greedy dogs.

you feed your rat snake in it's hiding spot? i thought feeding was supposed to be outside of their cage?

or did i miss something?

(so new to snakes i don't even have any yet)