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Emergency Food Substitute

MentallyTwisted

MentallyTwisted

Bus with Gus!
I've had my baby for about two months. Hes been eating fine until the last shed. My son and I waited, then attempted to feed him. He wouldn't touch it. We tryed everything! The pinkie was flushed. Now I'm temporarily out of pinkies and Gus, our snake, hasn't ate for over a week. Are there any substitutes I can give him until I can get more pinkies?
 
If he's refused you don't want to rush into feeding again. Wait a week to 10 days at least or he'll get used to refusing because he thinks food comes regularly. You shouldn't use anything other than mice, some people use chicken necks I think, and lizards are OK, they eat them in the wild.
Don't worry about not feeding for a week or two, and just stick with rodents.
 
BTW, when you do feed him warm it in a bowl of warm water. Also try cutting the mouse on the head and give it a squeeze. Search the forum for threads about problem feeders, there's loads of info. Also I recommend Kathy Loves book, the Corn Snake Manual. Full of info, on pretty much everything to do with corns. Hope this helps, ;)
 
Second all slither said. I just add, that you can try to put snake and pinky in small, dark box and leave for hour or two. I "convinced" one little girl this year this way :)
 
If yu are really stuch and can't get hold of ANY mice anywhere, you could try snake steak sausages, but only as a very very last resort.

Appart from that every thing slither said.
 
Thanks! I don't feel so helpless now. I spent the night reading up on all of the topics I could find to see if I had done something wrong. I always warm his food up, he just doesn't act like he wants it. He seems to be a little agitated so I gave him more privacy. I think I found a local merchant who has several snakes and carries the pinkies I need. This way I don't have to drive 200 miles for food.
 
Where in IN are you located? I know of several reliable/efficient sources for rodents in central/northern Indiana, and there's an expo in Indy monthly with live and frozen rodents. Also, RodentPro is in Evansville, and they're amazing...I had same day delivery at no extra charge on my last order.
 
If he was preparing for shed, he may not want to eat until he has finished. My one female won't eat when she's in pre-blue, blue, or pre-shed phase. She's gone two weeks until she's shed, and then resumes eating. I wouldn't worry if they go a week, two weeks, or even a month. They do better than you think.
 
oldhand said:
If yu are really stuch and can't get hold of ANY mice anywhere, you could try snake steak sausages, but only as a very very last resort.
Click to expand...
If I rufuse some mice, you gona send some of those steak sausages my way? rofl
 
Fyre, I am in Southeast Indiana, in the middle of corn country. But, there aren't any exotic or other pet stores very close. I have to drive a half-hour just to buy groceries.

Thanks to everyone for your help and I love the useful information I've found on this forum. Keep up the good work. I just wish I had more time to read all of them!
 
How far are you from Cincinatti or Jeffersonville? You can probably get pinkies from a regular pet store, but not PetSmart - they're funny about feeders. Of course, either of those cities should have exotics.

I'd go with an order of f/t if you're that far out. Most places ship them in quantities of 50-100. I buy from RodentPro, but you might want to go with someone who does smaller quantities and get some pinkies and some fuzzies. It's definitely more cost effective than live pinkies, even after shipping. (Local petstores want just as much for a pinky mouse as an adult mouse around here.) If you have a deep freeze, estimate out a year or so and buy ahead, if not, don't go for more than 6 mos worth. (Example, she's eating a pinkie every 5 days right now - at that rate 50 pinkies would last you 250 days - about 8 months...of course, she'll be onto two pinkies every 5 days well before that time is up, and then you'll want to graduate her to fuzzies.)

If you run out, don't sweat it too much. Like they said up there *points* she'll be fine if she goes a little extra between meals.
 
If your from Central Indiana have you heard of Friendship? I live about 5 miles from there. Cincinnati and Jeff are both about the same distance as Indy. We got live pinkies today for .50 each. That was a heck of a lot cheaper than what I payed for them the first time and yes, they charged the same amount for them as they did the adults. I only had to drive a few miles and I don't think there is going to be a shortage problem with these people. They have several sizes of white mice and quite a few exotic pets that seemed to be very healthy. Gus attacked the pinkie like he hadn't seen food for two weeks. Wednesday it would have been two weeks since he ate. Hes only 16 inches long and we have been feeding him once every four or five days. The pinkies were extremely small though, these are nice plump ones. Thanks for all of your help! :)
 
Wow, 50 cents a pinky is great!!! Locally I have to pay from $1.25 to $1.50 a pinky. CRAZY! So I order on-line. I'm glad to hear you got things worked out and Gus ate well.
 
Thanks peep! Thats why I was looking for something closer. I didn't want to pay two dollars a pinkie and have to drive 200 miles one way to buy them. These were fresh and still active when I bought them. I was afraid to feed him one while it was still alive. I know he might decide thats the only way he will eat. I would have to buy him a fresh one for every feeding. My son wants to raise them. I'm not ready for that yet! I want snakes and frogs, not mice! We live in the country and I am constantly trying to get rid of the mice not breed more.
 
I don't think you'll have to worry about switching from live to f/t. My amel made the switch effortlessly. Never acted like he knew the difference. I think most will make the switch easily especially if they're aggressive feeders.
 
Oh he is definitely an aggressive eater. We just fed him and Elijah, my 10 year old son had just put him in his feeding area, he snatched that pinkie up before he hit the floor. I tryed to get a picture but he was done in about 2 minutes. Sometimes it scares me that he is going to get one of them stuck sideways but I know he turns them around. All of my other snakes have been grown or almost grown when I bought them. This is the first time I have raised one from a baby.
 
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