• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

How to get your snake to eat F/T

Outcast

Outcast

ATPSS
This was brought up in another topic, but since that topic has been turned into a battleground of F/T vs. Live, I thought I would start this thread. There are some people who have snakes that they have tried to get switched to F/T, I am currently fighting with my baby Cal King, trying to get him to eat F/T. I would like to know the tricks of the trade if you will.

Please do not turn this into a battle over the issues of feeding live vs f/t. That is not what this thread is for.

Thank you all for your input.
 
I've heard some ppl try pre-killed first b4 going to F/T....& in the words of another member (Fatman608) try doing the zombie dance! Take tweezers or whatever and dangle the dead mousey in front of it pretending its still alive, when the snake snatches on to it, still hold on for a couple seconds making it move around like it was alive....this is just what I've read on other forums!
 
I've NEVER had luck with tease feeding. I'm sure it does work great for some, but unfortuantly I think when I attempt it I just end up freaking the poor snake out more.

A few things that might be helpful..

1) Some snakes like washed pinks. It's pretty easy to do, just get a bar of dove soap and wash your pinks in it, rinse them off, then put them in the snake's feeding tub.

2) Make sure that the area in which you're feeding your snake is nice and dark. I usually cover a new snake's feeding bin so that they feel more comfortable. If their feeding area is somewhat high traffic, place them in a dark closet.

3) Try leaving them over night with the pink.

4) You can cut into the pinkie's head (make sure to break the skull) so that the pinkie smells more appetizing. This is called braining.

5) One common mistake may be that food is being offered too often. Snakes can actually start associating food offerings negatively and the snake's hunger strike will be prolonged. Wait a week and a half or so in between food offerings.. even though it seems hard.

6) Okay, this last one practice with caution. I'd like to state that I have NOT used this method in the past, and I'm not sure how successful it really is, but I have read about it, and it may work. It should be used as a last resort though I think. Okay, here it goes:
Deprive the snake of water in between feedings. When you do offer your snake food, make sure the f/t is wet. The dehydrated snake will go to drink, and then hopefully instinctively bite its prey and eat.
If a hatchling is really weak though it might be a death sentence to deprive them of water for a long period of time. I'm not sure how many days you're suppose to make them "fast" for. Hopefully someone who's tried this method will pipe up.

7) Do a snake eating dance?!

Can't hurt!! I hope you get your guy to eat. Good luck. :cheers:
 
Hey Outcast,

If you got a Cali. King that will reject any type of food you are in deep trouble.

Ok, seriously you said he was a baby. If he is still on pinkies just keep feeding him pinkies. When he gets big enough to eat fuzzes feed him like 6 to 10 times on live fuzzes to make sure he will have no problems with 2 large pinkies.

After, the 6 to 10 times on live fuzzes - feed a live pinky and then a F/T pinky. If he does not eat the F/T just refreeze it and wait until next feeding time and do it all over. You will need some long tweezers or chop sticks just some thing so you are not holding the pinkies in your bare hands.

I had 5 baby milksnakes that were live only and I got one totally on F/T and I am working on the other 4 as we speak. It is really 3.5 because one will take F/T but he does not eat it until the pinky or fuzzy has started to rot.

Love the Fatman
 
"Scenting" the food with something like tuna juice, chicken broth, and small lizards
Putting the snake in a separate feeding container that is very small
Putting a hide in the feeding container, then dangling food outside of the hide once the snake is inside
Leaving the food in the container with the snake overnight

That's all I can think of right now.
 
I think my Cal Kings rejections have a lot to do with how cold my snake room got the past month. I could not find my heater for the room and I need to get an UTH for him. Though the room is now a toasty 78 degrees at all times, at least for the winter, or until I can get my rack system built.
 
It is funny, I just fed my snakes, and the Cali King ripped into a live pinky like there was no tomorrow, Also, my desert glossy has eaten its second live pink with me, so I am a little excited about that... I think I will hold off on trying to switch them to F/T again until they have eaten a few more times.
 
Actually I hold off on feeding for a few weeks.
People get that they do not need food every few days and can live for a few months, except for the high metabolism snakes.
So once they are patrolling around their cage looking for food. i do the dance and offer. They usually will take it. I make sure the rodent as well is about 100 degrees for those heat seekers.
 
my snake (milk) ended up dying while i tried to make the switch, almost a year of unsuccessful attempts,
i hope you have better luck than i did
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top