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Live Mice....

I have stayed out of this one pretty well so far, hmm.Time to blow it:).
My .01
I have had snakes bitten by both rats and mice when I first started keeping snakes and hadn't learned some of the 'switch over' techniques. I will admit the mice did much less damage than the rats, but not something I would like to have happen again.
I would personally prefer to feed all of my snakes f/t. Both because of the possible injuries to the snake and I know I would hate to be squeezed to death or eaten alive so I feel badly for the mice.(Yes I can be a wuss). HOWEVER, I do have a couple that absolutely refuse to eat anything but live at this point. I keep hoping they will give in before they start eating anything large enough to do any real damage, but I would rather feed them live than have them not eat at all.
This is one of the subjects that has every opinion in the book, and everyone has their own reasons for why they feed one way or the other. But sometimes the absolute best option is just not an available option. I think as long as we do everything we can to provide the safest and best meals for our pets, we are doing our job as responsible owners.
 
I realize that feeding f/t is BEST. My snake has refused every technique. I have tried tease feeding, tong-wiggleing and anole scenting. My snake went 6 weeks without eating and I sure wasn't going to let her starve before trying live. Believe me, I don't WANT to feed her live. But in my case, I have no choice. I have even offered f/t every couple of feedings to see if she'll give in.

I have a theory has to why some snake do refuse f/t. (Feel free to comment has I am curious as to what others thinks about this) Maybe there is a instinct there that indicates that dead mice might mean bacteria and disease, which is why some snakes refuse. We know that this isn't the case, but I'm sure that if snakes ate dead mice in the wild, they would acquire illness. So the instinct developed to ensure survival. As we've continued to breed, we have slowly diminished this instinct, but some lines may still have it there. Who knows? It's just a thought!! :shrugs:
 
Taceas said:
Accidents will always happen. Hell, look at what my first ball python managed to do all by itself while I was on vacation out of state, blech.

I don't know about hundreds, but I've fed my fair share of live adult mice to corns and my BP, I've yet to see a bite. A snakes' instinct is a force to be reckoned with most times.

However, feeding an adult live rat to your snake is just plain retarded. Rats can be vicious critters when cornered, and they will fight back. Most domestically raised mice are naive, and as such they have lost quite a bit of their defensive nature when faced with death. Not all of them, but the majority.

Like Mike, I err on the side of 100% safety and I thump hopper-adult mice, pinks-fuzzies pose no danger. So I guess its a moot point for us. Its just about convenience for us, and my snakes do better on fresh food rather than frozen/thawed.
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Man Wtf happend to that snake!?
 
Your guess is as good as mine. I went out of state for a weekend vacation and came back to that.

I still don't know what happened. It was in a 20gal, with aspen litter, one log hide, a branch, and a water bowl. Nothing was out of place when I got back. Snake was all curled up like normal in the hide.

After taking it to the herp vet for some answers and if it could be fixed, I instead got a stern talking to about why abusing animals is bad. They didn't even ask what happened, first thing out of their mouth was "What did you do to it?". I'd only had it a month, and actually got it to eat. I'm certainly not intentionally maiming my animals. Some people.

My only guess is somehow it had gotten its mouth folded in and it started swallowing, eventually ripping its own jaw and skin. Gruesome either way.
 
lol Roy. I got my stubborn boa to eat f/t. Didnt feed her for 2 weeks, then warmed up a nice mouse and blow dried it, to make it look "live", then i tied a piece of my hair to it and made it...into a mousie puppet. And i made it do what i observed live mice to do..and sure enough she struck and coiled and just for the heck of it, i tugged a little on the part of the mouse that was visible.....now...she eats f/t (not blowdried) like a champ:)
 
You're snake wasn't THAT stubborn, then. There are some out there who would rather starve themselves to death than eat ft. I"m one of the lucky ones. None of my snakes has refused ft. None of my current snakes, that is. When I was 16, ten years before your birth, I had a wc speckled king that refused to eat anything. I eventually released him back into the wild because I hated to see him starving himself.

Funny how when you're 15 you have the whole world figured out, but by the time you're 30, you're not so sure anymore.
 
JenC said:
lol Roy. I got my stubborn boa to eat f/t. Didnt feed her for 2 weeks, then warmed up a nice mouse and blow dried it, to make it look "live", then i tied a piece of my hair to it and made it...into a mousie puppet. And i made it do what i observed live mice to do..and sure enough she struck and coiled and just for the heck of it, i tugged a little on the part of the mouse that was visible.....now...she eats f/t (not blowdried) like a champ:)
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Since you made me feel like a lazy bum (;)), I tried something new with my blizzard male last night, and he took a large f/t pink. But the female blizz has resisted every effort. I bought a nice set of hemostats, and I played puppeteer with her for about 20 minutes at last feeding, and she wasn't having any of it. She seemed terrorized more than anything. But the second a live hopper was thrown in with her, WHAP! I'll try the blow-drying thing; you might be onto something. Maybe she doesn't like soggy mice. :)
 
Roy the He-Man said:
Maybe she doesn't like soggy mice.
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I have a couple that when I fed f/t would REFUSE to eat wet food. They would eat f/t fine if it'd been dried off. I even had one that blew bubbles from the squeegee action of her bottom jaw scaping so much water off of a mouse I let drip off for a while and trying to breathe at the same time.

So I just thaw as normal, put on a two-layer paper towel section and cover and roll it back and forth like making strings of dough. Served two purposes: 1) Dried them off nicely 2) Bent them all back into mousy shape and limbered them up for easier swallowing.

And Becky I agree...I always found it humorous that those who had a small number of snakes apparently knew more than those who had quite a few, and made it a point to exercise their knowledge (like some Canadian who doesn't frequent the forums much anymore). Just one of the things I've noticed the past few years of owning reptiles and other pets. Not pointing fingers, just making a simple observation.
 
Roy Munson said:
Since you made me feel like a lazy bum (;)), I tried something new with my blizzard male last night, and he took a large f/t pink. But the female blizz has resisted every effort. I bought a nice set of hemostats, and I played puppeteer with her for about 20 minutes at last feeding, and she wasn't having any of it. She seemed terrorized more than anything. But the second a live hopper was thrown in with her, WHAP! I'll try the blow-drying thing; you might be onto something. Maybe she doesn't like soggy mice. :)
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Maybe it was the stats that was scareing her;) Kno anyone with long hair that will keep ur hand well over the feedin place as you make the mousie dance! dance mousie dance!!!! Well im glad you got the boy to eat f/t:)

Off to feed the boa:)
 
Taceas said:
I'm your #1 fan. :bowdown:
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I can see it now
THE ROY MUNSON FAN CLUB FORUM featuring the results of Uncle Roy's Miracle Snake Growth Formula and Corn Addicts Unite :crazy02: :sidestep:
 
JenC said:
Maybe it was the stats that was scareing her;) Kno anyone with long hair that will keep ur hand well over the feedin place as you make the mousie dance! dance mousie dance!!!! Well im glad you got the boy to eat f/t:)

Off to feed the boa:)
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I tried a small live pinky with a small f/t fuzzy on her tonight. No dice. Ate the pink, which was probably 20% of the weight of her last meal, but didn't touch the fuzzy. I left her in a dark closet with it for an hour, but she still refused. Maybe I'll try the long hair trick; I've got nothing to lose. :)

I can see it now
THE ROY MUNSON FAN CLUB FORUM featuring the results of Uncle Roy's Miracle Snake Growth Formula and Corn Addicts Unite
Click to expand...

:roflmao:

The first rule of Uncle Roy's Fan Club is you do not talk about Uncle Roy's Fan Club... :grin01:
 
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