Live Mice....

[Roy Munson]

This question is directed to those that do feed live (Roy & Mike) - I've always fed in a separate container, but since moving up to Hoppers (who are much more active) my little guy just sniffs and lets the mouse crawl all over him but never strikes...unless he's in his viv. I tried feeding a hopper in the container and sat there for an hour waiting for him to eat. Never did. So I tried again 2 days later, again in the separate container for about 1/2 hour and still no luck. So I took all the aspen out of his viv, laid newspaper down and put all his hidey's back in. Put the mouse directly in his viv after about 15 minutes to get him settled down and he went straight for him. This is the 3rd time where he won't eat in the separate container, 3rd time that he's eaten hoppers. I don't want him to associate me opening his viv to food, but he just won't eat in another container. Any suggestions?

To clarify, I only feed live to two summer '05s who won't eat f/t. I just recieved 16" hemostats from MidWest Tongs, so I'll be teasing them with f/t next feeding.

My first corn died of an impaction a hundred years ago, so I've fed all my corns out-of-viv since. Once I had a skinny little Miami female that was afraid of mice, so I had to thump her mice before feeding. You might try that. Lennycorn's suggestion of a hide in the feeding enclosure is worth a try too. Or maybe f/t is the best way for you to go. Good luck.

 

[Spot's mama]

My older snakes were gifts and came to me eating live mice. Live feeding is interesting, fascinating in fact, that's for sure! If you are into watching the process a fairly strong stomach is recommended, and you should watch because the mouse could try to bite the snake. My new baby eats the f/t. I am amazed, it just eats, no constricting, no hunting the prey and the process is very fast. I'm wondering if a baby was raised on f/t and then switched over if the constricting would be instinctive or not.

 

[MegF.]

Some of mine constrict, and some don't and they are all fed on f/t. My amel is so viscious in his attack on the f/t rat that I have to feed him with hemostats. My one Okeetee is the same. Some of the others constrict sometimes, and others never. If you wiggle the f/t mouse and tease them with it, most will constrict it. My green tree pythons constrict their f/t mice every time. I've also switched snakes that were fed exclusively on live over to f/t without a problem and they constricted. For what it's worth, you would never be fast enough to stop a mouse from biting a snake if it occured. The strike is so fast that it would be over before you even got your snake free from it.

 

[mbdorfer]

This question is directed to those that do feed live (Roy & Mike) - I've always fed in a separate container, but since moving up to Hoppers (who are much more active) my little guy just sniffs and lets the mouse crawl all over him but never strikes...unless he's in his viv. Any suggestions?

I agree with Dean that thumping them might do the trick. Hoppers are very active, as you know, and combined with the unfamiliarity of the feeding container could cause the snake to be scared. For the record I thump all hoppers and adult mice before feeding. :wavey:

 

[Gintha]

My kistachie (RIP =/) ate only live (we had no f/t around here at that time) and she was always covered in scars and bloody spots ~,~ Then again, the breeder told me to throw an adult mouse in (she was only maybe 15 or 16 inches, max) and leave said mouse in with her for 24 hours. *bangs head on wall* Luckily the mice didn't seriously harm her, or give her diseases, or cause her to regurge (since they were an enormous meal).

 

[kr0316]

My Kenyan Sand Boa constricts the f/t everytime. My Amel just eats but my Classic is very agressive and I need feeding tongs so I don't get accidentally bitten. All of my snakes eat f/t and they always will. I don't feed my dog rabbits or anything else because he is domesticated so in turn I don't feed my corns live because they are domesticated as well. If they are bought from a breeder or they are a morph of some kind then they are domesticated. Just the risk of injury is enough for me to not feed live. If people feed live just for the thrill then theyare selfish, they should only be fed live if that is the only thing they take and if the mice are old enough to fight back they should be monitored. IMHO

Sorry about the rant, pet safety is a pet peave of mine.

 

[cbeavers]

Any advice?

My summer 05 has refused every f/t pinkie I have provided. She nudges each meal a few times and if it doesn't move, then she don't want it. So after 6 weeks of refusals, I gave her a live pink. I have had no issues since. She is now on live fuzzies. I have since tried the stunning methed and she refused that, too. My issue is that I don't want to put her at risk once the mice become old enough to hurt her. What are my option when it comes to switching her to f/t? Should I keep trying to offer them?
:shrugs:

 

[MegF.]

If the only issue is that they aren't moving, why don't you wiggle it so that she thinks it's alive. Mine will constrict if I hang on to it and wiggle it once they take it.

 

[Baba-Lou]

My summer 05 has refused every f/t pinkie I have provided. She nudges each meal a few times and if it doesn't move, then she don't want it. So after 6 weeks of refusals, I gave her a live pink. I have had no issues since. She is now on live fuzzies. I have since tried the stunning methed and she refused that, too. My issue is that I don't want to put her at risk once the mice become old enough to hurt her. What are my option when it comes to switching her to f/t? Should I keep trying to offer them?
:shrugs:

Mine will only eat if I wiggle the pink infront of him. So I find it odd but it works for me...He'll stop everyknow and then and start spitting it out but then i wiggle it even more and he practically inhales it. (not literally btw)

 

[Joejr14]

My summer 05 has refused every f/t pinkie I have provided. She nudges each meal a few times and if it doesn't move, then she don't want it. So after 6 weeks of refusals, I gave her a live pink. I have had no issues since. She is now on live fuzzies. I have since tried the stunning methed and she refused that, too. My issue is that I don't want to put her at risk once the mice become old enough to hurt her. What are my option when it comes to switching her to f/t? Should I keep trying to offer them?
:shrugs:

Once the snake is ready for hoppers, go to rat pinkies. About the same size so you'll be set. Then bump up to rat fuzzies, and then rat pups if you can. Feeding live is really not that big of a deal, folks. Snakes eat live in the wild every day---it's not the end of the world if you do that as well. As no, a mouse is not going to kill an adult snake.

 

[starsevol]

Snakes eat live in the wild because that is all there is.
Snakes also get eaten by hawks and hit by cars in the wild too.They also suffer from huge parasite loads.

Wild animals live short brutal lives.

We can do better than that for our pets.

 

[mbdorfer]

Snakes eat live in the wild because that is all there is.
Snakes also get eaten by hawks and hit by cars in the wild too.They also suffer from huge parasite loads.

Wild animals live short brutal lives.

While this may be partially true, I fail to see the connection between feeding live and being eaten by hawks, hit by cars, huge parasite loads, etc....

 

[Preita]

I think he was saying that the risk of injury is to great with live.

By feeding f/t you reduce the risk of injury to the snake, thus the snake leads a healthier, longer life?

I think thats what he was saying

I don't know, personally I would probably end up feeding my snake what they wanted. If they refused f/t then I would be feeding live. Just like my cats, I tried feeding them the generic cat food, and they didn't eat for 2 days so now they get what they want.

I'm a push over lol :crazy02:

 

[mbdorfer]

I wasn't trying to sound harsh, it just comes naturally :grin01: My point is that I have never lost a snake because I fed it live or unconscious meals. I prefer to keep a bit of the natural instincts in my snakes :wavey:

 

[starsevol]

I might be wrong on this but what I responded to was the "well its natural for them to eat live so its no big deal" tone...and my argument is that natural is not always better. As pet owners, we can do better. mb, although I could never do what you do (I think meeces are too cute to thump), you go to whatever lengths you need to to ensure the safety of your babies. Mice in nature don't arrive pre-thumped

 

[mbdorfer]

Mice in nature don't arrive pre-thumped

Yeah, but the snakes constrict them with vigor just the same, gotta love it.

 

[starsevol]

I know, I thaw out the little corpses and do the dangly thing with the hemostats and all my snakes ATTACK! The rosys do this cute roll while they constrict too, just a mass of movement!

 

[Roy Munson]

Snakes eat live in the wild because that is all there is.
Snakes also get eaten by hawks and hit by cars in the wild too.They also suffer from huge parasite loads.

Wild animals live short brutal lives.

We can do better than that for our pets.

They also suffer high mortality rates from basking on busy roadways, from predators, and from parasite infestations. I keep my pet snakes away from asphalt, hawks, and filthy, wild vermin.

As you can see, I understand your perspective. I'm just saying that if loosely monitored, even unstunned live mice of appropriate size are not much of a risk to your corn, and I think there may even be a benefit. Constriction is great exercise, and in my experience, even those corns that constrict f/t don't do so as vigorously and for as long as they would with live prey. Read the section on "egg-binding (dystocia)" in Kathy Love's manual. In it she explains her view that this condition is the result of poor muscle tone from lack of exercise. Restricted enclosure size and f/t feeding are cited as contributing to this condition. Is a mouse bite really a bigger risk to a female breeder's health than egg-binding?

But heck, I'm no champion of live feeding. I feed mostly f/t myself. I just think this is an interesting discussion, and I think that both sides have good reasons for doing what they do. To me, it's not like cohabitation, where there are multiple associated risks and zero possible benefits.

 

[Gintha]

(I think meeces are too cute to thump)

LOL thought I was the only one that called them meeces *giggles*

 

[starsevol]

I do admit my rosy boas constrict the f/t prey much more vigorously than the corns do. I am pretty sure my Kelsey was egg bound because I did not provide her a suitable laying place (I thought she was a male, had no idea she was gravid). I wonder if handling for a certain amount of time each day would give them the excercise wrasslin live prey would.