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preparing the thawed meal

N

newamelowner

New member
Lately i have been feeding my snake 1 pinkie about every 3 days or 3 times a week, but the more i read the more i notice people are feeding theres much more considering mines almost 5 months old? Should i be feeding him 2 pinkies?
I was also wondering how i should prepare the pinkies, just leave them out until they dont feel cold anymore or ?microwave? (im hoping i dont make myself to be an idiot saying this lol).

I also usually have to move his hide in order to get him to eat. I hold in front of the hide but he doesnt come out, should i go ahead and keep doing what im doing?
 
newamelowner said:
Lately i have been feeding my snake 1 pinkie about every 3 days or 3 times a week, but the more i read the more i notice people are feeding theres much more considering mines almost 5 months old? Should i be feeding him 2 pinkies?
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You should feed your snake a food item that is approximately 1-1.5 times his body width at the widest point. If you feel your snake can handle two pinkies try it. I would also not feed more than every 5 days for a hatchling. Some feed more often but I like to feed more food less often so I have more time for handling with the don't handle for 48 hours after feeding rule.

I was also wondering how i should prepare the pinkies, just leave them out until they dont feel cold anymore or ?microwave? (im hoping i dont make myself to be an idiot saying this lol).
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No microwave...mice go boom in microwave and make a big mess. You can leave them out until they aren't cold and hard and then warm it up in water or you can just warm the pink in water (I put mine in a ziplock) until it's thawed. With pinks this goes very quickly (5 min or so).

I also usually have to move his hide in order to get him to eat. I hold in front of the hide but he doesnt come out, should i go ahead and keep doing what im doing?
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Try feeding in a separate container. That way you don't have to worry about your snake ingesting substrate at all and your snake doesn't learn that smany of the things that come into it's cage (think your hand) are food.

~Katie
 
Just to clarify, thaw frozen mice or pinkies in hot tap water, not boiling or microwaved water. I thaw/warm mine in a ziplock bag in a glass of tap water that is as hot as the tap gets. Leave for at least 5-10 minutes and make sure it's soft with no frozen spots. I try to feed it still warm.
 
Frozen/Thawed

If they come in a small 2" x 2" (or smaller) ziplock bag, leave them in the bag.
Put them in a cup of hot tap water and submerge the bagged pinkie for a minimum of 20 minutes. I usually take a pair of long metal tweezers to hold the bag underwater because there is usually a little air inside the bag. This way the pinkie comes out warm and toasty and doesn't have any cold spots.
I take the pinkie out of the bag and sit it on a paper towel for a few seconds and then put it in my plastic shoebox (I feed seperate from the tank). I remove my corn from her tank, she slithers into the box, locks in on the pinkie and chows down.

I have not had a feeding problem yet (Knock on wood)
 
I do the same. I just put the pinkies in hot tap water. With pinkies, it only takes about 5 minutes or so to thaw. No need to leave them for a "minimum of 20 minutes".
 
I would say that 3 times a week is too much. Personally I would not be inclined to feed more often than every 5 days or so at this age.

To thaw out, I simply fill a container with hot, but not boiling water, and in goes the mouse. It doesn't take long at all and my snakes haven't had any problems taking mice prepared in this way.
 
I do the same as most people who have replied.

Turn the boiler up to max, fill a mug with hot water (I do keep this mug in a seperate place so no-one uses it for a cup of coffee, lol) pop in the pinkies, leave for about 5 minutes. Check for no frozen spots then I put them in the feeding container and then put the snake in.

I've never had any problems feeding until last night when Milenko would only eat one of the two pinkies offered but I don't really consider that a problem unless she keeps refusing next time. I guess she just wasn't as hungry as usual.
 
I have a large plastic cup from the local convenience store that I use to soak my mice/rats. The lid keeps the rodent in the water so it doesn't require me to stand there.

I slice my rodent (search on pinky hippo) prior to soaking, although per that thread some do it afterwards. Soak them for five minutes for the pinky, the small rat takes a little longer. I also feed in a separate container... well, the new girl didn't even wait to get into the container her last feeding, but started eating before she even left the hand.

The new hatchling is being fed one small pinkie every 4 days as I did my last two. Kieran, my five year old, is getting a small(?) rat every 7 days, even though alot of people feed their adults every 14 days. I'm watching his weight, but he's definitely not overweight.
 
It doesn't really make any difference whether you cut them before or after soaking, but I find it is easier to cut them while they are still frozen.
 
BeckyG said:
It doesn't really make any difference whether you cut them before or after soaking, but I find it is easier to cut them while they are still frozen.
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My understanding is that doing it afterwards is a little messier since nothing is frozen any more :)
 
I use a pair of scissors after they are thawed, snip snip snip, it's easy and no mess. I cut at an angle so it's a V shape pointing towards the tail so the snake doesn;t get caught under the skin while swallowing.
 
BeckyG said:
It doesn't really make any difference whether you cut them before or after soaking, but I find it is easier to cut them while they are still frozen.
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But then the water gets in the body cavity... making it watery and less attractive for the snake?
 
Blutengel said:
But then the water gets in the body cavity... making it watery and less attractive for the snake?
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I don't cut into the body cavity. I just slice the skin.
 
Weebonilass said:
My understanding is that doing it afterwards is a little messier since nothing is frozen any more :)
Click to expand...


I meant that it doesn't make any nutritional difference. Otherwise, it's just a personal preference.
 
Blutengel said:
But then the water gets in the body cavity... making it watery and less attractive for the snake?
Click to expand...


I slice them and then put them into a ziploc baggie. No water in the cavity and no soupy bloody water to pour out.
 
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