She finally gobbled down her for first rat

[TTM2007]

Freya my jungle jaguar had her first rat.
I'm very proud and happy,,it took her over a year to gobble ft rat.

[SWDK]

That's good news. Now keep the rats coming for future feedings and you'll be good to go.

[EL Ziggy]

Good job TTM. I agree with SWDK I wouldn't offer her mice until she has a really strong imprint with rats.

[sattva]

A YEAR! did you have to keep throwing away the rats she would not eat? The reason I am asking is that I will be going through this. Don't you just hate newbies? I have to admit its nice to have people to talk to about it... My family thinks i'v lost my mind...

[TTM2007]

Yes I flushed down some rats she wouldn't take.
When she was younger I didn't stray too far off her feeding schedule, but as they grow I started to offer rats again when the feeding response was strong enough that she would strike at me. When she finally figured out that the rat was food and gently opened her mouth around the rat I wiggled it to make her fight for it, the constrict instinct kicked in and down it went.

[EL Ziggy]

@ Sattva- That's why we need lots of other snakes to knock off any refusals. :)

[sattva]

@ Sattva- That's why we need lots of other snakes to knock off any refusals. :)
OH! So if one does not eat it you give it to another? How long is a rat good for out of refrigeration? I hate to flush food...

[sattva]

Yes I flushed down some rats she wouldn't take.
When she was younger I didn't stray too far off her feeding schedule, but as they grow I started to offer rats again when the feeding response was strong enough that she would strike at me. When she finally figured out that the rat was food and gently opened her mouth around the rat I wiggled it to make her fight for it, the constrict instinct kicked in and down it went.
Good to know! ...How old is she now?

[EL Ziggy]

OH! So if one does not eat it you give it to another? How long is a rat good for out of refrigeration? I hate to flush food...

Sure thing satt. I thaw my feeders and if any of my snakes don't eat within an hour the prey item goes to another critter. Some people leave the prey in overnight before removing them.

[sattva]

Sure thing satt. I thaw my feeders and if any of my snakes don't eat within an hour the prey item goes to another critter. Some people leave the prey in overnight before removing them.
That's what I was doing with my little JCP... He went missing for a month and when I got him back I thought it would be a good time to switch him from mice to rats... So I would leave it in his cage over night... I finely had to go with a pink mouse in a paper bag to get him to eat...

[Ian of Oldham]

Sure thing satt. I thaw my feeders and if any of my snakes don't eat within an hour the prey item goes to another critter. Some people leave the prey in overnight before removing them.
yeah I tend to do the same , I alway do one less than I need and then if so pass it on, if any is over then the cat can play with it,lol


2 Royals 1Corn 1 Boa and a mad Cat

[macandchz]

i am going broke over mac's refusals. ha! ha! if he hasn't eaten it in a 1/2 hour of being in his feeding box it goes. i think he gets how it works because i put him back in his tank a couple of times and he seemed real restless. got him back out again and back into the feeding box. he ate it in 2 seconds!

[Ian of Oldham]

That is great who is controlling who, thats what I need to know. lol


2 Royals 1 Corn 1 Boa and yet one more rescue A Carpet O and a mad Cat.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Sure thing satt. I thaw my feeders and if any of my snakes don't eat within an hour the prey item goes to another critter. Some people leave the prey in overnight before removing them.

This only works if you have another snake on the same size prey item. I don't have a single snake that shares a prey size with another snake. haha I'd rather waste a rat than feed something too big, or feed a snake extra food (say they ate a couple days ago, they are not getting anything else until their next feeding day). Luckily everyone but my ball python feeds every time.

i am going broke over mac's refusals. ha! ha! if he hasn't eaten it in a 1/2 hour of being in his feeding box it goes. i think he gets how it works because i put him back in his tank a couple of times and he seemed real restless. got him back out again and back into the feeding box. he ate it in 2 seconds!

You should definitely consider feeding in the enclosure. There are countless threads outlining the issues with separate feeding, and moving a snake before feeding it can certainly cause a shy snake to refuse food.

[EL Ziggy]

@ BSG- I'm pretty lucky too. It's usually only my kings that will take food breaks and all of my other snakes can smash the jumbo mice they might refuse. I tend to feed my snakes fairly liberally, especially when they're younger than two, but if they get a larger than average meal or a snack between feedings I'll just delay their next meal a while longer. I'd also offer another snake a snack before I tossed away a perfectly good prey item. I try to stagger my feedings so there's always a hungry snake that's ready to eat. Tonight I'll feed 3 of my carpets. If by some remote chance one or more of them were to refuse their meal, both of my bull snakes are ready to go since they haven't eaten in a couple of weeks. Most of my snakes can easily interchange prey sizes. I have a couple that eat large rats, several that eat mediums, and all but my Bredli can eat smalls or chicks.

[bigsnakegirl785]

@ BSG- I'm pretty lucky too. It's usually only my kings that will take food breaks and all of my other snakes can smash the jumbo mice they might refuse. I tend to feed my snakes fairly liberally, especially when they're younger than two, but if they get a larger than average meal or a snack between feedings I'll just delay their next meal a while longer. I'd also offer another snake a snack before I tossed away a perfectly good prey item. I try to stagger my feedings so there's always a hungry snake that's ready to eat. Tonight I'll feed 3 of my carpets. If by some remote chance one or more of them were to refuse their meal, both of my bull snakes are ready to go since they haven't eaten in a couple of weeks. Most of my snakes can easily interchange prey sizes. I have a couple that eat large rats, several that eat mediums, and all but my Bredli can eat smalls or chicks.

Well there's such a huge difference between prey items it'd be a bit ridiculous to try to feed them something. Something like: snake on jumbo mice gets large rat. The snakes I have that are closest in size are Nymeria, Bud, and Tirel. Nymeria is eating jumbo mice because she's still too small for weaned rats, and Tirel is on weaned rats. Nymeria could eat a weaned rat if push comes to shove, and Tirel could take a small, but I really try to limit how often they eat big meals so I can feed them on a regular schedule. Since Bud is on smalls, Tirel could take anything he refused, but he would not be able to get a large rat down without a chance for internal damage. I try not to overfeed my snakes, and they grow pretty well on the way I feed them. They're not going to be as big as a snake that's liberally fed, but all considering they're really not that far behind in growth compared to the "average" at all.