live

[natcornsnakelov]

I feed my juvinle blood live mice why will not eat dead prey can u give me some suggestions for switching to prekill thanks

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Do not feed live unless it is a last resort and your animal is thin. Also, get it off rats, even baby bloods can take pinkie rats as newborns.

Have your tried leaving the prey in the cage overnight? Dangling it warm infront of its face or moving it around infront of it on the cage floor? If the animal is healthy it should be fine for at least a month without eating and just keep trying frozen thawed or pre-killed.

Good luck!

C.

[stevenscott76]

I found a suitabale answer to your query from the e-book i bought (http://www.phythonsecrets.com), which I copy below :

"As a rule, avoid live prey. You may be exposing your pet to prey attack and injury. Frozen / thawed food is good. But as in the case of all frozen goods, they are less in nutrients. The choice of most breeders is pre-killed or highly stunned prey. Once you feel confident with this process, you may try to add variety to your pet's feed. In case your pet refuses to eat, try exposing a little of the prey's flesh. If that doesn't work, try dipping the prey in a little chicken broth."

[natcornsnakelov]

i have tried leaving it inover night and warm dangling that jest scares it and wont eat and hsss it is very shy ijust got it wieght back up from a hunger strike that why i feed it live and i do nat have access to f/thawd because i cant keep them in the freezer and it aways seems to hit them with out geting bitten

[CHRISANDBOIDS14]

Just cause it gets them without getting bitten doesnt mean it wont get bitten. Trust me, one day, it WILL happen.

IMO frozen/thawed prey is just as good as live prey...nutrients do not "leave" the animal when its frozen..........because its just that, frozen!

C.

[natcornsnakelov]

i live with my parents i cant keep frozen and what if i stun them before i feed them

[YoungBuck]

i live with my parents i cant keep frozen and what if i stun them before i feed them

You should of thought of that before you bought your snakes. Ignorant of me to say, Yes. But true...

Sorry man...you are going to have to switch it to rats anyways...do you know how big your Blood is going to actually get?

In the meantime, dazed will work.

Mike

[natcornsnakelov]

yes i know how big it is going to get 6 to 8 ft thanks for your help ill try dazed and i knew i had to switch to rats but thanks. mice was what it was use to at the pet store and it was thin so i had to feed it live

[sharno]

you dont have to feed it pre killed just buy a rat and hold it by the tail and whack it on the wall where it cant do anything but still be breathing and (this is what i do but i have guts LOL) i hold the rat by the end of the tail and i feed it right to the snake. you could probably use tongs to be safer, but this is what i have done for a long time and it always works. i fed a 10 foot redtail a jumbo rat by hand one time when i used to work at a pet store :) lol