Have You Heard of Doing This With Problem Feeders?

[Rogue628]

I went to my local mom and pop pet store earlier to buy a live feeder for our new rainbow and was talking to the lady that runs the shop. We were talking about problem feeders (since my burm can be a problem). She told me a guy who buys feeders from her says a trick he uses on snakes that don't want to eat is to put a couple of drops of chicken broth on the feeder's head. He says they take it everytime. I haven't heard of this before. Have any of you? If so, how do you do it (warm broth...live or f/t feeders, etc), what snakes have you used it on, and what kind of results have you gotten?

[CK SandBoas]

I have heard of that trick, though i've never had to use it myself. I would also like to hear about other's experiences with this particular method:)

[Norm66]

Hmmm... Maybe I'll try I on my JCP problem child. I'll report if I do.

[whoaxmary]

I've heard of it- never tried thpugh.

[dshin963]

Have also heard of that never had the need to do it though...

[shaunyboy]

I went to my local mom and pop pet store earlier to buy a live feeder for our new rainbow and was talking to the lady that runs the shop. We were talking about problem feeders (since my burm can be a problem). She told me a guy who buys feeders from her says a trick he uses on snakes that don't want to eat is to put a couple of drops of chicken broth on the feeder's head. He says they take it everytime. I haven't heard of this before. Have any of you? If so, how do you do it (warm broth...live or f/t feeders, etc), what snakes have you used it on, and what kind of results have you gotten?

i've used tuna fish oil/brine to kick start hatchlings feeding

i've seen people post about chicken broth,but never tried that myself

cheers shaun

[ineedsoap16]

I have used tuna/salmon on troublesome hatchings but never chicken.

[Rogue628]

How do you use the tuna/salmon? Can it be used on any snake of any age?

[SpOoKy]

I have used chicken broth and tuna. I had success with both.

[shaunyboy]

How do you use the tuna/salmon? Can it be used on any snake of any age?

just use the fish oil/brine or the fish itself to scent the prey item

heat the prey item (i use a hair dryer),then rub it with fish/oil/brine etc

then give the prey another quick heat,making sure the heads extra hot.

then offer on feeding tongs.

if its a lay feeder,then leave the prey in the tank overnight

cheers shaun

[KORBIN5895]

Isn't there something in processed fish that is harmful to snakes? Too much salt maybe?

[alessia55]

Maybe I should try that with my picky eater too if the current switchover methods I'm using don't work...

[shaunyboy]

Isn't there something in processed fish that is harmful to snakes? Too much salt maybe?

tuna in brine or tuna in oil is preserved naturally

theres definatley no tatse of salt when i eat it

its like the tuna's been boiled,steamed,i'm not really sure,but its just the fish and the oil/brine

that said.....

i know they advise pregnant women not to eat a lot of,if any tuna.due to its high mercury content.we limit our familys intake of tuna

^^^^^
the above is just my knowledge of the subject,please feel free to correct any mistakes/misbeliefs i have

cheers shaun

[shaunyboy]

Maybe I should try that with my picky eater too if the current switchover methods I'm using don't work...


what type of prey are you crossing from and to what alessia ?

i've heard of people going to crazy sounding lengths to get carpets from mice to rats or chicks to rats.like sewing chicks heads on to rats bodys

cheers shaun

[alessia55]

what type of prey are you crossing from and to what alessia ?

cheers shaun

Kaybe my 2yr old bp from live mice to f/t rats. Kim (Will0W) has him right now and is helping me with the process. I've tried a few techniques but he is picky picky picky. There's a thread up here somewhere about him and trying to switch him over but I'd have to dig it up...

[jaleely]

have heard of this with f/t also. You DO have to make sure it's the low sodium chicken broth, too though. As Infernalis once posted, snakes are highly sensitive to salt, as it is poison to them (good point korbin!).

I have heard of just about everything for trouble feeders. Chicken broth, fish oil, tuna juice, salmon juice...pretty much anything stinky and it's worth a try.

[SpOoKy]

Agree, you must go with a very low sodium if you do.
Some people will argue that the chicken broth and or tuna does not make them eat because it is not part of their natural diet but the few times I have done tried it has worked.

[Gungirl]

I don't think it has much to do with what you use. I think it has to do with how bad you can make it smell. For a while my GTP would only eat if the prey stunk. I used tuna a few times when he refused to eat and I noticed that those times the prey didn't really smell at all when first offered.

[shaunyboy]

Kaybe my 2yr old bp from live mice to f/t rats. Kim (Will0W) has him right now and is helping me with the process. I've tried a few techniques but he is picky picky picky. There's a thread up here somewhere about him and trying to switch him over but I'd have to dig it up...

i'm sure kimberly will get the job done pal

cheers shaun

[Chu'Wuti]

I'm trying to get some Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis hatchlings started on eating right now; I've tried F/T, F/T with blood let, and today live newborn mice. I got one to eat F/T and today one ate a live newborn, but the other two act like the mice are dangerous monsters. So I came here looking for more ideas; this thread has a couple I've not tried before, so thanks!

I have salmon oil capsules--guess I'll puncture one and put some of the oil on the heads of the mice and see how it works.

[DavethePython]

From someone who is an ameture chef so to speak, be careful with the fish , as stated before there is always a mercury content and that will seep into the brine or oil. The content may be small enough to be safe for us , but for a small animal like a snake it could take a lot less to build up in their body tissues . Mercury is not passed out of our bodies. As for Chicken Broth , the best could be home made with little or no salt added. If using store bought get the low sodium kind cause the other ones have a very high content. Salt is not great for us in large doses , so I can't imaging it being too healthy for our scaled friends either . Just my opinion , I am no expert by any means .

[Shmoges]

I just made a post about a problem hognose and possible pinky pump use I will go grab some broth from the kitchen and dab that on the pinky.

[Rogue628]

I have a problem feeder I attempted the chicken broth on today. It didn't even get a remote feeding response. I've tried scenting, braining, and a couple of other methods along these lines that haven't worked so far. She's not interested in rats period and would rather have a mouse, but they're much too small for her. I've never had an animal so stubborn about it's food.

[KORBIN5895]

From someone who is an ameture chef so to speak, be careful with the fish , as stated before there is always a mercury content and that will seep into the brine or oil. The content may be small enough to be safe for us , but for a small animal like a snake it could take a lot less to build up in their body tissues . Mercury is not passed out of our bodies. As for Chicken Broth , the best could be home made with little or no salt added. If using store bought get the low sodium kind cause the other ones have a very high content. Salt is not great for us in large doses , so I can't imaging it being too healthy for our scaled friends either . Just my opinion , I am no expert by any means .

Excellent point! Never really thought about how much mercury it would take to kill a snake. Especially they size ratio.

[red ink]

Cheicken broth thing works on carpets... in fact any avian scented food would work on Morelias (most of the time).

[red ink]

I have a problem feeder I attempted the chicken broth on today. It didn't even get a remote feeding response. I've tried scenting, braining, and a couple of other methods along these lines that haven't worked so far. She's not interested in rats period and would rather have a mouse, but they're much too small for her. I've never had an animal so stubborn about it's food.

What species of snake is it mate.... best advice I have been given is scent it with what they would naturally eat (or at least as close as you can get to their natural food item)

[Rogue628]

Burm. What's happening is completely my fault and I know it. When I first got the pair (I have two albino females) the only food source I could find that wasn't too big were adult mice. All 3 (at the time) animals were on these mice. When I was finally able to get a proper food source for them, I switched. My bp and my burm switched first offering. The other burm, however, completely refuses. I've tried live, scenting (thawing and heating) a mouse with a rat and vise versa. I've tried braining and even gutted (desperation) a mouse and rubbed the rat. All it did was make her curious but she's not easily fooled. She knows the difference. I've even tried waiting her out. For about the past couple of months I've offered a mouse and when all she had left in her mouth was tail and legs, I'd put the nose of a rat in behind it. I never forced the issue. She'd grab it was she was pushing the other down. But she's gotten smart to that trick too and the last 2 feedings, she refused to let me place the rat in her mouth by shaking her head. (again, I never force). So I've just fed her a bunch of mice, but by the second day after feeding, she's hunting again. These mice are waaaaaay too small for her. They're nothing more than a mouthful to her.

Meanwhile, she's smaller than she should be while her clutchmate is a freakin' pig...typical burm.

I have never had one that was so stubborn to make a food switch. Usually after a few attempts, I can get them to take whatever I offer.

It would be a different story if she'd eat the live at least. I have no problems with going to the pet store to pick up live feeders. If I can't get one of my animals to take an f/t when I feed, I'll run by the pet store the next day and pick up a live one and they'll eat. By the next week or two, they'll eat f/t again. (I have a bp I have to do that for). I don't care what they eat as long as they eat lol

I've thought about trying another food source but I don't know of anything that would be a good size for her and will get her growing right.

I'm beginning to feel helpless with her. She's a great animal...she has a very sweet personality and temperament. I just want her to grow.

[DavethePython]

Another trick they told me about at the petstore we got our snakes from was rubbing the prey on gerbils. This seems to have worked for the BPs and corns. Dave will eat F/T now with little coaxing . Tequila had her first feeding with us tonight , and that little lady has no problem feeding. She took 2 jumbo mice and was still hunting for more. I will be moving her to rats as soon as I can get some mediums for her. Eveyone is out right now so I will have to wait ,but at least she is eating well.

[millertime89]

Rogue, how big is the problem burm? Might be worth trying to switch it over to small rabbits or guinea pigs.

[theapexgerman]

i use chicken broth a lot my AZ mountain king is a very picky snake only thing he will eat is baby chameleons but if i put some chicken broth broth on a live mice he eats it eventually its a big pain

[Rogue628]

Rogue, how big is the problem burm? Might be worth trying to switch it over to small rabbits or guinea pigs.

I haven't gotten a chance to get a decent measurement of her, but she's about 6 months old. When I can get her beside her clutch mate, she's about as long as she is but about 3/4" around. She was gaining decent weight while I was piggy backing a rat behind a mouse, but she still wasn't as large as her clutch mate.

It was suggested to try rabbit pinks. Not sure if I can get any locally, but I 'think' I can get chicks, but not sure if that's even a decent food source for her. I've never fed a burm chicks, much less chickens.

I honestly don't care what she eats as long as she switches to something that's better for her than mice.

I think I'll try guinea pigs as a last resort, unless someone can point me in the direction of an online place that sells them. They're crazy high in price here and I doubt Petco or Petsmart would let me get away with buying their 'pet' stock to feed to my pet. Our local shop doesn't carry guineas.

What are some other good food sources that I can try? It would be great if it was something I could buy online in bulk.

[millertime89]

rodent pro has guinea pigs and rabbits as well as everything else, its worth it to buy from them in bulk if you don't have a local breeder.

[Chu'Wuti]

Re the problem Burm--One of our local breeders (big-time breeder of BPs) told me to get rat poop and roll the F/T fuzzy in it to scent it with a more natural "live" smell when I was trying to get a BP switched from live to thawed.

Have you tried rolling the rat in mouse poop? If not, you might try it--get a good amount of fresh mouse poop to do this, about 1/2 cup or so, and really roll that rat in the mouse poop. Maybe, just maybe, that will work! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Sandy

[Rogue628]

I haven't heard of this. I normally get frozen feeders, but I do have a couple that are on live. I'm going to the local mom/pop pet store where I get my live and see if they can help me with a few different suggestions I want to try. I want to try gerbils and rabbit pinks. They're pretty understanding about feeding problem feeders so if they have what I'm looking for I can probably get it. I'll also ask them if I can scoop up some poo from their breeder mice and try that.