Changing From live to pre killed?

[Chris Stone]

i have a ball python thats 23 inches long and is on 2 live mice per feeding...i am wanting to switch him over to atleast fresh killed...mice or small rats...waht is the best way to do this..and the best way to kill the pests..lol easily..lol how do i introduce this to him..in a way that he will accept it..easily...?

[liltattyprinces]

All i can tell you is what i did in your situation. It may or may not work. I switched my girl over by putting her in a small sterilite container with a hide and the pre killed rat. Then i placed it in my closet that is nice and dark and quiet and left her overnight, I did't cheack on her till the next morning. and voila the rat was gone.. As far as killing it i tend to throw them in a plastic bag (in case they bleed and make a mess) And hold it by the tail and crack it on the edge of my table. It'll kick a bit and jerk but that is just spasams it quickly stops. Hope this helps

Laura-Lee L

[Big Mike]

That is a good method for switching to F/T. Whacking is also a popular method of killing rodents. When I had to kill some rodents I put them in a plastic bag and just swung the bag by the top to get more leverage and a harder whack.

If you can get rats...you may want to try switching right to frozen rats rather than to frozen mice.

You could get a live mouse and put the thawed rat in with the mouse so that the rat smells like the mouse.
Get some tongs or hemostats and wiggle the thawed prey around like it is live.
Make sure that the prey is warm. I thaw mine out in a bucket of water and then dunk them in hot tap water. This really helps.
If that does not work...I just leave the prey over night...sometimes it works...sometimes not.

Don't worry if your snake refuses. Keep trying, they can go for a long time without eating so don't just toss in a live mouse if the snake doesn't eat F/T right away.

[Tortoise man]

yeah you should try to switch to the rat pups, you can get them as small as a mouse and it will be a lot healthier for the snake.

[sapphire_moon]

if it is on live try live rat pups.......(about the size of adult mice.) once your snake accepts this, try f/k rat pups, then f/t rat pups, then just up the size!

Not sure on the method, haven't had to actually kill any rats yet (they are actually quite intelligent animals).

You can try f/t rats that are

brained (open the head up so a little bit of brain matter leaks out)
Wet (like dunked in hot water)
chicken broth (try to get the water based kind)
left in the cage
left in a rubbermaid
try wiggling it with tongs
cut the nose off

make sure it is body temp, but not to hot!