my baby carpet python won't eat dead food

[dragonteen]

been trying for months but he just won't do it. i don't like having to feed the mice to him that way, i feel crule, even though i know it's a natural thing. and i'm not keen on the idea of buying live rats or anything larger for him when he's older, by the way, besides rats, what else can i feed him when he's all grown up, assuming he's eating dead prey by then. (sorry if my questions seem silly, but he's my first snake and i'm learning as i go.)

[jaleely]

How are you trying to feed it? Wiggling it? Warming it first, and wiggling? Or leaving it in the cage? Have you talked to you got it from to see how they fed it? It is possible to transition to frozen/thawed food, but it's sometimes really hard. Add a few more details and i'm sure a lot of people have some good advice for you ")

[unknownclown]

I've had some in the past that would only take live its a pain switching them! Have you tried freshly killed? Basically you just have to keep trying no more than once a week use tongs do the death dance and eventually it will happen. Patience is the key and if its hungry enough it should switch over.

[Lankyrob]

The mistake that i see a lot of people make when switching is this - you try dead prey and the snake doesnt eat so you give it a live prey item so that it eats. This means the snake will "learn" that if it refuses one thing it will get the other.

If the snake doesnt take the dead prey then throw it away and DO NOT feed the snake anything else - next week do the same and keep repeating until the snake gets hungry and eats what you give it. Remember that snakes can go MONTHS with no food and suffer no effect. I heard someone say yesterday "a snake not eating for a fortnight is like you not having a biscuit with your cup of tea" - it has no effect long term at all. My BP last year went 3 months with no food over the winter period - no rhyme or reason to it, he just didnt eat.

The only thing to look for is if the snake starts to show signs of getting skinny or unhealthy in which case different action needs to be taken.


(Just reread this and realised i have used the word "you" a lot - this is not intended to be a criticism of YOU - the op - but just a general thing i have noticed - sorry )

[marvelfreak]

I second what Rob said. I have a Jungle Carpet that goes 5 month every winter with out eating. The rest of the year she eats once every two weeks. She is 10 years old 8.5 feet long and 13 bls. So needless to say she a monster of a Jungle. So if he go awhile with out eating it won't hurt him.

[dragonteen]

when i tried, i warmed it up ( i think a bit too long though) and held it in a pair of tweezers and wriggled it. allways he would strike, coil around it then line it up to eat but he never swallowed. mum sugested the mouse was too hot but i don't know. the breeder was terable realy. he treated them as if they were wild snakes. he didn't handle them (which is where i thought the aggresion i spoke of in my earlier post came from) and he put live food in thier cages for them to catch. Cyril (the snake) has no expeariance with dead mice so i kind of understand him not eating them. however, i did try a fresh killed mouce a friend of ours gave to us because he was trying to get rid of his mice for his snakes because of the smell. it was only dead about two hours, not all that fresh but it's the closest we can get (the only place we can buy mice is half an hour away so mum's never to keen to drive all that way). because of the distance, when we feed Cyrill, i want to make sure he eats it and getting rid of a dead mouce is never fun eather. i have been feeding him live food lately though because he didn't eat during winter so i want him to have a reasonable amount of food before i try dead mice again.

[red ink]

Originally Posted by dragonteen

when i tried, i warmed it up ( i think a bit too long though) and held it in a pair of tweezers and wriggled it. allways he would strike, coil around it then line it up to eat but he never swallowed. mum sugested the mouse was too hot but i don't know. the breeder was terable realy. he treated them as if they were wild snakes. he didn't handle them (which is where i thought the aggresion i spoke of in my earlier post came from) and he put live food in thier cages for them to catch. Cyril (the snake) has no expeariance with dead mice so i kind of understand him not eating them. however, i did try a fresh killed mouce a friend of ours gave to us because he was trying to get rid of his mice for his snakes because of the smell. it was only dead about two hours, not all that fresh but it's the closest we can get (the only place we can buy mice is half an hour away so mum's never to keen to drive all that way). because of the distance, when we feed Cyrill, i want to make sure he eats it and getting rid of a dead mouce is never fun eather. i have been feeding him live food lately though because he didn't eat during winter so i want him to have a reasonable amount of food before i try dead mice again.

Where abouts are you mate...

[shaunyboy]

heat the prey up with a hair dryer,stop every few minutes and feel the prey with your hand,once it feels roughly the same temperature as a live mouse/rat,then offer it with feeding tongs

you could always brain the prey,pierce the skull 2 or 3 times with the point of a pair of scissors.give the head an extra heat then offer

has your tank got plenty,hides,branches and fake plants ?

this will give your young carpet a feeling of security

also don't handle him,leave him in peace and quiet,only go near him to change his water every 5 to 7 days

cheers shaun

[dragonteen]

Originally Posted by red ink

Where abouts are you mate...

afew hours north of sydney.

[red ink]

Originally Posted by dragonteen

afew hours north of sydney.

Damn bad luck mate... I'm in Victoria, any closer I would have happily come over to give you a hand.

[dragonteen]

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

heat the prey up with a hair dryer,stop every few minutes and feel the prey with your hand,once it feels roughly the same temperature as a live mouse/rat,then offer it with feeding tongs

you could always brain the prey,pierce the skull 2 or 3 times with the point of a pair of scissors.give the head an extra heat then offer

has your tank got plenty,hides,branches and fake plants ?

this will give your young carpet a feeling of security

also don't handle him,leave him in peace and quiet,only go near him to change his water every 5 to 7 days

cheers shaun

i never thought of useing a hair dryer, i used the microwave...pretty grotty result.

i use real branches in my tank because our pet shop's prices for fake one's are simply outragouse! or at least i think so. but i don't feed him in his normal tank. a friend said that i shouldn't because he will be more likely to bite me. i have a little feeding box instead. he can see out of it and breath and streatch out and he's only in there when he's eating.
by not going near him, will that make him more relaxed or something?

[dragonteen]

Originally Posted by red ink

Damn bad luck mate... I'm in Victoria, any closer I would have happily come over to give you a hand.

that would've been awsome. oh well. thanks anyway

[alessia55]

Originally Posted by dragonteen

i never thought of useing a hair dryer, i used the microwave...pretty grotty result.

Oh goodness... microwaves are not the way to heat a mouse. I've had one explode in there once... gross You can use the hair dryer method that Shaun mentioned, or thaw it with hot water. Here's a recent thread with some techniques about thawing prey: http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/food-...g-feeders.html

Originally Posted by dragonteen

by not going near him, will that make him more relaxed or something?

Yes, giving your snake time alone will reduce stress and will help him relax more. It's all about time and patience. Once he's eating regularly you can start handling him more. Good luck!

[Lankyrob]

Originally Posted by dragonteen

i never thought of useing a hair dryer, i used the microwave...pretty grotty result.

i use real branches in my tank because our pet shop's prices for fake one's are simply outragouse! or at least i think so. but i don't feed him in his normal tank. a friend said that i shouldn't because he will be more likely to bite me. i have a little feeding box instead. he can see out of it and breath and streatch out and he's only in there when he's eating.
by not going near him, will that make him more relaxed or something?

This is a total myth - going by the same logic then everytime you remove him from his home he is going to expect food and be more likely to bite.

I feed all my guys in their vivs and apart from our one psycho snake none of them show and cage aggression/defensiveness.

Feeding them in their "natural" environment may make it less stressful and make the snake more likely to take the food offered.

I would repeat once again tho that if he refuses the "dead" prey DO NOT offer him live, just leave him a week and try again with another dead prey item.

[dragonteen]

Oh goodness... microwaves are not the way to heat a mouse. I've had one explode in there once... gross You can use the hair dryer method that Shaun mentioned, or thaw it with hot water. Here's a recent thread with some techniques about thawing prey: thawing feeders

the first time we thawed it out in the microwave, wich ended with mouse gut all over the inside. the second time, i tried the hot water but i left it in there to long and when i picked it up, all the skin came off the tail. i tried the hot water afew times though and he wasn't interested. i'll give the hairdrier a go.

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

This is a total myth - going by the same logic then everytime you remove him from his home he is going to expect food and be more likely to bite.

I feed all my guys in their vivs and apart from our one psycho snake none of them show and cage aggression/defensiveness.

Feeding them in their "natural" environment may make it less stressful and make the snake more likely to take the food offered.

I would repeat once again tho that if he refuses the "dead" prey DO NOT offer him live, just leave him a week and try again with another dead prey item.

hmm i never thought of it like that before. i'll give it a go.

by the way, what's the ideal size of the mouse i should be feeding him, he's just over a meter long. i've been feeding him the small adult mice we buy from the pet shop. is that to big/small?