trying frozen again. help inside..

DeesBalls · 03-16-11, 11:51 AM

so im trying to go with frozen again with my adult BP... she has been eating live ever since i got her, im desperatly trying to switch her over to f/t... i know its prolly TOO late, but i hate feeding live..

last 2 live feedings:
1. rat bit her (not bad bc i was there to supervise and interveen)
2. she refused, so i let 2 live rats go... ( i live wayyy to far to take them back) theres a HUGE field by my house and im sure they are happy in there....

so i want to switch over to frozen... i tried just giving her a frozen/thawed.. no go...

im going to try to "brain" the rat this time, i heard this helps ALOT! so we will see how it goes, any suggestions on how to go about doing this????

Glasgow Corns · 03-16-11, 11:59 AM

some do go straight to f/t but if this is unsuccessful you could always try fresh killed then try and progress to f/t.

Braining you just take something very sharp ant try to pierce the skull so that the tasty juices can flow out, some people also make a slit in the rats head, but i have used the piercing and seemed to work fine.

Ch^4 · 03-16-11, 12:04 PM

My adult BP ate live for over 5 years. He's now been on F/T for about a year. Your BP is an adult, so a couple weeks off feed won't hurt. After the couple weeks is up, attempt to feed F/T. Make sure the body temp of the F/T prey is nice and warm. Also, I'd recommend heating up the head of the F/T with a heat lamp (or equivalent) prior to offering it to your BP. You also might have to make the prey item "dance" with a set of tongs (try to mimic the movement of live prey if your BP isn't going for it right away or giving you the "what the hell is that" look).

I hope that helps and keep us updated!

DeesBalls · 03-16-11, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Hammer

some do go straight to f/t but if this is unsuccessful you could always try fresh killed then try and progress to f/t.

Braining you just take something very sharp ant try to pierce the skull so that the tasty juices can flow out, some people also make a slit in the rats head, but i have used the piercing and seemed to work fine.

Thank you for replying... i have tried a straight up thawed out rat b4 she showed no interest, but i didnt heat up the head or do a dance or anthing like that...

Quote:

My adult BP ate live for over 5 years. He's now been on F/T for about a year. Your BP is an adult, so a couple weeks off feed won't hurt. After the couple weeks is up, attempt to feed F/T. Make sure the body temp of the F/T prey is nice and warm. Also, I'd recommend heating up the head of the F/T with a heat lamp (or equivalent) prior to offering it to your BP. You also might have to make the prey item "dance" with a set of tongs (try to mimic the movement of live prey if your BP isn't going for it right away or giving you the "what the hell is that" look).

I hope that helps and keep us updated!

she has been off feed for lil over 1.5 months i believe. i will try that tomorrow morning when i wake up and see what happends. its feeding day so i hope i can get them all on frozen/thawed!!

Marica · 03-16-11, 06:26 PM

It took heating and braining to switch our Dums. I found using a hairdryer worked well to heat up the f/t rat. I used scissors to expose the brain and found the easiest method was to pierce the nape of the neck with the lower blade then cut the down into the back of the skull.

Lankyrob · 03-16-11, 06:29 PM

With sll my guys i heat the whole prey item and then literally as i feed i heat the head specifically so they have something nice to aim for. I heat mine in a bowl on a radiator and to heat the head press the skull against the metal, may not want to do this with a brained rat tho!!

DeesBalls · 03-17-11, 11:49 AM

Thanks guys, i tried it today... i thawed the rat out for about 30-40 min (while i fed everyone else)... she did..... NOT eat

i used an exacto knife and cut up the skull, from the back of the neck, up to the eyes.. exposed the brain and some juice stuff...

showed it to her, she looked interested and i was excited!!! but she like smelled it, and left it.. i did the dance and all that no interest..

i tried for around 20 min. and i kept heating the head up with a heat light (my beardies lol) and it was a no go

although, my pastel male ate his 2nd f/t mouse!!

Lankyrob · 03-17-11, 01:18 PM

My only advice would be to keep trying but to ensure you dont feed something else. If it realises that it gets its own way by refusing the Ft then it wont get hungry enought to take it down the road.

Keep us posted on how it goes.......... oh and dont forget you are meant to make the rat dance not dance yourself!!!

DeesBalls · 03-17-11, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

My only advice would be to keep trying but to ensure you dont feed something else. If it realises that it gets its own way by refusing the Ft then it wont get hungry enought to take it down the road.

Keep us posted on how it goes.......... oh and dont forget you are meant to make the rat dance not dance yourself!!!

ohhhh i thought i was suppose to dance LOL!!

i wont give up, its been almost 2 months since she ate... so hopfully next time she will be interested lol.

Lankyrob · 03-17-11, 01:26 PM

My BP went about 12 weeks i think it was without eating recently, no change of food just decided not to eat! lol

I can just imagine you dropping the rat into the enclosure and dancing around it waiting for the snake to eat!

Sapphyr · 03-18-11, 04:32 AM

Ha! Funniest misunderstanding ever! Someone needs an award c:

DeesBalls · 03-18-11, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

My BP went about 12 weeks i think it was without eating recently, no change of food just decided not to eat! lol

I can just imagine you dropping the rat into the enclosure and dancing around it waiting for the snake to eat!

lol i thought it was like a sacred rain dance or something...i was wondering why my snake was looking at me like "wtf??" lol

hopfully the next time it will work out for me, if not, ill just thump the rats really hard b4 i throw em' in ...

Sapphyr · 03-18-11, 11:59 AM

Ha~ You're too funny c: That's my shiner for the day~

Ch^4 · 03-18-11, 01:51 PM

Are you sure "she" is actually a she?! My male went off feed for about 8 months one time. He still goes the occasional 6-8 weeks off feed in the winter. Just a thought.

DeesBalls · 03-21-11, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ch^4

Are you sure "she" is actually a she?! My male went off feed for about 8 months one time. He still goes the occasional 6-8 weeks off feed in the winter. Just a thought.

you know... im not 100% sure. petstore said she was a she.. and the pet store girl does now alot about snakes/reptiles.. but im not 100 percent.

actually i HOPE it would be a male.. so when i get my albino i can get a female..