How long till a pinky mouse goes bad

[Austin659]

It is my first attempt at feeding my new desert king snake, interbreed with a speckled king a little I think. It is about 1 foot and I tried feeding it its first pinky today. I thawed it, wiggled it in front of Noodles with tongs, when that failed I brushed his body with the pinky and started to get striking then I tryed light taps on his head with the pinky and I got it to bite and hold for a few seconds but nothing more, he pooped and I could tell was just getting to be to stressed so I moved him to another smaller container put a hide in it and the pinky right in front of the hide, in side the container is about 74-76f sitting on top of the main cage for the heat, but I wanted to know how long I could leave Noodles in there with the pinky until it is considered bad and could make my snake sick.

[CK SandBoas]

The longest I've ever left a f/t prey item in with an animal is overnight. If it hasn't been consumed by morning, I get rid of it.

[shaunyboy]

if you lay it in the tank at night,if it's still uneaten when you get up the next day,throw the pinkie away

cheers shaun

[Austin659]

Thanks for the information, I left the pinky in the tank and after 7 hours still did not eat but today I pulled him out of the cage and noticed his eyes turning a little bit of a cloudy blue so I think its about to start shedding, and is the reason it did not eat. Will keep watching and see how he looks in a few days

[Lankyrob]

I feed about 9pm, if the snake doweesnt take it i leave it til 8am and then remove it, i wll offer it to another snake and if they dont take it straight away i bin it.

[Austin659]

Do you feed in a separate container and leave your snake in there?

[swolek]

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

I feed about 9pm, if the snake doweesnt take it i leave it til 8am and then remove it, i wll offer it to another snake and if they dont take it straight away i bin it.

I do the same thing.

Originally Posted by Austin659

Do you feed in a separate container and leave your snake in there?

This wasn't directed at me but I personally feed in the cage. Feeding outside the cage seems like it would cause unnecessary stress and would result in me getting bit more often.

[Austin659]

An answer from anyone is nice and I think I will also feed only in the cage for now, I have seen tons of people say not to because they will associate anything coming in their cage as prey, but it seems that it could work both ways, they could start going into feeding mode every time you take them out. With the snake being new to handling it may still stress it out some and put it off eating, so for now I will start placing the f/t in around 9 or 10 and wait till morning. Thanks for the answers.

[sharthun]

Feeding in the enclosure is the way to go. I also never physically touch my snakes with tongs or hands at feeding time that way they don't associate feeding time to you when handling.