Feeding snake

Solid Snake · 05-07-03, 08:47 PM

when i go buy fuzzy's at the store i just ask for them alive. I've been hearing alot about stunned rodents, whats it mean?

Whats better? to give live mice or dead ones? My 2feet Cali King snake just switched to Fuzzy's. Its sometimes fun to watch my king hiding and attackin it but i feel bad for giving it live mice.

Linds · 05-07-03, 08:53 PM

Pinkies and fuzzies aren't going to hurt your snake, but as hoppers and adult mice can deliver a very painful, and in some cases fatal bite to a snake. Not only is it a painful way for the rodent to die, but it is extremely risky for your snake. It is not like snakes feeding on prey in the wild, when a snake is in captivity all the conditions are altered. The sooner you can switch your snake to prekilled or frozen/thawed prey, the better it will be, and the longer you go the more risk you carry and the harder it will be to switch your snake. When one is forced to feed a live rodent that is old enough to inflict damage on your snake, that is when stunning comes in to play. It is not a humane method for the rodent, but the snake needs to be protested. Basically what you are doing is giving it jsut enough of a hit to disable it a little... "stun" it... this reduces the risk of injury to your snake as much as you can while feeding live... this by no means gurantees the rodent won't still bite or scratch the snake. Anyhoo... hope this helped

Solid Snake · 05-07-03, 08:57 PM

yikez, how do u stun it? knock on the head?

the fuzzy's i buy they run around real fast, and they have teeth and eyes... are these fuzzy's??

ThEmAdHaTtEr · 05-07-03, 08:59 PM

Like most people, I would suggest dead or F/T (Frozen Thawed). Though fuzzies are not yet large enough to seriously injure your snake, your snake may get hooked on the live prey and never wanna switch to F/T. Feeding live is bad for the snake because the prey item (In the case, the mouse or rat) could bite or scratch your snake. The bigger the prey item, the more dangerous it is IMHO. Think about you trying to go hunt yourself a rabbit for dinner, if you got it, it could bite you, but probly wouldnt seriously hurt you. Then picture yourself trying to catch a buffalo for dinner, that might hurt..a lot. Ive heard live prey contains more nutrients than F/t but Im not exactly sure. With F/T you can keep them in bulk in the freezer so you don't have to run to the pet shop every week or so, they dont stink, and dont cause a threat to the snake. Well thats my opinion. And stunned means, u stun it so its still alive, but cant really move. Like when u flick it in the head or neck or whatever, that should stun it so its unable to attack your snake. Some people just pre-kill it by whacking it on something hard. Slow and painless. Well anyway, sorry for the HUGE post! Good luck!

Solid Snake · 05-07-03, 09:24 PM

it it possible to buy mice then ask the store keeper to kill it for me??

ThEmAdHaTtEr · 05-07-03, 09:30 PM

yeah I think most pet stores do that (or so ive heard).

Linds · 05-07-03, 10:47 PM

If they run around and have eyes they can definitely bite your little snake :eb: As ThEmAdHaTtEr mentioned, you can stun a small animal that size by hitting it lightly off the wall or flicking it... be careful that you don't kill it though. You will need to get a feel for that yourself. Some pet stores will prekill your prey for you, but many will not... you will probably want to ask before you buy it if you really do not want to kill them youself. Frozen/thawed are great in that respect, they are very convenient... you just keep them in your freezer and thaw them out as needed. Vacum-sealed they can last well over a year. **Never put live prey in the freezer, this is a slow and painful death... rats have been known to survive over 24 hours in the freezer**

snake_goth · 05-29-03, 03:44 PM

wow that long 24 hours wow nice little smile'ey