Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know this forum has been filled with this same question as of late, but nothing I have read has worked for my boy. I have been feeding live rats for a year now, and phil is about 6 1/2 feet - only 9 lbs. I have been trying to get him to eat fresh-killed rats, but he will not change. It has been almost 2 months since he has eaten, and I try every Friday at about 9pm (he generally is interested in food about then). I will not place a live rabbit in the cage (I don't want him to get hurt)and he is about the size to start taking rabbits.

I have tried to wiggle the dead rats with tongs, left them in front of him and walked out of the room for hours and the only thing that happened is the rats got stiff and stinky. I am beginning to worry about his health - he is looking thin. Still, even after 6 weeks, when I introduce dead food, he hisses and turns away. I don't know what else to do. ?Is it possible for a burm to be so stubborn, they NEVER change to pre-killed food? How should I handle this issue. Please help if you can.

Sincerely,

Marco

Hey Marco,

It's possible, (but not likely) that you have a burm that will never accept dead prey. I say not likely because they usually always do come around with time, patience and perserverance. I have had some burms that took over a year. But one thing that I can kind of generalize,.. once they have a rabbit, they usually go nuts for rabbits and don't care if they are alive or dead. I have "once finicky" burms that had never accepted dead rats that will refuse a rat and go zealously after a prekilled or thawed rabbit. You may need to give the first rabbit to him alive or stunned. If the body is twitching and the heart is beating and it is giving off normal heat (remember the pythons have heat sensors) then he will interpret this as "alive". But it can't kick him or claw him. I have never seen any serious damage done to a burm by a rabbit anyway, but still, why take the chance. I always feed prekilled or thawed. As much for the rabbit/rat/mouse to not have to experience terror or pain as for the safety of the snakes. You can hit a rabbit once with a small club or heavy stick right at the base of the skull and kill it without any gushing nose-bleeds, but it can take practice. Just don't hit more than once if you can help it. One swift blow and the rabbit is both knocked unconscious and dying all in the same moment. Immediately strike it's back a few hard blows and this breaks the spine rendering the back legs paralyzed and harmless. Give the still twitching rabbit to your snake right away. I would bet a cool 50 that this will work just fine. Let us all know how it goes.

>>I know this forum has been filled with this same question as of late, but nothing I have read has worked for my boy. I have been feeding live rats for a year now, and phil is about 6 1/2 feet - only 9 lbs. I have been trying to get him to eat fresh-killed rats, but he will not change. It has been almost 2 months since he has eaten, and I try every Friday at about 9pm (he generally is interested in food about then). I will not place a live rabbit in the cage (I don't want him to get hurt)and he is about the size to start taking rabbits.
>>
>>I have tried to wiggle the dead rats with tongs, left them in front of him and walked out of the room for hours and the only thing that happened is the rats got stiff and stinky. I am beginning to worry about his health - he is looking thin. Still, even after 6 weeks, when I introduce dead food, he hisses and turns away. I don't know what else to do. ?Is it possible for a burm to be so stubborn, they NEVER change to pre-killed food? How should I handle this issue. Please help if you can.
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>
>>Marco
-----
It isn't "Ideas" that fail or succeed,... it is the "Systems" which are instilled to launch and sustain the idea that either fail or succeed.>[Me.]

I had an albino male 7 years ago that almost died because he would not take Dead prey. I tryed everything i could think of and i couldnt get him to take one for 14 months.
He went from 70lbs to 40lbs , and i finaly gave up. I had to take him to the vet and get him tube fed for a few months till he was strong enough to take food again.
He still doesnt take dead prey , and the new owner has been trying on a monthly basis for the last 7 years.
But , IMO of course, There's alot less danger with Live rabbits than Live rats.
I know there bigger , more powerfull and have bigger teeth than a rat. But from my observation , Feeding 3 live rabbits a week to my 3 Burms. A rat will bite , claw , scratch , and so on , and will normaly bloody the snake before it's dead , But a rabbit Just freezes up , as if they go into deep shock , rabbits dont seem to have the fight in them that rats do. 9 years with Nothing but Live rabbits , and i havent had a rabbit bite a snake yet. They kick sometimes in there death throws , but it never has hurt anything.
Although , if you have to feed your snake live rats , Stay in the room with him , the moment he takes it , This is kinda crazy , but that's just me , Open the cage and stick a pencil or an erracer in it's mouth , so it will bite the pencil and not your snake.

>>I know this forum has been filled with this same question as of late, but nothing I have read has worked for my boy. I have been feeding live rats for a year now, and phil is about 6 1/2 feet - only 9 lbs. I have been trying to get him to eat fresh-killed rats, but he will not change. It has been almost 2 months since he has eaten, and I try every Friday at about 9pm (he generally is interested in food about then). I will not place a live rabbit in the cage (I don't want him to get hurt)and he is about the size to start taking rabbits.
>>
>>I have tried to wiggle the dead rats with tongs, left them in front of him and walked out of the room for hours and the only thing that happened is the rats got stiff and stinky. I am beginning to worry about his health - he is looking thin. Still, even after 6 weeks, when I introduce dead food, he hisses and turns away. I don't know what else to do. ?Is it possible for a burm to be so stubborn, they NEVER change to pre-killed food? How should I handle this issue. Please help if you can.
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>
>>Marco
-----
Seth Mason.
Do lesbian frogs think they taste like chicken too ?

I know I am not Brian or Rob, but my burm is a year old as well, and I have had several problems with her. The best thing I was ever told was to not try to feed them so often, what I mean by that is she would only take live. This just lasted until now. I did not feed her for two weeks. She shed in that time frame to, I bought a rat and killed it, I placed it in a pillow case and wacked it against a weight plate. Then I had it by the back of the neck with the tongs and just moved its head side to side, and she nailed it. She needed fresh killed I did have the pet store do it for awhile, but she would not eat those for some odd reason when I brought them home she did not want them but when I did it, she ate it. I have also been told to do what brian said and hit it to the point it still twitches and use your tongs then. I dont know about rabbits since mine are to small yet. But, I did want to give up and give her away. But the people in here gave me great advice and I just had to be patient.

If she has not eaten for awhile and starts to lose weight then go back to her normal routine until she gains the weight back and is eating good. Then you can try the switch, cause if shes noting eating you dont want have her get sick.

Sorry about your frustration on this. Some snakes just prefer live prey (but probably 95% will readily take dead). I have taken in many burms where owners insisted that their burms would only take live prey (or a certain type of prey). In every case such as this, I never offered live prey (or a certain prey such as chicken). Instead, I just rely on my instincts in being able to read a particular snake and knowing how to elicit a feeding response. That's difficult to put in an answer as far as what I do, however, there are just some very basic rules I follow when trying to wean a burm (or any snake) on to dead prey: 1) PATIENCE (the best weapon you have), 2) Making sure that ALL of your parameters are sufficient in meeting the physiological needs of your burm, 3) Trying to feed when lights are subdued a bit but still at optimal temps....just a little wiggle or sudden movement near the burm's head may do the trick in getting a feeding strike, 4) try heavily misting the cage with warm water to mimic a seasonal fluctuation which could in turn lead to a better feeding response, 5) offering a larger than normal prey item (instead of a 3-4 pound rabbit, try a 6-8 pound rabbit). But, before going with this routine, you may have to offer live prey just to get the snake in optimal condition; you will know what's best.

Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation