Reptile & Amphibian Forums

for the past year or so, i've been feeding my snake those frozen mice found at petsmart. i've been giving him two large mice every other week for a while now, and he was fine with it. recently though, he's been only eating one every other week and ignoring the other one. i gave him one mouse today and when i checked back a couple hours later, it was still on the ground, but it looked like it had blood around the front of the mouse. what exactly could be causing this? should i go to petsmart and pick up some smaller mice and try and get him to eat those first?

I always feel obligated to start my answers with this: I'm not an expert! But are you sure it's totally thawed? Because the frozen mice I have, once they thaw, almost always bleed a bit out of the face. Maybe the snake never touched it and it just thawed completely while it was sitting there?
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0.1 Lampropeltis Getula Floridana
1.0 Elaphe Guttata Slowinskii

i'd left it in a cup of steaming water (not boiling) for about two hours or so. i'd like to think that 2 hours is plenty of time...

i had also tried to pick him up to bring him out to the living rooms where it's warmer, but he seemed threatened, started rattling his tail and kind of went into a ready-to-strike pose, almost like he's injured. he's alert, but now i'm rather concerned...

You might try just upping the heat in the cage. This is the time of year that a lot of kings start to brumate, so it could just be that yours is cold and losing his appetite.

You being worried can affect how you handle the snake, and how the snake reacts to you. I've noticed that the more active species, like corns, milks, and kings, are very sensitive to the people handling them. I rarely have a problem handling the active babies, but the second I get nervous about being bitten, or if I hand them over to someone who's unsure of themselves, the snakes spaz out and behave like they're frightened.

Try upping the heat, and if that doesn't work, just let the snake tell you what it needs and only offer one mouse a week.

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

well, it's been about 3 weeks since i've last fed him that one mouse. i've been meaning to, but have been busy with work and school and all that good stuff. i'll try bringing him out to the living room tomorrow. it is noticeably colder in my room than out here.

Yeah, sounds like the snake chewed on the head a little but then decided it didn't want it. I "in my experience" have not noticed F/T bleed easily unless in youthenizing (spelled wrong and spell check doesn't understand to correct)they use the knock out method, leaving blood on the body and nose area of the mouse. On the other hand fresh killed and live bleed easy.

Personally I don't recommend thawing out your mice in hot or cold water. As stated in above post, it washes the scent off. If your in a hurry try putting it in a zip lock and lay the bag in warm water. A adult mouse should thaw on it's own in 2-3 hours. If you thaw them out in multiples of 100 plus like me and you don't have the room to spread them out, it will take a little longer. I personally thaw in the fridge overnight and let them warm up before feeding.

Sounds like nothing to worry about as you did not describe what sounds "to me" it threw the snake up. If it had you would of used words like slimy, stinky mouse. Then a bloody regerg would indicate some sort of stomach problem or injury. If you're that worried about it take it to the vet for an x-ray and quit posting here for answers. The longer you wait the worse it will get if it is sick or injured!!!

It's time for him to slow down on food. Let him enjoy hibernation. GOD knows I wish I could hibernate for the winter LOL.
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B

Don't you have a UTH or some kind of heating system to heat your snake warmer than room temp? Just turning that up would solve your problem without having to move the snake.

~jenny
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"Polysyllabism in no way insures that what you're saying is actually worth being heard." - Blake (an e-friend of mine)

"I have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: "O lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And he granted it." - Voltaire

You buy your rodents from PetSmart????
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B

first off, 2 hours in steaming water is a bit much. Remember that water is going to wash scent off of the mouse the longer that it's in there. I would try thawing in very warm (not hot) water for about 15-20 minutes. That should that the mouse. If the water is then cold, dump the water and refill with very warm and put the mouse back in for just 2-3 minutes to get it warmed up. This way the mouse hasn't been soaking for 2 hours yet is still a warm meal. Try leaving the mouse right outside of the snakes hide box so that it's in his face while he's hiding. Another thing to check is your cage temps. Warm end should be low 80s.

As far as the bloody mouse, my guess is that the snake did not regurgitate it but simply started to eat it then spit it back out. There could be a number of reasons for this: cage not warm enough, maybe about to enter a shed cycle, the food wasn't "fresh" enough (frozen mice can get freezer burned after a while), or that your snake is sensing the changes in seasons and is toning down it's appetite. For now, I would try a different source of food, if possible. If not possible, maybe try a fresh-killed mouse from petsmart.

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Paul Weaver
Carolina Herps

My Cal King is just starting to ignore food I don't brumate him and the room is a constant temp, however he does this every year. Your snake slowly going off feed for this time of year is natural. As far as the blood bleeding out the noise its fairly common most of my Frozen/Thawed rodents have some blood on some part of there body. Plus who knows how petsmart kills there rodents maybe this makes then bloody as well. Now if the entire head of the mouse was covered in blood then maybe the snake caused it or decided that it didn't want to eat. I wouldn't be to concerned unless you see a pattern. Also you might want to try feeding one mouse per week during winter months.
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Jason A.
"Long time Herper, first year Breeder `07."

Yes!,.....Ditto on all the above points!.......that would be my view as well.

Love the "Edisto" Paul!

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

i was thinking you could start a new screen name using using the mouse situation,instead of your mealies.
like others said it may be Nap Season for your snake which is common and recommended....Snore we be be be, Snore we be be be.........Chris