Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey Everyone,

I currently keep a 1.2 trio of BRBs and they are all doing pretty good. I have been feeding all three f/t feeders mainly but one of my females has always had issues with eating frozen. She will sometimes eat them with no problems and other time she just seems to get really close to the feeder and act pretty interested in it then the next thing I know she will totally ignore it and crawl away. She has never had a problem with live food and rapidly attacks any live prey offered. I really would like to get her on f/t always seeing as it's much safer and cheaper.

Does anyone on here have any good tips for feeding her f/t? Thanks for any and all replies!

Ike

One thing to try is to first ween her from live onto fresh killed. If you try this then remeber to freeze any she refuses so you can use them for the other two snakes on the next feeding.

If your rodent source is close enough then I would only buy one live/fresh killed rodent at a time and if she refuses the fresh kill run back over to grab a live meal. If your source is farther away I would get two live or one fresh killed one live. Which is best just depends on how the price difference between live and frozen compares to the price of gas for the extra round trip to the rodent source.

Oh almost forgot. this is a little morbid but if you can sqeeze/expose a little of the rats blood then it might do the trick. I have to watch my fingers with my female if there is any blood exposed on the rat as it sends her feeding response through the roof. There have been several occassions where I have had to sit and watch her eat outside the feeding tub because when she smelled the blood she launched at the rat so strongly that she flew over half way out of the tub.

Hope it helps,

Sean.
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1.1 BRB
1.1 Triple Het TPRS's
0.1 Silver TPRS
1.1 Amel Bloodred Corns
0.1 Abbott Okeetee Corn
0.1 Blizzard Bloodred Corn
1.1 Thayeri Kingsnakes
0.1 Reeve's Turtle
0.2 Amstaff's
1.0 Pudytat

Thanks for your reply. That's a good idea to start trying freshly killed. I will have to do that next time I feed. thanks!

Ike
(1.2 BRB Dugo, Roxy, Brazita)

Hey Ike, is that the '07 or the '06 female that is giving you problems?

Like Sean said, work her onto fresh killed and feed her first, that way if she does not eat you can use one of the others as the "garbage can"

The real danger of live is the prey fighting back, their teeth/jaws are very strong and can inflict serious damage. Fresh killed or even well stunned can eliminate/reduce that danger just as much as F/T. One possible advantage of F/T is freezing will kill some parasites. I never feed F/T as I have my own rodent colony. I know mine are doing great on F/K and I do wonder if fresh has a greater nutritional value??
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Hey Dave,

It is the 06' female that I am talking about. I can't really say that I'm having problems with her though because she is doing great and growing well.

It sounds like starting with freshly killed is the way to go. I'm going to have to try that next week.

As far as whether or not feeding frozen feeders is less nutrionally valuable to the snakes I've wondered the same thing myself. Though I tend to feel that in my case the frozen feeders that I order are probably much better fed and healthier for my snakes than the feeders I can buy from the local petstore chains.

Oh by the way, my 07' girl from you is looking GREAT! Her colors are really popping, the only bad thing about that is she makes my 06' female look dull ha. Thanks for your response.

Ike

you can try is to make sure that the F/T mouse / rat is hot enough. My BRB wouldn't eat the F/T if it wasn't warm enough. If it sat there for a little and cooled off before I put it in with her, she would sniff it then just move away. I could warm it back up and she would take it right away.
HTH
Rob
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For Sale cheap: One (1) 6' 19 yr old male. Does no house work. Has no job and will complain. Constantly.
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa-Ziggy
1.0 Creamscicle motley corn--Cozmo
0.1 Creamscicle corn--Wanda
0.0.1 Normal corn
0.1 Black Pine - Spazz
1.0 Eastern King-Ozy
1.0 Bearded Dragon - Gomer

Hey Rob,

Thanks for the reply. Now that you mention it, I actually do remember noticing that sometimes I would get a much better feeding response out of her if I made sure to get the mouse really hot before offer it. I bet you're on to something here, thanks for reminding me.

Ike

Ike,
....Some of mine that eat frozen and thawed will only eat the ones that smell right. If the rats have been in the freezer too long they sometimes get refused. Some rodent dealers sell frozen rodents that seem fresher and get a better feeding response.
Jeff

>>Hey Everyone,
>>
>>I currently keep a 1.2 trio of BRBs and they are all doing pretty good. I have been feeding all three f/t feeders mainly but one of my females has always had issues with eating frozen. She will sometimes eat them with no problems and other time she just seems to get really close to the feeder and act pretty interested in it then the next thing I know she will totally ignore it and crawl away. She has never had a problem with live food and rapidly attacks any live prey offered. I really would like to get her on f/t always seeing as it's much safer and cheaper.
>>
>>Does anyone on here have any good tips for feeding her f/t? Thanks for any and all replies!
>>
>>Ike