Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, I know I should be feeding dead mice. I have been trying to get my snake to do so, but he wants nothing to do with a dead mouse and I do not know what to do. Anyways, I gave him a live mouse this time and he took it but the mouse did bite a little and puncture the skin slightly. Is there anything I should do to the wound? Any ideas on how to get him to eat a dead mouse so this does not happen again?

Also, he used to eat two mice about every 5-7 days but lately he has not wanted anything to do with the mice until tonight. Is this a normal stage they go through this time of year? If so, how do I know when he is hungry because buying a mouse and him not eating it every few day is getting expensive.

as for the bite. put neosporin on it. as for the feeding. move him to freshly killed. he shouldn't have any problems switching to that. just get some tongs and dangle the mouse in front of him. he won't know the difference. then slowly move him to frozen/thawed. depending on the size of your royal, 1 mouse every 5-7 isn't too bad. another good feeding guideline is to feed him right after he poops. as for him refusing a meal. it isn't uncommon for him to do it periodically. just make sure temps and humidity are right. i also always feed at night. this is their natural time to hunt.

i find it easier to breed my own mice. or if you cant do that, get 3 females (males will fight) and keep buying them as they run out. if he dont eat them live, you can save them. If your gonna feed Fresh Killed, make sure he will eat it. (wave the live mouse infront of him, when he strikes...pull away, then kill the mouse, then wiggle it.) this way you will know he will strike at it

I'm sure it's just a thing with my ball, but if it strikes and misses...or anything besides striking with success the first time...it just will not even bother trying a second time. It will just go back into it's hide, and although remaining interested, I think it gets psyched out! I tried this EXACT method this week. I got 4 female rats and held one near the hide....My bp was already out of it's hide ready to strike...unusual for him... He took a strike, so I killed the rat...no luck. It's a shame I had just fed my Dumerils 5 minutes prior. Remind me to feed the ball first next week My dum never skips a meal......which brings me to my vague point...get a good eating garbage disposal snake...ie: blood python, boa, burmese, etc. Try feeding the ball first, and if it doesn't take it?....no worries!!!