Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought this wonderful female Coastal. She is about 6 -1/2 feet if I had to guess. What worries me is her feeding, or lack thereof.
When I bought her (maybe a month ago), she had eaten the day before. I let her 'chill out' as it were, and she got used to everything quickly. She still had her same cage, so stress couldn't have been that high. After a week, I put a live rat in the cage. She nailed it quickly and ate it, with no difficulty. The next week, she wouldn't eat. I called the original owner up and asked about her feeding habits. He told me he had fed her frozen/thawed prey all her life. Its now been three weeks and she hasn't eaten. Should I be worried? I've had Balls that go off feed in the breeding season, but quickly pick up.
I would probably be inclined to think she's not eating the live prey because she was raised to eat F/T. But she ate live the first time, so what's going on here?

I'll be more specific; when she sees the rat, she gets close to it, like she wants to eat it. Naturally the rat will turn around to see what's going on, and the snake will just back away, like she's completely intimidated by the rat. I even tried giving her a small rat just to see if the size was bothering her. Nothing worked. I don't buy frozen thawed prey, but I'm getting to the point where I'm just going to knock the rat out myself. But I have a cold feeling that that's not going to do the trick either. I would love to breed her this Winter, but not if she wont eat. Usually when my Balls would go off feed, they would show no interest in the food. But she seems like she wants it, but too afraid. Should I kill the rat for her?
Sorry about the long winded post.
Any help is help
John

PS-She also very rarely comes out of her hide box. I caught her out once last night though. Would this reflect any kind of lethargic-python behavior?

why not just switch all of your snakes over to frozen? its safer, more convienent, and more space efficeient, i know i can fit a few hundred frozen rodents in my freezer, but id be hard pressed to find room for the same rodents outside of the freezer. besides, why torture the animals, prey and predator both. in the confines of captivity its impossible or a scared rodent to get away from a snake, and its also impossible for a scared snake to get away from an angry rodent. i dont know about you, but the LAST thing i would want to happen to my snakes is a rodent bite (no one is fast enough to prevent all accidents...since most bites/lacerations due to rodents happen as the snake is costricting it), or parasites (it happens, even to the most careful people). even astunned or fresh killed rodent can inflict an injury, both stunned and fresh killed tend to twitch and kick, and i dunno about you, but ive seen some damage from rodent kicks. oh yeah, the last point, frozen rodents cost half to 3/4 of a live prey item...please switch em to frozen, its just better for everyone involved...and if you feed live cuz you like to watch them eat, its really not all that different feeding frozen, all of my snakes (which have gotten frozen since theyve been in my care, which is as little as 6 or 8 weeks) still strike, constrict, and make sure its dead before they swallow it...so there goes the whole "its more fun to watch em eat live" argument, trust me, a snake stalking a rodent on foceps is pretty funny and interesting. just think of the safety of the animals!

J

How do you keep frozen thawed rats when your parents refuse to let you keep dead rats in the freezer? I'm getting closer, closer to having my mom say "yes" but its just not happening. I have been feeding all my pythons live food, starting when I was about 11 in '97. I was feeding live before I heard about all this frozen/thawed stuff, and how dangerous live really is. I just stand next to the cage ready to separate, if the rat was to bite. You want the truth? Old habits die hard. About a month ago I searched up frozen/thawed rats for all my snakes, and it turned out to be the same price pretty much, after shipping. But your right- some people prefer live, to watch it. But frankly I don't care anymore. I've seen it for 5 years so it doesn't do much for me. My other three pythons (young carpets and bloods) have pretty insane feeding strikes, so Im not to worried yet. But the second I get the go-ahead of keeping dead rats in the freezer, I will do so.
But what about my adult Carpet that wont eat?
thanks
John

how about this?

1. you have enough money to buy and maintain an adult carpet python amongst others.

2. your parents won't let you use their freezer.

1 2 =

3. buy your own freezer at Best Buy for less than you paid for that carpet python. (cheapest model is about $150...)

4. problem solved.

also, about cost on frozen rats. go to a reptile show, buy from a rat breeder. a rat that costs me $3.29 at Petco costs $0.80 from a breeder. thats right. 80 cents. worth even a little trip, isn't it?

i think you can work this out. good luck!

bc

I had a few thoughts to share. I'm not crittisizing or anything. I'm just sharing a few options you might be able to look into(if you haven't already).

-What about killing the rats before feeding? I find it most humaine to at least kill the rat so that he doesn't hurt my snakes and so he doesn't have to die slowly as he's being suffocated. With pre killing its over in 3 seconds and its not hard to do.

-Sometimes reptile or pet stores will carry frozen or pre-killed that you can purchase. You could call around and see.

-Another thought that may be way off. But some carpets have a hard time accepting rats as prey items. You might try a jumbo mouse and see if she's just feeling picky or something.

Hope this helps,
Darci

Thanks for all the info guys. I just wanted to ask...how do you kill a rat? I mean, I read that you swing the rat and wack it hard. The other night I was going to do it, to see if my Carpet would eat. I grabbed the rat by the tail, and at the last moment I just felt week. I couldn't do it. But like I said, I'm at the point where I could just kill the thing right now, myself. But how? The house we moved to is by the bay, so space is constricting out here. I dont have a 'down home' type of setting (wish I did) where I could make a mess if I wanted. How do I technically kill a rat? Cleanly? I guess I could figure it out on my own, but I'd rather ask from experience. Thanks
John
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"Mint 9 Dimaggio? Im sorry You got four minutes because thats, Thats, THATS ABSOLUTELY LUDICROUSSS"
-Don West

I'm sorry if I gross anyone out by posting this. And for everyone who doesn't know...

Usually I use a paper bag(if its a large rat a small plastic bag on the outside of the paper one will give enough support so that the rat won't go flying). The bag gives you more leverage(kinda like a bat) so that you can get enough force behind your swing. The bag(s) also help keep down the mess and can be disposed of easily.

So you have your rat in the paper bag. Next you fold the open end of the paperbag till you have about 1-2inches of bag between the rat and the folded bit(your handle). More space can be used, but more than 4 inches starts to get clumbsy.

Next you need to find a sturdy flat surface(supported walls or a concrete floor). If your a girl and you have to kill a larger sized rat sometimes a wall corner is helpfull in breaking the rat's back. You swing the rat by your handle into that flat surface HARD. Swinging more than 180 degrees into a wall can often be too much force needed and can result in a 'bloodied rat'. But anything less usually works well. You just have to figure out what works best for you.

If you do it right one swing is all you need. Sometimes 2 or 3 if you don't have enough force or leverage.

WARNING: this method should not be used on Jumbos and anything smaller than an adult mouse.

Darci

Darci

this is the tail method...grab it at the base of its tail, give it a decent swing and crack it on the edge of a table, or the corner of a wall, usually doesnt result in blood shed. or rea the next one

the screwdriver/dowel method...

hold a rat just slightly above a table so its front paws are kinda reaching for it, just barely touching. then take a screwdriver, or dowel and anything ridgid, push it down on the back of the rats head,at the base of the skull. now holding the base of the tail, apply pressure with the screwdriver, while pullin the tail back, do it quickly and its over in a second, no suffering, no blood.

and
for the non feeder, try a mouse, alot of carpets imprint on mice and have a hard time switching, it looks like food, it feels like food, but it doesnt smell like food, so its not food...know what i mean.

J