Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ive never fed my yr old brb a thawed mouse b4. i tryed it fri, yesterday, and 2day and she refused. shes always eaten freshly killed mice. i put them in a zip lock bag, and boiled them. did i do the right thing, or just keep trying it or should i just stick with the fresh kill??? i feed all my reptiles on fridays, and she ussually eats 2 mice a week. she hasnt eaten ne thing yet.
help please
nevin

Nevin,
. Boiling is going to cook the mouse. Next time try putting the mouse in a zip lock bag and putting the ziplock in hot water. Change the water if it gets cold while defrosting the mouse. You want the mouse completely defrosted and at a temperature between 100 and 105 F for best results. The more the defrosted mouse looks and smells and has a temperature like a freshly killed mouse the better the chances that the snake will eat it.
Jeff

>>ive never fed my yr old brb a thawed mouse b4. i tryed it fri, yesterday, and 2day and she refused. shes always eaten freshly killed mice. i put them in a zip lock bag, and boiled them. did i do the right thing, or just keep trying it or should i just stick with the fresh kill??? i feed all my reptiles on fridays, and she ussually eats 2 mice a week. she hasnt eaten ne thing yet.
>>help please
>>nevin

just get the water really hot and then let the mouse in the zip lock bag in the? if thats it then ill try it 2marrow
thanx jeff u r the man
nevin

Like... the hottest water that comes out of the tap hot. I just toss mine in a sink. Some people put 'em under a light bulb. You can also thaw them in the fridge and then pop them in warm water just to get them up to temperature, I think that's actually better food-safety wise.
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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

i can't believe you boiled the mice! Nothing against you, we all learn our lessons, haha, but just thinking about boiled mice was not too appealing! Better luck next time, i wouldn't even use hot water, or at least scalding hot...if it's hot to the touch, it's gonna create a mess...this is more a problem with pinkies than full grown mice, but i've seen pinkies melt in if thawed in too hot of water...uggghhhh...

I find that if i thaw frozen mice in a ziploc type bag under hot water my snakes will eat them more readily than if i just tossed them right into the water. The bag helps them to retain their yummy mousie smell. mmmmm mmmm goood.

Pamalot,
. You are right. They seem to like that smell. They also seem to like their defrosted rodents to be very warm.
Jeff

>>I find that if i thaw frozen mice in a ziploc type bag under hot water my snakes will eat them more readily than if i just tossed them right into the water. The bag helps them to retain their yummy mousie smell. mmmmm mmmm goood.
>>

Nevin,

I have a BRB who was also very picky about thawed mice. He would pound freshly killed mice, but wanted nothing to do with f/t mice.

I tried everything, but the only thing that worked in the end was the use of tongs. I began offering his freshly killed mice with tongs, to get him used to it. Then, when he firmly associated the tong-technique with feeding time, I switched to f/t mice and whammo!

My guess is something akin to Pavlov's dogs ... his instincts (driven by the tong-to-food association) overcame his picky nature.

Hope this helps.

-Brandon
www.nosnakeban.org