Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it possible to feed pre-weened mice some how for the purpose of taking them away from mom, but keeping them alive? I have some young snakes that have not yet made the transition to pre-killed, and the mouse place is an hour drive each way. So the logical thing to do is to figure out a way to buy a couple dozen, and keep them alive long enough to feed them to the snakes. Raising them is out of the question. Been there, done that. The mouse breeder won't part with her momma mice either. So what, and how can I feed "eyes closed" mice? Thanks,
T.
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"No tree would have branches foolish enough to argue amongst themseleves".

You answered your own question, unless you have or find another mom that MIGHT take to strange babies then you should buy what you need and feed, if you can't sucessfully raise them from that young or the snake isn't eating FT then, buy to feed each time. Or convince the guy about mom and babies and if can't spare it that way, find a pregnant mom due anyday to help you.
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My roomates are2 boas, 4 corns,Rotti,3cats and snake food AKA the food chain.

Have you tried to offer frozen thawed to your snakes? Sometimes just wiggling the mouse is enough to trigger a strike. Another way is to get some large frozen pinkies and when your snake is downing a fuzzy live, offer the frozen thawed pink right after the snake has the first nearly past his mouth. Just stick the head of the frozen thawed pink into the snakes mouth (with tongs of course) and the snake should continue swallowing. This may help with the transitioning. You can then try offering hte frozen thawed pinks first next time and see if the snake goes for it.

These mice are for neonate Brazilian Rainbows which are notorious for being a pain. They have not yet made the switch to pre-killed. But I am working on it. First, I want to get them feeding steady. After that, it will not be a problem.

Today I tried the mice again on a mixture of milk, and corn syrup. They did take some this time. They are pretty hungry now. It's been two days away from mom. One has died during the interim, but now it looks like the others might last a while. I will try them every few hours, and post the results. This could potentialy be a help for others in the same boat. Thanks,
T.
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"No tree would have branches foolish enough to argue amongst themseleves".

Well, they started dying off after 4 days, so I fed the last four to the snakes. Couldn't get them to take more than a drop. There endeth the lesson.
T.
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"No tree would have branches foolish enough to argue amongst themseleves".