Reptile & Amphibian Forums

She has really lost interest in thawed rats of various sizes this year, but immediatley goes after live ones. Just curious on your thoughts.
Thanks.

I lost a 7' retic to a live medium rat, and would not ever feed live anything again. I pretty sure it was a freak thing, but i do not wish to ever lose another animal to an evil rat.

I would recommend keep offering thawed and maybe adjust the heat up a little, to raise their digestion system.

Just my opinion,

Steve

Phiff,
...If your rats have been in the freezer for very long they may not be appealing to your snake. You might try warming the thawed rat up to about 105 degrees when you offer it to your snake. Feeding in the dark might also work. If that does not work you could kill a live rat and try that. Be very careful feeding live rats. If they are very big they can hurt a snake. I feed live rats to many of my snakes but if the rat is bigger than 4 ounces I kill it before offering it to any snake.
Good luck,
Jeff

>>She has really lost interest in thawed rats of various sizes this year, but immediatley goes after live ones. Just curious on your thoughts.
>>Thanks.

Thanks in advance.

buy them pre-killed and frozen....

ChrisO
-----
www.chrisolsonreptiles.com
Naked I see the camp of those who desire nothing

Phiff,
...I kill rats by throwing them down very hard on my concrete garage floor. There are debates about what is the most humane way to kill them. When I throw them down hard they die instantly. A few of them bleed from their nose after using this method so it must be done where the blood will not make a mess. Very small rats and any size mouse can be quickly and humanely killed by using the cervical dislocation method. This method is accomplished by holding them down securely with a pencil or screwdriver placed across the back of their neck and you pull firmly on their hind leg or body and the neck and spinal cord are broken. The likely most humane method is used in rodent breeding facilities where they use CO2 gas to kill large numbers of them all at once.
Jeff

>>Thanks in advance.

I swing the back of there head into the corner of somthing like a cage or whatever...works good

I have a BRB that will eat frozen/thawed rats occationally, but she definately preferes pre killed. I would never EVER feed a snake a live and conscience rat/mouse. Not only is there a very real and all too common chance that the rodent will seriously hurt or kill the reptile, but also I have to simpithize with the rodent. I just take the rat by the mid-tail (if you wack the rat and hold the end of the tail, sometimes it breaks off ) and just wack it against the corner of something hard, that way it is over quick and relatively painless for the rodent, but it still twitches for a few seconds so it still appeals to the snake. I know that this is hard to do for some people but it is much MUCH safer then feeding live rodents. Is it just me or are all rainbows picky eaters compared to other boas?
-----
Alone, alone, all, all alone. Alone on a wide, wide sea.
-Rime of the ancient Mariner

>>I have a BRB that will eat frozen/thawed rats occationally, but she definately preferes pre killed. I would never EVER feed a snake a live and conscience rat/mouse. Not only is there a very real and all too common chance that the rodent will seriously hurt or kill the reptile, but also I have to simpithize with the rodent. I just take the rat by the mid-tail (if you wack the rat and hold the end of the tail, sometimes it breaks off ) and just wack it against the corner of something hard, that way it is over quick and relatively painless for the rodent, but it still twitches for a few seconds so it still appeals to the snake. I know that this is hard to do for some people but it is much MUCH safer then feeding live rodents. Is it just me or are all rainbows picky eaters compared to other boas?
>>-----
>>Alone, alone, all, all alone. Alone on a wide, wide sea.
>>-Rime of the ancient Mariner