Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I tried again to get my female dumeril to eat prekilled mice. I bought 2 live mice and took them home. Killed one and offered it to her with no luck (no bite or constrict), offered a stunned one, and she constricted and ate it quickly (hadn't eaten for 14 days). The only difference I could tell in the 2 mice was one was breathing, one wasn't. The stunned one didn't try to fight back. Held both in tongs in front of her.
I hold the mice in tongs, by the butt, and hold it so it looks like the mouse is walking along. I put the dead one back in there, so if she does come across it maybe she'll eat it.
I kill them right before I offer them to her. I hit them on the head to stun them, then snap their neck. Maybe she smells people on the mouse and won't eat it?
She is 4 1/2 months old, about 28" long. Maybe I waited to long to switch her over? Maybe I will be forced to stun her food forever. Mice aren't a problem, but rats are mean. And rabbits are hard to hold and hit on the head.

So let me know your secret on how you get them to switch over. I can't think of anything else to try, except not feed her for a while again, then try. I just don't want her to go so long without food when she is growing if I can help it.
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Tim W.

personally, i prefer to have them feed on live. however snakes just arent the creatures they once were so now we have to do the work for them. the snakes that i have that eat f/t or p/k usually do good with then if the food is nice and hot. p/k should be freshly killed and f/t should be warmed up (laying in front of a heating lamp works). remember, snakes can "see" heat and that is what they are looking for when it comes to food. then using the tongs hold the food slightly above and to the side of the snake's head by the tail or by the neck and kind of "twitch" the animal, making kind of a fake death spasm. dont overdo it, one little twitch every now and then is good. if you twitch it too much the snake will back away from it. however if you are doing it right, the snake should slowly lift its head and start flicking its tongue while coming closer to the food. the rest is obvious.
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1.0.1 Columbian Redtail
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