Thawed or Alive?

Question

My mom never asked the breeder we got my snake from if he eats his mice dead or alive.

My fiance has owned several snakes before and told me that I should get him an alive pinkie mouse, flick it on the head to knock it out and toss it in the cage for the snake to eat.

Is that okay?

One more thing. How long should I wait before moving him back to his cage if I put him in a separate enclosure to eat?

Answer 1

From your previous question I see that you are asking about a ball python.
First thing is that a pinkie is far too small for even a baby ball python. They start feeding on at least fuzzies but usually hoppers, the next two sizes up from pinkies.
A responsibe and reputable breeder would have started your snake on thawed so try that route before you resort to live. A responsibe breeder also would not have sold a ball before it had fed for them so I'm making the assumption that it has fed.
Flicking a pinkie may be easy ( if unnecessary) but your snake will eventually be taking adult mice or young rats. That is why it is important to get him onto thawed now, for his safety and your convenience.

Answer 2

Frozen/thawed are far preferable. Strange as it may sound, a mouse, and later a rat, can seriously injure a snake. Not only that, but a mouse that has been frozen is much safer in terms of parasites. While some Ball Pythons can be hard to convert to frozen/thawed mice, it is worth the effort to go that direction.

I also wanted to comment on where to feed them. Please do not feed your snake in its cage. Take it out and feed it in a separate container. We use a Rubbermaid storage container. If your snake gets used to you feeding it in the cage, you are likely to get bitten when reaching into the cage because it will think you are putting food in.

Good luck with your new snake and feel free to ask questions.

Answer 3

My ball python only eats live mice and I do not knock them over the head when I feed them to the snake. However, you can feed the snake dead mice, but the mice should be warmed before feeding them to the snake. If your hands are warmer than the mice, then the snake will more than likely end up striking your hand instead of the mice.

Answer 4

It realy doesn't matter what it use too eat the best choice is thawed because they can be changed into eating thawed easily so it realy doesn't matter. thawed mouse are more nutrisious and there is no danger of the mouse hurting ur snake because live mouse can chew on the snakes face and it can be lethal so I would recomend thawed also it is more human. If it was being feed alive then changing him/her to thawed is simple just offer it thawed every week until it eats if it doesnt eat by the 3rd week try putting it in a small enclosur like a small box or a small paper bag with a stapple on top if u put it in a small box leave it over night. dont handdle the snake after feeding it might make it want to give u ur food back. ball pythons have been reported to go a long time with out food with out any bad sideeffects but if it starts loosing weight it is a problem.hope this helps

Answer 5

you can call the breeder and ask them what they fed the snake. or you can get live mice and watch the snake kill the mouse and eat it. which can be fun to see. or you can get 1 frozen feeder mouse let it thaw and see if she will eat it. but in either case if it don't eat the mouse with you watching it walk out the room and give it 15 at most, if it still didn't eat it then take the mouse out and wait a few days it may not be hungry.

Answer 6

I have raised snakes for over 20 years every thing from rat snakes to cobra .Always feed thawed frozen food . You can buy them from your local pet shop . Its safer for your snake and more convenient . I had a snake lose an eye from a snake bite . There is no need to kill a pinky since they have no teeth .Just have them good and thawed and warmed up .

As far as nutrition wise ,thawed frozen is just as nutritious as live as long as you have not had them in your freezer for more 5 months .

Answer 7

if at all possible avoid feeding live food to your snake a mouse or rat fighting for its life can do serious damage if the snake doesn't grab them right i have a ball python that was my very first snake he is now 26 years old and he only has one eye from a rat that he too far back and the rat was able to reach around and bite him . i try everything possible to make sure that my snakes feed on frozen thawed . for years i have bred and kept a variety of boas and pythons and i make sure before i ever consider selling the babies that they are eating frozen thawed .

Answer 8

I have a corn snake and he will only eat frozen mice. I like feeding him frozen mice rather than live ones because there is less chance that he can become injured by the mice's teeth or claws.

Answer 9

Don't feed him in a different cage as he may not feed due to being in a different environment and may spend most of his time exploring. It is more humane to feed thawed rodents as it is not as cruel on them. Having said that they don't eat thawed rodents in the wild but i find it personally safer to use thawed rodents as my snakes can't get bitten and hurt by the rodents (Rats have large dangerous teeth and can cause fatal damage to your snake if your snake grabs it in the wrong spot). Safety and the well being of my snakes are the most important things that I consider. Also thawed rats are less likely to give your snakes diseases such as mites which most wild and caged rats have.

Answer 10

you can do that, but it really depends on how large the snake is. a mouse should never be larger than the distance around the snake's body. a mouse too small wont really fill it up either. how big around is the snake?