Sad I have to feed the snake i'm baby sitting.

I would not feed a python "pinkies" though,you would need like alot.And what hippie said about stimulating their intestines is very true,well if you want a happy,healthy snake that is.

 

Alright, I have 6 snakes at home, as well as rats that I breed for them to feed and I can tell you (considering I work part time at a reptile store, and I'm close friends with the owner) there is no need to feed live. If your snake is captive bred and hatched it is very easy to switch them over to frozen. All you have to do is thaw them in warm water, use some clamps and shake them, they eat no problem.

My snakes are very happy not eating live. My 6 foot boa will eat live if I give it to her but it's very dangerous for the snake, last time my fiancee and I tried the rat bit her. Rats can be nasty little shits when their scared.

I was working at the OPSCA and I adopted a California Kingsnake out to a exotics vet and she told me that the whole "you need to feed them live for them to be healthy and happy" is false. If you think about it, by the time the snake normally injests the rat, it's long since dead anyway either by venom or constriction.

 

I'm very open to alternatives but I don't know of any, I'm taking your advice and I am getting the pinkies. I was just saying it sucks theres no snake food healthy enough for it with out killing another creature.

I wasn't trying to be an ass, I'm sorry I off ended you I didn't mean for it to come out that way.

Remember if I had my way I wouldn't have put the snake in a cage to begin with. It kinda just got dumped on me and I KNOW my friends feelings matter more than an animal. I just can't let the snake starve or let it go get it?

 

How big is this ball python?? If it is grown feeding it a bunch of pinkies isn't your best option. It's best to feed them the rat sized best, being big enough for the snake to have to dislocate its jaw and stretch to swallow it. Tons of small food just means it is getting a lot of extra skin, fur, and bones it really doesn' need as much as nutritious viscera.

U don't have to feed live. We usually kill our rats just before feeding and dangle it over her head, she strikes it before she even realizes it's dead. If it gives you the creepies to do that, consider your options.

Can your friend come and feed his own snake? Small price to pay for you keeping it.

Most reptile stores will kill for you when you buy a rat.

Last option being, having reptiles that people judge all to often as being wrong because they are carniverous is OPTIONAL. you don't have to do it.

Last just a little something to ponder... How is feeding frozen pinkies any more humane than feeding a rat? Were they not both live at one time?

To each there own, I love my snakes and the rats they eat.

 

i used to have snakes and was never able to feed them live rats. i was however able to feed them live mice - and i have rats for pets now and much prefer them to snakes.
maybe you can take the snake and rat somewhere else and let someone else do it.
also, this is what snakes eat - but rats are adorable and very intelligent and make wonderful pets. i would much rather have rats for pets than snakes. good luck.

 

^ I have both and I don't feel bad about it. Snakes kill them in the wild, they need to eat. I have two rats that I keep alive as pets as well. You don't have to pick one or the other.

 

I agree, frozen/thawed is the safest method of feeding a snake. The freezing process also kills any harmful bacteria that may be in the rat. I keep mine frozen for at least a week.

 

Ah man, Your bird is cool!

 

We have snakes, and we usually feed them live rats/mice. We purchase frozen as a backup supply. Feeding frozen is good because it keeps the rodent from biting the snake, and kills bacteria and mites. Feeding live is fine, if you will be watching the snake closely as they kill the animal, as it could harm the snake by biting it, if left unattended.

 

Thank you.

 

off topic, but how did you get the bird? very cool.

home freezers are not cold enough to kill many bacteria.

 

I don't know many bacteria that can live for a week in a freezer.

 

perhaps you should look that one up. I can't think of any bacteria that are killed by a household freezer. They may go dormant, but they come back to life as soon as they thaw.

Even human embryos survive freezing.

Mites are a different story.

better idea: do an experiment. Put a half pound of raw meat in the freezer for as long as you think it takes to kill bacteria, in a sealed container. Take out the container, but don't open it, and set it on the counter. After a week, open it up and take a whiff.

 

I found the the raven injured and decided to help.

I may stand corrected about the bacteria being killed. I may be incorrectly repeating what I was told on a snake forum some time ago. Those guys know what they are talking about and I'm just making them look bad lol. I only have 2 snakes currently, a boa that I've had for awhile and a copperhead that I just purchased. I was told to freeze for one week to kill something, maybe parasites or mites and not bacteria. The one week idea was pushed strongly but its been awhile and I don't remember all the details. I've been doing it as habit ever since.

 

do they die or just go into so kind of hibernation state?

 

According to the vet I was speaking too, they die. IMHO I'm going to believe the exotics vet, who ya know, went to school for this shit.

 

I'll go back to the snake forum and ask those guys. Some of them are vets and others have been in the hobby for more than 40 years and are known names in the snake business so their advice has weight with me too. I just don't trust my memory enough to take a stance on this at the moment.

 

maryjohn had the right idea saying that home freezers don't get cold enough to kill all types of bacteria. Some WILL die, others will protect themselves in an endospore. Some bacteria are not so tough and will die by exposure to oxygen(thought that was weird.)

Pathogens will not die if they already exist in the rat.
Here is a link to a PDF with some more info for anyone that wants to research for themselves. http://www.msstate.edu/org/silvalab/FREEZING .pdf

Now here is another link http://imageevent.com/seansexotics/snakeward?p=0&w=4&c=4&n=0&m=24&s=0&y=1&z=2&l=0
showing the risk you take when feeding live prey to your snake. Warning: it is graphic, hit next at the top left to view the other pics.

 

you just can't assume the bacteria are all dead.

Really, there is no need to look it up if you have a dead mouse. Stick it in the freezer for a year if you want, in a sealed container. Then leave it on the counter, in its sealed container, for a week or so.

Watch out when you open it.

Don't know why the vet would tell you the freezer will work to kill bacteria, but it's not true. Or rather, I should say that freezing will not sterilize your specimen. Any time you change an environment, some of the bacteria present die.

Snakes have amazingly powerful digestive systems. Sterile meat is not a requirement for them, unlike humans.

 

Does that thing bite?!?


(The spider in your signature picture)