thanks i've waited to get a hognose for 3 months (i considered it long if you don't have good patience XP) he is still stubborn to eat, where going to try to feed him toad scented mice, maybe it could work.
well the younger ones can eat crickets but here we can buy dead mice you keep in the freezer and then thaw as you need them. I've head too many stories of the mouse attacking the snake and then the snake getting sick. I currently have a little box with 5 pinky mice in it, in my freezer :P
Early congrats on getting a new baby! I had a little normal phase guy/gal (too young to sex) that unfortunately excaped from his tank and was found by the cats. Thus leading to my advice to make absolutely POSITIVE that there is no way out of that cage! Snakes in general are notorious for their Houdini-like abilities, and corn babies are tiny enough to squeeze through itsy-bitsy openings that will leave you wondering how the heck they did it. I'd hate to see anybody go through the heartbreak my sister and I did when we lost little Blair.
Bomb - they make awesome pets! It is difficult to adjust to feeding rodents if you're not used to it. There's not really a good alternative to rodents (or other species of animals in some other species) - there are some products out there that claim to mimic real food, but they're typically like hot dogs for snakes (as in ground up whole rodent in a sausage casing). The problem with this is that they typically have a high fat content and are therefore bad for the snake.
On a lighter note, here're some of my kids:
Pearl, the Argentine Boa Constrictor, who was neglected and went through five or six homes in the first seven or so years of her life before I took her in:
Amaya, who we sadly had to rehome (by the way, she did have a larger soaking bowl, she just prefered, for whatever reason, to wedge herself into the little tiny bowl):
And then there's Peaches the normal ball python who is uber camera shy, so there's no picture for her :P
i would suggest to feed frozen mice because feeding live is a bit more pricey, and it is hard to take them off of it. also some snakes won't eat crickets like garter, green florida (it is florida right?), etc corns, milks, kings, hognose, etc won't eat crickets. probably hognoses but am not sure.
also do you guys have any idea how to make ball pythons eat frozen mice? our normal "May" and our pinstripe "Scythe" we found out they eat live o-o okay am listing our snakes so you don't get confused:
Pursey - male western hognose (Adult) might be het albino
Durgo - male pastel ball python (Adult)
Melissa- female normal ball python (1 year, still young?)
May- female normal ball python, little brothers (young)
Scythe- not sure of gender, pinstripe ball python (same age like melissa)
Entity- female ghost corn snake (same age like melissa)
Ghost- female cali king snake (young)
i have Pursey only. durgo is a family snake. melissa, scythe, and ghost are my older brothers. Entity and May are my little brothers.
Last edited by betta lover1507; 03-27-2012 at 03:03 PM.
I agree with feeding f/t, and it's generally safer than feeding live. I'm not saying it's impossible to be safe while feeding live, just more difficult.
As wierd as it sounds, it can be easiest to get a snake to take f/t in steps. Try going from having a live rat there to get the snake interested in feeding, but take the live away before the snake strikes and replace it with a fresh kill (you may have to wiggle it around to aid in tricking the snake into thinking its live. After this works for a few weeks, don't introduce a live rat and just start with the fresh kill. Again, after a few weeks of being successful with this, do what you did with the live and fresh kill, but use fresh kill and f/t. A f/t rat also needs to be thoroughly thawed all the way through and as close to a live body temp as is possible. Be persistent, durring transitionary periods, if the snake doesn't eat, wait untill your next scheduled feeding and try the same thing again - it will not hurt a healthy, sub-adult and older snake to go a week (or more, within reason) without food. In my experience, they will eat if hungry enough under the right circumstances. Posted via Mobile Device
Thank you pittipuppylove, that's very helpful information, if I should get a snake in future from kijiji or something rather than a breeder. That's so good to know, the steps to wean them off :D If we had a snake section, that should be a sticky! You're awesome :D
Also, I could never stomach feeding live. I have a dwarf hamster, and feeding live would be a bit too close to home anyways... even if there weren't risks. :P
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i've waited to get a hognose for 3 months (i considered it long if you don't have good patience XP) he is still stubborn to eat, where going to try to feed him toad scented mice, maybe it could work.
