Anyone else ? $nakes

skar · Dec 17, 2011

I like owning snakes but allways gain and lose interest fast.Mainly because they allways seem to be a pain to feed. Am I alone with

this ? Elaborate you say ? Okay . Trust me my methods are right Just... They don't ever seem to like to eat on a schedule, maybe one only likes live prey.... etc. Idk Yes live is easier unless the snake refuses to eat. Then its my job to kill it or have another captive ... Keep in mind I don't keep racks of snakes nor do I desire to either so keep perspective. Well ? ?

catfishrod69 · Dec 17, 2011

i keep a hypo pastel red tail boa, normal ball python, and a male/ female pair of albino checker garters. i always feed on sunday every two weeks. never had any feeding problems at all, never had one refuse. i also only feed frozen thawed.. it is the safest, and only way i will go.

skar · Dec 17, 2011

Thanks Rod ... Guess just bad luck ...:bruised:

catfishrod69 · Dec 17, 2011

not a problem ....what kinda snakes are you reffering to?

skar · Dec 17, 2011

lol my general experience, but right now a king and a hognose. I had to brain a pinkie for the hognose last night. The king likes em live ...

kaitala · Dec 17, 2011

We keep and breed lots of animals, garters, balls, milks, corns, Beardies, dart frogs, geckos, and now Scorps and t's. It got old for me after the last batch of baby garters. I had about 30 babies, and chopping pinks for them got to be a chore, rather than enjoyable, so I get what you mean. Also, they eat often, so poo often, lots of cage cleaning. Not to mention chopping greens for the Beardies, culturing fruit flies for the frogs, cleaning dragon tanks, bathing dragons, etc etc etc

I took this season off, and needed the break. I'm liking them again, not viewing them as a chore.

Adding my T for something different seems to have helped. Once I learned about the genetics of the garters, read all of Dr. Shine's (if youre into garters google dr rick shine at university in australia hes amazing, and willing to correspond with random enthusiasts like me!) articles, I got bored as, without a grant and field work or a breeding lab, there was little more to experience.

Now, I know little to NOTHING about T's, so it's a learning adventure. The spark of new learning has fanned the dim but still glowing ember of passion for my other animals. I also picked up a corn, a platinum snow. While limited in the morphs we can keep here in NJ, corns have exciting combos, and I've had the corns on the back burner for a while.

Back to feeding, I only feed frozen thawed. I know hogs can be more difficult. Try it, make sure to warm it well. Also, it might be more partial to rats. You can chop or slice the frozen ones before thawing, if yours is too small for a whole pink.

Raan_Jodus · Dec 17, 2011

Picked up a baby Honduran Milksnake last year, hes still very flighty and hasn't quite gotten used to being handled too much yet. Partly my fault of course, he rarely comes out of his hide when I'm around and I don't like to scare him by tearing apart his viv to take him out. But hes still pretty good, no longer bites or tries to musk me, not that he ever really did those things. He just likes to try and squirm away really fast.

For the past few months I have been looking after my friends California Kingsnake while she is in Australia. Shes been a good girl and has gotten used to me, making me consider picking up a king of my own in the near future when I give her back. Both snakes take food no problem (a trait that kind of kept me away from ball pythons).

I'm thinking of either a King of some kind or a mexican milksnake if I can find one at the expo sometime for my second snake.

catfishrod69 · Dec 17, 2011

have you tried frozen thawed yet? as kaitala said, make sure its warm.

Shrike · Dec 18, 2011

Which species of hognose do you have?

pitbulllady · Dec 18, 2011

I keep my snakes on a schedule, and yes, some do go "off-feed", and that is to be expected. My Colubrids are brumated during the winter months, since this is natural behavior and for ME, a welcome one. I don't have to feed them. Most adult Boids will go off their eating schedule during the breeding season, which is now. Again, that is to be anticipated. I sure prefer the feeding of snakes to the daily feeding/clean-up of a dog or cat! I feed exclusively frozen/thawed, except for fish for the Waters and Garters, and it makes things so much easier. It is well worth the effort to get a snake to eat f/t, since if the snake does not eat a meal, for whatever reason, you can re-freeze it, and it prevents the dilemma of either caring for a food animal until the next feeding time, or just throwing it out and wasting the money you've put into buying it. Of course, with as many snakes as I have, I seldom have to do either; SOMEBODY will eat the "left-overs"! At some point, when you snakes get large enough to eat adult mice, live prey will become a REALLY big aggravation, AND a serious threat to your snake. A mouse can do an awful lot of damage in a short period of time to a snake, and they can inflict some nasty bites on YOU, as well. I've ended up the in ER because of a mouse bite that severed an artery and lymph node in my index finger, actually one of the most-serious animal bites I've ever had...and I used to keep big cats like cougars, as well as wolves, venomous snakes, large constrictors, monitors, primates, etc. I would definitely recommend getting both your snakes on f/t as soon as possible. Dead mice don't bite.

pitbulllady

Zman181 · Dec 18, 2011

skar said:
lol my general experience, but right now a king and a hognose. I had to brain a pinkie for the hognose last night. The king likes em live ...

You can also purchase a green tree frog and scent the pinkies by rubbing them on the frog. It always worked for me with hognoses and vines.

kaitala · Dec 18, 2011

Pitbulllady, do you feed frozen fish? I use frozen salmon for babies, reluctant feeders, or as a treat. Any affordable fish will do. Also, there's a pretty cool recipe for "fish jello" for natricine/ thamnophis. Easier than running out for feeders, and few places around here sell anything but goldfish and rosy reds.

And Zman had some good advice about scenting. I have no experience doing this, but I have also heard tell that Anoles work well for scenting. Get them growing well, take some shed, stick it on the wet f/t pinkie, and it is reported to spark interest.

skar · Dec 18, 2011

catfishrod69 said:
have you tried frozen thawed yet? as kaitala said, make sure its warm.

Yes they are eating f/t, cept my king.

Shrike said:
Which species of hognose do you have?

Western hognose, het albino.

pitbulllady said:
I keep my snakes on a schedule, and yes, some do go "off-feed", and that is to be expected. My Colubrids are brumated during the winter months, since this is natural behavior and for ME, a welcome one. I don't have to feed them. Most adult Boids will go off their eating schedule during the breeding season, which is now. Again, that is to be anticipated. I sure prefer the feeding of snakes to the daily feeding/clean-up of a dog or cat! I feed exclusively frozen/thawed, except for fish for the Waters and Garters, and it makes things so much easier. It is well worth the effort to get a snake to eat f/t, since if the snake does not eat a meal, for whatever reason, you can re-freeze it, and it prevents the dilemma of either caring for a food animal until the next feeding time, or just throwing it out and wasting the money you've put into buying it. Of course, with as many snakes as I have, I seldom have to do either; SOMEBODY will eat the "left-overs"! At some point, when you snakes get large enough to eat adult mice, live prey will become a REALLY big aggravation, AND a serious threat to your snake. A mouse can do an awful lot of damage in a short period of time to a snake, and they can inflict some nasty bites on YOU, as well. I've ended up the in ER because of a mouse bite that severed an artery and lymph node in my index finger, actually one of the most-serious animal bites I've ever had...and I used to keep big cats like cougars, as well as wolves, venomous snakes, large constrictors, monitors, primates, etc. I would definitely recommend getting both your snakes on f/t as soon as possible. Dead mice don't bite.

pitbulllady

Lol that's rough, mouse messed you up. Do young snakes go off feedings too? I have babies I am giving them prey every week to two weeks.

Zman181 said:
You can also purchase a green tree frog and scent the pinkies by rubbing them on the frog. It always worked for me with hognoses and vines.

So far my hognose is eating .... Fingers crossed.

groovyspider · Dec 18, 2011

if you want a snake that will keep you on your toes i reccommend agkistrdon contorix contorix or a c.atrox ( these are venomous and just saying they keep me intersted )

pitbulllady · Dec 18, 2011

kaitala said:
Pitbulllady, do you feed frozen fish? I use frozen salmon for babies, reluctant feeders, or as a treat. Any affordable fish will do. Also, there's a pretty cool recipe for "fish jello" for natricine/ thamnophis. Easier than running out for feeders, and few places around here sell anything but goldfish and rosy reds.

And Zman had some good advice about scenting. I have no experience doing this, but I have also heard tell that Anoles work well for scenting. Get them growing well, take some shed, stick it on the wet f/t pinkie, and it is reported to spark interest.

Freezing destroys the vitamin B in fish, so feeding frozen fish is no different than feeding fish with Thiaminaise. I can get fresh fish like Croaker and Tilapia and Perch year-round, since I'm in a coastal state with a big fishing and aquaculture industry, so I don't have to buy frozen fish, fortunately. What the snakes don't eat, I do.

Anoles probably won't work for a Hognose, since neither Easterns or Westerns(I believe Skar has a Western Hog)will eat lizards. Normally, cb Westerns are easily switched to rodents, but it could be that both of his snakes are simply realizing it's winter. Out of all my Colubrids, only two, an Eastern King male and my big male Taiwan Beauty, are currently eating.

pitbulllady

kaitala · Dec 19, 2011

The destruction of vitamin b1 is a topic that I've found the evidence split on. The only unanimous that I've found is the theory that thiaminase is not destroyed by freezing, and people have gotten into trouble feeding frozen fish thinking the thiaminase had been destroyed.

Delight · Dec 19, 2011

Hoggies, particularly makes, are notorious for refusing once in a while. As long as there is no big weight loss there is no reason to even worry.

skar · Dec 20, 2011

Delight said:
Hoggies, particularly makes, are notorious for refusing once in a while. As long as there is no big weight loss there is no reason to even worry.

I'm not worried just... Annoyed when I offer substanance for their very existance to be snobbed. And groovy spider : I appreciate the idea but ven snakes are not my thing.... Ha

Ludedor24 · Dec 20, 2011

I just do frozen, I find it a lot easier

skar · Dec 21, 2011

Have I been unclear ? I feed frozen thawed ... One snake refuses/d frozen and takes live.
I like owning snakes they just frustrate me sometimes, when they don't eat like clock work !

Anyone else ? $nakes

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