Messed up first feeding

[Slytherin]

Hi

I tried to give my new 6mth old MD Snakey its first feed tonight and stuffed it up.

I had Snakey out and was handling and taking photos and saw what I thought was hunting/feeding behaviour and after returning him/her to the click clack decided to give him/her a feed. Snakey took the mouse ok and coiled around and held it for sometime but eventually let go and left. I tried several times before I realized that the snake was stressed.

Please, before anyone tries to tell me off, I now realize what I did wrong...Feeding after handling - the snake is too stressed. In my newbie keen-ness I missinterpreted feeding behaviour which was actually "leave me alone" behaviour. And as Snakey was due for a feed tomorrow and was actively hunting last night, I easily misinterpreted his/her behaviour. :? I have wrote all this down in the journal/records for Snakey so that it wont happen again.

Feeling bad about getting it wrong and needlessly causing stress...I closed the click clack, darkened off the room and left Snakey alone with the mouse. (Snakey has fed well previously when I did it twice while python was on layby.)

I want to ask, is it safe/ok to leave the mouse in the click clack where there is a heatmat going? (Will it cook or go off quickly) :? I would like anyone experienced to offer constructive advice and encouragement.

 

[thenicewitch]

Only leave it for 1/2 hour then take it out. It will cook if left in. Not good for snake to eat and will smell very bad.
Remember it is a snake and you can not tell what it is thinking all the time. Also even happy snakes will turn down a fed sometimes.
Don't stress too much. Enjoy your snakey.

 

[geckoman1985]

don.t leave a live moues in snake cage as it may hert your snake as for feeding try again in a days time just leave it alone till then so it can settle in to its new home

 

[Slytherin]

Thank you thenicewitch. I'm annoyed at myself for stuffing it up, silly, I know, but I do. I will leave it there for half an hour then throw it away if it is still there.

 

[Renagade]

dont worry about it, your snake wont hold a grudge. geckoman, i think we can assume the mouse is dead. good work with the journal and record keeping

 

[Slytherin]

The fuzzy mouse is dead

 

[jessb]

Don't stress too much - and don't feel guilty about it! Sometimes they just decide they're not hungry.

If you leave a mouse on a heat mat for more than an hour it will get pretty nasty - you don't want to be the one taking it out the next morning!

 

[Pythonking]

hey mate yea its ok, seeing your md is only 6 months old he is only going to take small feeds so the mouse should be only fuzzy without teeth so live or dead it won't hurt your snake as for heatmats they need to have a probe thermostat on them to keep them at the right heat and the snake should have direct access to it seeing some get get up to and over 45 degrees, another good way to keep heatmats at a constant temp is to use a dimmer to slow the power flow to the heat mat in turn giving you the disired heat range your require. Also qld law you are only aloud to feed live to your python upon refusal to eat dead a lot of people harp on about it being inhumane my thoughts on that snakes are human lol

 

[Slytherin]

My heat mat temps are ok, no probs there. There hasnt been any problems feeding before (when I did it twice in at the breeders), it was only due to stress. Im sure in a few days Snakey will feed ok. Unfortunately I'll probably have to ditch this mouse and try again later. I have no intentions of feeding a live mouse.

 

[Slytherin]

I just removed the mouse after trying to present it to the snake again. He/she is clearly not interested. I'll leave it longer and try again later. Thank you all who encouraged me , as a newbie I think I let this mess up 'throw' me.

Good thing is, that Snakey is back to his/her normal exploring behaviour. I think he/she needs more time alone to get to know the new surroundings.

 

[Sturdy]

just a question?? how are you presenting the mouse to snakey?
r you just putting it on the heat mat?

 

[Stark]

We make a point to handle our snakes before we feed them - cos we know they arnt gonna be able to to be handled again for a few days.

Also, we keep them in the same enclosure and we like to handle them and make sure we put each one in a hide at the seperate end for feeding time (yeah we feed them together at the same time - but we watch them eat their entire meal and keep them seperated.)

I wouldnt worry thinking you stressed him.

 

[Slytherin]

I presented the mouse to Snakey as I was shown by the guys at Reptile City where I got him/her from and havent had any probs when I fed it twice before taking him/her off layby . I think this time it was nervous or still stressed from being in a new home. Snakey is an extra placid snake to handle and may be a timid feeder as he/she doesn't really like to eat infront of people. :lol: (At least he/she doesn't like to bite and would rather hiss and pose)

The problem I now face is...How do you tell when the python is hungry and ready to feed? :? After last night's botched effort I'm hesitant to waste another mouse trying again so soon. Snakey has been hiding/sleeping all day and only becoming active later at night. When would be the best time to try another feed?

 

[Stark]

Ive read a lot of people say that if it doesnt feed, wait a week and try again.

My hatchlings took a good month to start feeding once I got them, in the end i had to start tapping the feed item on the snout of my male and get him to bite it before he realised how tasty it was and hes never missed a feed since.

 

[Danger_Mouse]

I presented the mouse to Snakey as I was shown by the guys at Reptile City where I got him/her from and havent had any probs when I fed it twice before taking him/her off layby . I think this time it was nervous or still stressed from being in a new home. Snakey is an extra placid snake to handle and may be a timid feeder as he/she doesn't really like to eat infront of people. :lol: (At least he/she doesn't like to bite and would rather hiss and pose)

The problem I now face is...How do you tell when the python is hungry and ready to feed? :? After last night's botched effort I'm hesitant to waste another mouse trying again so soon. Snakey has been hiding/sleeping all day and only becoming active later at night. When would be the best time to try another feed?

Give it a week. I had some trouble with mine and took two weeks to get him to feed again. Don't stress to much. I took mine to the vet etc and he was perfectly healthy. He's feeding perfectly fine now.

 

[Slytherin]

Snakey successfully took and swallowed one fuzzy mouse!!!

I rang the breeders and asked them for advice and found that the primary mistake I did last night (among many ), was to try and feed when the snake was too cool. Today, Snakey slammed the rodent like there was no tomorrow and after leaving him/her alone, I returned to find one very satisfied snake and minus one mouse...what a relief.

I want to thank everyone for their advice. I now have hints and tips for any other future feeding issues.

 

[junior37991]

Well done