• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Leaving thawed pinkies in the viv

M

MichBill

New member
I am feeding thawed pinkies, which I thoroughly warm until they feel slightly warm to my touch. I leave them in the viv on a piece of thin, flexible plastic cutting board (about 3" square) to keep her from ingesting any aspen bedding. This seems to be working well for both of us.

My question is how long do you think that it is safe to leave them in her pen before discarding them? The warm side is 85F and the cooler side is about 75F. She usually eats them pretty promptly, but not always. I have been discarding them if she doesn't get to them in about 8 hours.

Thanks for any advice.
 
Ok well I'm no pro but here is what i think...
You could leave it in there for 12ish hours.
And as your snake gets bigger you should either feed it in a feeding bin or get a bigger piece of plastic or newspaper.
 
I don't feed my two in their vivs. I take them out to feed them in separate containers. But I would think you probably don't want to leave the pinkie in there longer than perhaps 4 hours as it starts to get bacteria on it pretty quickly. But that's opinion.. what I would do in that situation.
 
I generally leave it for a few hours & then check, if they haven't eaten it by then, there's a good chance they won't eat it. I will also leave it over night, when I feed later at night.
Most will eat right away (or at least when I leave the room.)

I have the rectanglular Rubbermaid Take-along food containers for some of my hatchling racks, & I use the lids for feeding my adults that have aspen in their bins.
A couple other ideas for feeding in bins with aspen:
I use almost any box for a hide....butter boxes, toothpaste boxes, etc. One thing I also do is put the mouse inside the box, & they go in and eat it.
Another option is some people use tupperware type bowls for hides, like the bowls that butter comes in. You can flip it over & put the mouse inside the bowl for feeding, then flip it back over later, so it's a hide again.
The flexible plastic cutting boards are great for feeding on. You could cut one of the full sized ones in half for an adult (or even use a whole piece for an adult).
 
Wow, great advice nwheather! I have been running several ideas lately and haven't been terribly excited with just buying a ton of shoebox bins to feed them in. Fantastic! (now I can save the boxes I just bought for the hatchlings I will undoubtedly buy later this year ;) )
 
Personally, I do not like to move babies to feed them. I try to cause them as little stress as possible. Feeding in the bins works best for me, & as long as it works well, I'll continue doing it.

The various boxes are prefect for hides & feeding, because they're essentially free & you just use them until they need to be replaced, then throw them out. Most of mine are still ok to throw into the recycle bin.

The bowls are not my idea, neither are the plastic flexible cutting boards, but I have used both, & they work very well.
 
I wouldn't leave it for more then 4 hours. Coming from food service the heath code standard is a time temperature zone of 4 hours at 41-140 degrees, 70-120 being the most prime growth range. If that's what's good for my food and the food I cook, then that's what I'll do for my snake.
 
I usually thaw my pinks at room temp overnight& then feed nxt morning. Popcorn is a very good eater & the pinks usually disappear within 20mins of me placing her in her feeding tub.
 
My corn is about 11-12 months old. When should I start feeding in a bin? And After they eat within the bin, what is protocol for returning them to the usually habitat?
Should i leave him in a feeding bin for hours or is it safe to gently move him back after he has moved it to his stomach?
 
The small amount of handling to gently put your corn back in it's enclosure shouldn't cause a regurge. I wouldn't leave it in a bin for hrs as it will need heat to digest & will prob want to find a nice spot to curl up in and hide. My corn is about 7-8monthd old and I feed in a tubberware tub with air holes. I do this because she ingested aspen 2x (luckily there was no harm done) & I never want that to happen again. I usually put the tub into her enclosure, take the lid off & let her come out herself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top