O.o refusing to eat frozen mice

[Pyro]

My 02 male oketee refuse to eat a mouse unless its alive, he wont eat the thawed frozen mice, is this a bad thing? right now im feeding him live pinkies and he seems to enjoy them

 

[bmm]

Well it can be a very dangerous thing later on.

Right now, its harmless to feed live pinkies but you should get him on thawed pinkies A.S.A.P. because when he needs a larger size prey item, the mouse could injure him even if you are on top of the cage pratically, and watching him eat. An eye can be bitten out by a mouse, not to mention other areas and the snake could develop a nasty infection.

What have to you tried so far to get him to eat thawed? Let me know and me or someone else can give you some hints on how you can switch him over. Its fairly easy, especially with cornsnakes.

bmm

 

[kevo26]

one easy way to switch him over would to get a live pinkie and hit it over a counter before placing it in the cage that way it still smells live and is warm but it is dead then gradually start thawing some out to room temp and see what happens when u place it in there.

 

[Pyro]

thanks kevo, but ive already tried that, i was thinking if he continuese to refuse anything but live, them mabye trie to stun them, or mabye just keep feeding him pinks but more often, do you guys think it would work???? Ive already tied giving him thawed mice, Ive tried making the thawed ones bleed, but he refuses them, he does howeve go after my hand once he cathes the scen of the mouse on it, and ive tried wiggling the mouse aroung so it looks alive, but all he does is strike it, then he seems to realize its dead.

Thanks
-Pyro

 

[CAV]

Just a thought....

Are you touching the food items with your hands when you feed? I always try to use tongs or twizzers during feeding time. This prevents the transfer of my scent to the mouse. It might be worth your time to try reducing direct contact.

 

[Pyro]

ok, ill give that a try, thanks
-Pyro