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pinkies

C

Cowgoddess

New member
I think i'm horrible!! I have been feezing my baby corn frozen pinkies that i thaw in the micro. but i'm thinking thats not good. i dunno how else to thaw them cause i live in a dorm. any ideas?

also is it true that she has salmonella?

also she always goes right for my hair and wont get out until i take her out, she will stay there for hours if i let her. is that bad to have her out of her tank that long?

ok well i have tons of questions, but thats good for now.
 
feeding

We tend to bring the food out a few hours before feeding then warm them thru with a hairdrier. As long as the snake doesn't get to cold it should be ok to have it out of the viv, you should be able to tell the warmth thru it's body heat & return it when it becomes cool................;)
 
Hiya.

Firstly, welcome to the forums - very good place with lots of helpful people!

Pinkies - the easiest way to thaw them is to put them in hot water (direct from the hot tap) - then leave them for 20 minutes. This will thaw them out and heat them up. When the water is room temperature the pinikie will be ready. If you want you an squaish them to check they are thawed - with bigger mice you have to leave them for quite a while longer!

Salmonella: Some corns have it on their scales, soem don't. The best thing to do is after handling your snake wash your hands and don't put the snakle near food items etc. Also don't eat with the snake in one of your hands. To be honest you'll probably be OKay anyway, but best to be sure with snakes, as well as other animals.

That's fine, it's dark, warm, cosy, safe - can you think of a better place? As for the duration, it depends on her age and confidence. My snake will happily sit on me for an hour or so, and sleeps on my lap, in my sleeve or in my pocket.

Any other questions bung 'em this way and I'm sure people will help - in the mean time most members of this forum seem to have web sites with loads of interesting facts and guidelines, I found these VERY useful when I got Suzy

Good luck with your new snake!

Aaron
 
I used to micrs my pinkies but it became a bit too messy :( and my mum wasn't too happy about having mice guts all over the microwave!! I leave mine out to defrost at room temp for an hour or so (depends on size of mouse). If I'm in a hurry I put them in a cup of warm, room temp water and let them defrost that way. Make sure the mouse isn't too hat or too cold. It should be roughly the same temp as your body temp.

As for your hair, my female LOVES wrapping herself in my hair and will stay there (or round my neck) for hours. Just make sure she doesnt get too cold.

Also, most reptiles carry salmonella so wash your hands before dinner young lady!! ;)
 
I also use the cup of warm water method. I've heard horror stories of mice exploding in the microwave, and I doubt my mom would let me do that anyway.
 
lol @ exploding mice

i leave mine out over night on top of the tank in a plastic bag and feed in the moring. is this ok? they are only little pinkies and its feeding time for her tomorrow so ill have 2 fetch one out of the freezer when i go to bed :)
 
I have no idea if this is true or not - but maybe this would annoy your snake as he'll smell the pinkies but not find them. Then again it may be good for him :confused:

The actual leaving them out is fine though.

All I'd suggest is make sure that you feed him every time the pinkies are on top of his viv. He'll recognise the smell with the coming food, and if you don't feed him, but try and pick him up he might think your fingers are mice!

Just a thought
 
na cornflakes cool

she dont even sniff around for them coz she has a wooden lid which is like 1cm thick.

i usually feed her about 10am, the next day i fetch her out and put her on my carpet then get the pinkie out of the bag dip its head in some vitamin powder and hold it in from of her.

then she sniffis it so i drop it then she has a good sniff and looks around it then decides to start eating it :) she eats it within like 10 min of haveing it out infront of her.

she aint a fussy eater like my old rat snake used to be.

ive her her now for exactly 4 weeks and shes ate the 3 mice so far ive gave her. hopefully shell add 1 more pinkie 2 that list tommorrow morning :)
 
gazzaman2k

I might suggest that you don't leave pinkies, or any prey item at room temp for that long a time after it's thawed, unless it's in with the snake to be eaten. Bacteria grow very rapidly on warm dead animals, and every pinky that I've thawed, put with the snake, left over-night, and wasn't eaten was well bloated and very much on it's way to decaying, and very smelly too. It doesn't take long to thaw a pinky, or even an adult mouse in hot water, and the chances of a snake getting sick from spoiled food is greatly decreased, especially if they eat it within the 1st half hour.
 
As for thawing pinkies with only a microwave handy, you could maybe first heat some water up in a plastic container and then thaw them there. Just don't make that water too hot or they will pop! Nastyness!
 
Re: Nasty microwaves

I never tried a mouse in the microwave, but have heated water to boiling then put the mouse in it with a ziploc bag. It seemed to slightly cook the mouse which my corn refused to eat. I use hot tap water and refill with hot water after 10 min. (full size mice). Pinkies thaw in 5 min. If she does not eat after 45min. i dispose of the mouse. Rigour Mortis sets in (stiffning of joints and muscle) after a short time, this is not healthy for snakes and can easily lead to various problems. BE SAFE! AND LOVE YOUR SNAKE
 
Re: Re: Nasty microwaves

Lyle said:
Rigour Mortis sets in (stiffning of joints and muscle) after a short time, this is not healthy for snakes and can easily lead to various problems. BE SAFE! AND LOVE YOUR SNAKE
Click to expand...

That would only be for fresh killed mice though as rigor mortis only occurs soon after death (so wouldn't be a prob for us that feed pre-killed) :)
 
Mice are frozen alive and they do not have time to develop rigor mortis, however, once fully thawed, the natural decay process can begin again right were it left off. Bacteria can grow very quickly on a small dead mouse, after several hours, they develop a bloated gut and must get rigor mortis. I am not a doctor, nor have I tried this experiment. But logicaly, a mouse that has been left overnight will have a fair share of bacteria, unless kept in an airtight ziplock with no additional air in it. Even so it has unwanted bacteria. Freshly thawed is obviosly best.
 
use hot water

it is the best and quickest way with minimal bacteria build up
there is no need to give your snakes extra vitamins as they get everything they need from the rodents that they are given(if they are from agood source of coarse)
 
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