Pet-Snakes

Getting your snake to switch to frozen food is a fairly simple task. There are many reasons the feeding it frozen food is the best option.

Making the switch from live to frozen

There are a few items you’ll want to have handy.

1. Rubber gloves (remember to avoid latex if you are allergic to it)
2. Feeding tongs or hemostats (ask your local pet store)
3. Zip lock bags, and a container that you can sacrifice for your snakes

We’ve found the best method for getting our snakes to eat frozen as follows-

• Make sure the snake is hungry. Skipping a feeding for a week will help out with this
• Thaw out the frozen food by putting it in a zip lock bag and submerging that in hot water in a container. DO NOT use a microwave to thaw out the rodent as this will cook it internally which is not good for your snake (most won’t even go near cooked meat) and it stinks!
• Place the thawed rodent in the thawing container after emptying the water and set it right next to the snake’s tank. Leave it there for about 30 to 45 minutes. This is called pre-scenting the room and it basically gets the snake’s attention
• Wait about 20 to 30 minutes with the room being pre-scented and then hold the rodent up to a heat lamp for about 10 or 15 seconds. You don’t want to cook the rodent at all, only to heat it up a little bit. Snakes that hunt by heat detection will appreciate your efforts as well as those which hunt by smell
• Present the rodent to the snake using tongs. Don’t jam it in its face let the snake come to the rodent. It can take several minutes before the snake investigates. All the while hold the rodent with the tongs don’t just throw it in the cage and leave.
• Once the snake is interested in the rodent and is approaching move it around a little with the tongs. That will give it the appearance of life. Can’t honestly say if snakes care on way or another but it seems to help in most instances.
• This is the part where the patience comes in. We’ve sat there for 2 hours playing “cat and mouse” with the snake and the rodents at the end of the tongs before the snake either ate or crawled off into its hide. If the snake strikes and eats great, but it might not happen the first time.
• If the snake doesn’t eat simply put everything away and wash up and try again next week. Sometimes the snake just has to get hungry enough. You can reuse the same rodent just refreeze it. Pet-Snakes.com does not recommend using it more than twice. If after the 2nd week the snake isn’t taking it throw it out and start with a new rodent.

Why it is best to feed a snake frozen food

First and foremost is the health and safety of your snake there have been many cases of rodents killing a snake that was supposed to have eaten them. If the snake doesn’t want to eat it won’t kill the rodent. The rodent after it runs around the tank for a while will then start gnawing on the snake and the snake won’t defend itself, nor will it be able to get a way. A frozen rodent on the other hand obviously won’t be chewing on your snake. Never ever leave a live rodent in with a snake unless under direct supervision

You’ll need a place to care for the living rodents that aren’t eaten by the snake. Much easier to buy 50 or 100 frozen mice from some place like The Mouse Factory and store them in your freezer than to keep live mice. Besides mice stink, really badly.

A snake constricting a living creature is a pretty brutal way to die. It is not peaceful or pleasant by any stretch of the imagination. Take a look at the below video at about 3:15 when the snake gets ahold of the rabbit if you think it is just a “nice” passing for the prey.

Please note the video is NOT the property of Pet-Snakes.com we are just using it from YouTube per their Terms of Use

There are other reasons to feed frozen instead of live to your snakes such as less likelihood of transferring mites or ticks in with your snakes, avoids the need to travel if you have them shipped to your door, and generally frozen rodents are less expensive than their live counterparts.

Choosing where to get your snakes frozen food

There are three possibilities for getting your snake frozen food.

1. The first and cheapest method is from an online source such as The Mouse Factory. There are dozens of other sources so just use your favorite search engine to look for “frozen snake food” and you’ll find plenty to choose from. We’ll leave the actual selection of your vendor of choice up to you.
2. A local pet store. The prices generally aren’t all that great and sometimes the rodents they give you can look a little questionable, but they are generally more convenient and quicker in an emergency
3. The final way is to make your own. You breed some rodents and then humanely euthanize their offspring using something like a homemade CO2 chamber. If you do decide to go this route we suggest you do some reading up on breeding snake food as it can become a full time job all by itself. This method is more often recommended for the keeper of numerous snakes.

Using the above method we’ve had over a 95% success rate with switching our snakes to frozen prey. It is inevitable that some will never make the switch but you’ll never know until you try.

Owners Ball Python eating
One of the most frustrating things for any snake owner is watching week after week go by and not being able to get your snake to eat. It is also a very dangerous time for the snake. Not because it isn’t eating, but because stressed owners will do some bizarre things to try and convince the snake it wants to eat. There are a number of factors to consider when your pet snake is on a hunger strike. We’ll cover those in a moment.

First it is important to realize that snakes are reptiles and their metabolism is much, much slower than a mammals. In other words they don’t need to eat on a daily basis and doing so will have many undesirable complications including death. So don’t worry that because a snake isn’t eating as often as you might that it is sick or needs you to help it along.

Take the following situations into consideration when your snake isn’t eating:

Husbandry Issues

Snakes are incredibly sensitive to their environments. They either thrive or die depending largely on your ability to replicate what would be found in their native habitats. Perhaps the greatest culprit when it comes to a snake not eating is poor husbandry. Temperatures too high or too low can cause them not to eat. Too much outside noise caused by foot traffic. Too much or too little humidity. Basically anything that isn’t within acceptable tolerance ranges can impact a snakes eating habits.

Every snake has its own husbandry needs specific to that particular snake and that’s something you will only discover by working with a particular animal. There are also the general husbandry needs that the various species of snakes have adapted to over the ages. In most cases if you can get the general husbandry issues straightened out your snake will eat (if husbandry was the cause of them not eating), but sometimes it requires a more personal touch. For example I once had a snake that refused to eat if not on plain white paper towels.

You’ll have to do your own research when it comes to husbandry issues with your snakes. Spending the time sorting out any problems will go a long way towards getting your snake to eat.

Illness

With their inability to vocalize it is often difficult for a novice to spot when a snake is sick or in distress. One of the first signs of trouble when the husbandry is right is a snake that doesn’t eat. Consider this to be a clear warning sign that something is wrong. Snakes are naturally gluttons and would often gorge themselves to death if given the opportunity.

If you suspect illness get the snake to a qualified vet of your choosing who can properly treat the animal.

Too soon after last feeding

While snakes are gluttons once they have switched from feeding mode to digestive mode they aren’t likely to want to eat anything for about 5 to 12 days while their food digests. If you start waving food in front of their faces after a day or two not only are you wasting your time, but you are also encouraging regurgitation which is an absolute no-no for snakes.

Give your snake at least 3 days to digest its previous meal before you offer more. Personally I feed on an alternating schedule. On Saturdays I feed the large meal and on Wednesday I feed a meal about 1/4 to 1/3 the size of the large meal. I want them to grow, but I don’t want them to become obese because just like anything else that lives an obese snake will have health issues.

Your snake needs time to settle in

Most snake owners subscribe to the idea that most dog and cat owners do when it comes to bringing a new animal home. The first they want to do is stuff water and food down its throat and spend several hours coddling it. While that works well for dogs and cats it doesn’t work so well for snakes. In fact the most often prescribed and successful method is to have everything your snake needs setup before it gets to your home and immediately transfer it into the new habitat. You then leave it alone for about 5 to 7 days never disturbing it except to change water and clean up any messes. I’m a little more liberal with how much I handle my snakes when I first get them, but if one of them isn’t eating I will stop handling it to allow it to settle in.

The 5 to 7 days suggested isn’t a hard and fast rule. Sometimes they are settled in within a few hours and other times it can take a couple of months. The important thing is to have the self control that is required not to mess with them while they go through that process.

Prey item is too large for the snake to eat

The common rule of thumb that most people go by when it comes to feeding snakes is this. The prey can be no larger at its widest point (usually back hips) than the snake to which it is being fed is at its widest part.

A snake can and will eat a meal a great deal larger than that, but doing so can cause internal injuries to the snake. If the meal is way to large the snake simply won’t even attempt to eat it. After you feed your snake and it has had about 30 minutes to maneuver the food into its stomach you should be able to see a slight bulge. If you see a huge distended belly with what looks like a balloon in there you gave it a prey item that was too big.

It’s that time of year

Certain snakes simply stop eating when winter rolls around. Ball Pythons are a prime example of this. Some will go off feed for up to 8 months. As long as the snake isn’t losing a significant amount of weight it shouldn’t be a problem. Just offer the food once every 1.5 to 2 weeks if this is what’s happening. If the snake doesn’t take the food put it away for the next try. Obviously I’m talking about frozen/thawed food. Live prey presents issues for you to resolve all its own.

There of course could be other reasons why you can’t get your snake to eat, but taking care of these will often get it on the road to recovery. The keys are patience and the ability to “read” your snakes body language. With time and observation you’ll be able to tell when your snake is ready to eat, when it wants to hang out with you, when it wants to be left alone and much more.

Over the course of your snakes life you will be responsible for its health and well being. A large part of both of those is ensuring that it is being properly fed. The first thing to realize is that all snakes are carnivores. Let me say that again, snakes are carnivores. All of them. Emphasis added because invariably someone will come along and ask “What kind of vegetables is it safe to feed my snake?” And the answer is none. If you’re considering feeding your snake vegetables, fruit, grain, dairy or anything else of that nature don’t. You could very well kill it.

The question becomes what kind of meat does a snake eat. That depends mostly on the snake. Some eat mammals, some eat other snakes, some worms, some birds, some fish, some eggs, some… you get the idea. Regardless of what they all eat their prey whole because their teeth are curved back and don’t allow for chewing. That means you can’t drop a slab of steak in with them and expect them to eat it. Snakes need the fur and bones and internal organs of the animals they eat in order to meet their nutritional needs. Pure speculation but I suspect it is a result of the fact that they don’t eat vegetables.

In this article we will explore several areas related to feeding snakes including:

• Where to get food
• Live vs Frozen/Thawed vs Pre-killed
• How much to feed
• How often to feed

Getting food for snakes

The first thing you need to figure out when it comes to your snake’s food is where you can go about getting it. If you’re only dealing with a few smaller sized snakes you can easily get your food from the local pet store. Just tell them you want feeder mice or rats and few a few dollars they’ll sell you some. If you’re dealing with larger snakes, or multiple snakes it would be a good idea to setup a relationship with a vendor who sells snake food. There are several vendors online who will ship you whole frozen mice, rats, guinea pigs, and other critters. Rodent Pro is one that you see often online. There are many others just look for them with your favorite search engine. While ordering online is convient it might not always be the most practical. Sometimes finding a local source will suit your needs much better.

No matter if you buy locally or online you should keep a few things in mind for the best experience:

Have a backup plan

Suppose your supplier runs out, goes out of business, or whatnot. You still need to be able to feed your snakes. Even if you don’t use them locate another source that will meet your needs and establish a relationship with them.

Cleanliness is important

The last thing you want is to introduce something harmful to people or snakes in your home because the place you bought them has no cleanliness standards. I’ve been in pet stores where their feeder mice were covered with urine and their own defecation. Not to mention the ones that were lying dead in the bottom of a cage that didn’t look like anyone had even looked at in over a month. That’s the last place you’d want to buy anything, let alone food for a beloved family member.

Cost of the food

People seem to have this idea that because snakes eat so little (in comparison to other animals) that they are cheap to feed. Fact is that everything is cheap to feed until you start having to buy it food, pay shipping, or for gas to get it. You should never base anything, let alone how well you care for your snakes, on the cost of food alone, but be considerate of the cost. A kingsnake or ball python will only cost you a couple of dollars a week to feed, but something like a reticulated python could end up costing you much, much more.

Live, pre-killed, or frozen/thawed?

This is a subject which is debated all over the internet (at least among those who care) and the only thing for sure is that no one agrees one way or another. The point of this article isn’t to debate, but to give you some information about all three kinds of feeding.

Live food

When using this method you “toss” the living animal in with the snake and let the snake do its thing. This most closely mimics nature as most snakes are not scavengers, but some like the brown tree snake appear to be to one extent or another. Live feeding is generally the easiest way to get a snake to eat since stalking, and killing their prey is what they would normally do. It is a very simple process.

1. Buy prey
2. Introduce prey to snakes dominion
3. Wait a few minutes and watch the snake do its thing

Sometimes things don’t go quite that well and at this point the disadvantages of live feeding become apparent. So here’s a few safety and sanity tips for you (and your snake).

Remove the prey

If the snake hasn’t killed and eaten the prey item within about 30 minutes remove it from the snakes home. Rats have been known to eat snakes alive if left alone with a snake because a snake could careless about it unless it is hungry.

Never leave it unattended

Never leave your snake and its dinner date unattended. Not even for a few minutes. Even if a snake attacks and kills the critter there is still a risk of injury particularly when it first strikes. You want to be aware if the prey has bitten the snake or something like that.

Give it a home

If your snake doesn’t eat the prey right away be prepared to give it a home for a few days until you try again. Or if you’re like me you might just prepare to give it a home from then on. Either way invest in a bit of food, water and a secure confine. You could also kill and freeze it in order to feed it later and in a bit we’ll talk about feeding frozen/thawed.

Pre-kill the food

Another method of feeding is to kill the animal just prior to feeding it to your snake. This eliminates the safety concerns mentioned above in regards to feeding live prey. There’s a right way and there’s a wrong way to go about killing prey for your snake. A humane way and an inhumane way. Wrong ways:

• Scissors to half decapitate it
• Needles to stab it
• The bottom of your shoe
• Hairspray
• Drowning
• Throwing against a wall
• Garrot

I could probably go on for hours, but you get the idea. If you intend to kill and immediately feed then you can break the animals neck. For a smaller animal like a mouse or rat pin its neck at the base of the skull using a spoon or something similar. Then left up on its back legs. Do it like you mean business and get it over with. There’s no need to make it suffer. Basically you are hyper extending it’s neck and paralyzing it. Because it is so fresh this is often a good way to switch your snake from live to frozen/thawed. If the snake won’t take it just wrap it up and freeze it. You can always use it later.

Frozen/Thawed

For years the prevailing thought was that snakes don’t eat anything except for live (or very recently dead) food. Then one day, and God knows why, someone decided to attempt feeding their snake a thawed out critter. I wasn’t there and I don’t have any reference to who it was, when, or the exact conditions nor does it really matter. It only matters that it is a concept that works. Very well.

We’ll start by assuming that you buy rodents from a supplier that come frozen. It depends on what you’re thawing out, but generally about 2 hours before I am going to feed I will take the snakes dinner out of the freezer, put it in a ziplock bag and put the bag in hot water. Notice I said hot and not boiling. You don’t want to cook the animal you want to thaw it out and bring its body heat up so the snake will take heed of it. Generally I go through three changes of water with the last one being for the sole pupose of increasing the heat signature of the snakes food. Then I grab the rodent by the tail with a pair of pliers and “dance” it around near the snake. Try not to crowd the snake and get it defensive. The last thing you need is for the snake to become afraid of its food because you keep bashing it over the head with a dead carcass.

Rather than paying extra to have frozen rodents shipped you can always make your own Co2 chamber. This works great if you buy live and want a humane and easy way to dispatch of the animals. These chambers are fairly simple to build as you can see by these plans I found on ball-pythons.net courtesy of user elevatethis.

I personally prefer feeding frozen thawed. I’ve been through the whole live feeding thing and it was nothing short of ugly. I can’t tell you how many mice and rats I’ve “adopted” over the years, or how many times my snakes have been gnawed on. It’s not for everyone and not all snakes will make a switch to frozen/thawed, but if they do and you’re willing it can make your life so much easier.

Those are the three primary methods of feeding a snake. There is also a technique called force feeding but it is NOT recommended except in dire circumstances like the snake is starving to death as it can stress the snake terribly.

How much to feed

One question I hear a lot is “How much should I feed my snake?” The answer has everything to do with your snake and nothing to do with anyone else’s opinion. I’ve heard people say you that snakes will eat until you stop offering them food, but I’ve never experienced that. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen just that I’ve not had that “pleasure”. More often my own experience has been that snakes are extremely picky eaters.

Judge for yourself what size of a meal to give your snake. A good rule of thumb is to make sure the snake only ingests something that is as big around as it is at the widest point and no larger. If the prey is way to big the snake will often try but give up on it. If it does get get something down that is to large you’re running the risk of the snake becoming overstretched which could lead to internal injury and apparently an issue with heat retention. In the February 2008 issue of Reptiles magazine there’s an article about using infrared imagining on a Green Tree Python entitled Heat Seeker. One thing they discovered was that the snakes scales, which cover the skin are warmer because they help to retain the heat. When they fed larger meals to one group of snakes the scales were stretched and the snake lost heat more rapidly.

We discovered that the python’s scales and skin give off two different temperatures. At the edge of every scale, where the skin is visible, a small drop in temperature occurs…

This is the reason snakes spend countless hours under a heat source after a meal. Their stretched bodies lose heat from the exposed skin between the scales… - Source: Feb. 2008 Reptiles page 40-41 by Shiloh Hawkesworth

The other problem with overfeeding is that it can’t cause your snake to regurgitate its meal which can lead to death. I won’t get into the details but each time a snake regurgitates it loses important electrolytes in its digestive tract. These take about 14 days to redevelop, but the problem is that a snake that has regurgitated once is very likely to do the same thing at the next feeding unless you take some serious steps to try and head it off.

So clearly you don’t want to feed to large a prey item to your snake nor to many of a small prey item. Aside from the physical size of the prey item I judge it like this. Is the snake fat? If so I cut back. If it’s looking scrawny I’ll throw an extra feeding of a smaller sized meal in for the middle of the week. Just use common sense and you should be fine.

How often should you feed a snake?

This goes hand in hand with “how much”, but it is better addressed separately. The average snake, being a young adult, is usually fed once every 1 to 1.5 weeks. I know that’s a blanket statement, but that seems to be the average. Younger snakes generally need more food due to their rapid growth rates. My baby ball python eats twice a week. One full grown mouse on Monday evenings and one fuzzy mouse on Friday nights. Within the next 3 to 5 weeks I expect to up that to 1 small rat and 1 mouse a week if all goes well.

Every snake is different in regards to how often they’ll eat. If you just use some good ol’ fashioned common sense you’ll see what kind of a pattern your snake has. Respect that pattern and your snake will eat as often as it needs to. Of course it helps to know if your snake is hungry in the first place. With most snakes that’s fairly easy.

• It is intent on you (or something else like a dog)
• The tongue is going 100 miles a second
• It moves in an aggressive manner
• One of mine “yawns” several times in a row and I know to get the mouse ready. I guess I’m pretty well trained

Here’s a short (~1.5 minute) video of my Ball Python Damascus finishing off a meal. I barely had time to get the top off the cage before he grabbed it. Fortunately I had already picked the mouse up with the pliers instead of just using my fingers like in the past. He probably would have nailed me.

For the record I feed frozen thawed to my snake for reasons of safety and convenience. In the next day or two I will post an article about feeding in the meanwhile as a “prep” for that please enjoy the video.