I have a baby who's only ever eaten live. I've tried thawed and pre killed. She nudges the prey with her head and then just completely ignores it and slithers away. However if it's live, she doesn't even hesitate. Ive tried different colors, sexes, rats and mice and I've done the zombie mouse dance to no avail. I'm running out of ideas.
Tips???
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Favorite Answer
A couple ideas. I feed my rainbows at night, after dark. They seem to have a stronger feeding response then. In a dark room as well. Make sure the mouse is hot, about °100. I double bag all my rodents in zip locks, to keep them dry, then thaw then in hot tap water, changing if necessary to get it hot. I believe if you let iou get wet, your washing nutrients away, and your washing scent away. You could also try the old non feeding baby snake trick, put her in a bag or box with it, make sure she can't get out, and leave her in there over night, somewhere warm. And as long a she's a healthy weight for her size, let her miss a meal or two, if you haven't already. hunger is the driving force in nature. And keep up with the zombie rat dance, (one of my favorite phrases of all time I must say.) Sometimes you may have to do it a while to get them to go. try tapping her on the side with it, or near the tail, as this can induce a strike. I generally avoid tapping the nose, I've had very little luck with this, it seems to make them defensive, and go out of feeding mode. Also, try a freshly killed mouse, the same you normally feed her live. Make sure its completely dead, no twitching our anything. Then move to frozen thawed Lastly, try to follow the same ritual as close as possible to when you feed her live, - snakes can get very accustomed to patterns. Hope this helps, and good luck with her.