Snakes are natural hunters, and if in captivity, the healthiest food you could choose for them is live or thawed mice or rats. You can breed prey yourself or buy it at a pet store, but be sure to choose prey that is the right size for your snake's age and species.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Choosing the Food
Step 1. Buy mice or rats
In nature, most snakes feed on mice, rats, and other small rodents. These animals cover their entire nutritional needs and a diet consisting solely of mice and rats is enough to give your snake a healthy and happy life. If you only have one snake, you can buy mice and rats at a nearest pet store. If, on the other hand, you have several neighbors, consider raising colonies of mice and rats for food purposes.
- Make sure you buy mice from people you trust who have raised the animals by feeding them natural foods.
- If you don't want to give rats and mice to your snake, you will need to get used to the idea or have someone else do it. All large snakes need this type of food and many smaller ones too.
- Although some snakes can only live on insects, they will never be happy or very healthy if their diet is based solely on this type of food.
- Never feed them live crickets, as crickets can eat its scales and harm them.
Step 2. Choose from live or frozen animals
As having a snake as a pet has become popular, so has the choice in pet stores. Many of these store owners choose to keep mice and rats alive to feed their snakes, but you may prefer to buy frozen mice to thaw and reheat, as it is more convenient and convenient. Decide based on your needs and those of your snake.
- If your choice falls on live prey, you should be able to reproduce your snake's eating habits, as if it lived in the wild. It is no small feat: you will have to get used to the idea of raising rats and mice in colonies or run every two by three to the nearest shop to refuel! Once this is done, if you put a live mouse in your friend's cage and he is not in the mood to hunt, you will need to retrieve the mouse and set it aside for a good time.
- There are those who say that it is much cheaper to buy frozen mice, but this will require more effort from your snake, which will have to gradually get used to something that is not in its nature.
- Some snakes may prefer live prey as they grow, and then easily get used to thawed food once they become adults.
Step 3. Buy mice of the right size
Mice and rats are sold in groups of the same size, depending on which snake they will be prey on. Choose larger prey as your snake grows, but don't overdo it - mice that are too large can be hard to digest. Our advice is to choose animals that have the same circumference as your snake's body. Here are the categories of rodents according to size:
- Pinki: they are pups of mice, which do not yet have hair, and as such they are perfect for snakes when they are still very young or for small-sized adults.
- Fuzzy: first coat mice. They are slightly larger than Pinki and perfect for small to large snakes, such as boas, false corals, rat snakes, but also medium sized adult snakes.
- Hoppers: Adult mice, perfect for most adult snakes.
- Baby rats and adult rats: they are the largest and will be the perfect prey only for large adult snakes.
Step 4. Make water available
Mice, rats, and fresh water are all your snake friend needs. Choose a bowl that is large and deep enough for him to fully immerse himself in. Snakes don't drink often, but they dip in from time to time to stay healthy.
Keep the water bowl clean by disinfecting it once or twice a month to prevent bacteria from proliferating
Part 2 of 3: Feeding the Snake
Step 1. Prepare the food
Preparation isn't necessary if you decide to give your snake live prey, but be sure to raise them carefully. Frozen food, on the other hand, must be defrosted properly, then reheated until it becomes palatable to a snake. If you choose pinki, fuzzy, hoppers or frozen rats, follow these guidelines:
- Lay the frozen food on kitchen paper, then place it near a fan. Smaller parts will defrost quickly. You could put the food in a plastic bag and then immerse it in hot water. This process can take anywhere from ten minutes to a few hours depending on the defrosting method and the size of the food. Check regularly to make sure the food has defrosted evenly. Thaw the single portion only.
- Reheat the food. Many snakes will not eat if they cannot feel the correct temperature that mimics live prey. You can reheat the food by putting it in a bag with hot water or using a hair dryer for about ten minutes. Never use the microwave; it could cause the food to explode.
Step 2. Offer the snake the thawed prey
You will need to get to know your snake before you find out what is the best way to offer it food: prey hidden in the cage, ready to be found, or dangling from the cage, so that the movement attracts it? Try both methods to find out which one works best for your pet.
- When placing food in the cage, place it on a plate or in a bowl, away from the bottom, so the snake doesn't have to swallow bits of litter.
- If instead you choose to tie the rodent to the cage, use clothespins or hairpins and never your fingers, to prevent it from biting you confused by the smell or the heat.
- Whichever method you choose, give the snake some time to decide to eat. Research your snake's species. Some eat within minutes, but others may wait a lot longer before feeding. In general, if your snake doesn't eat within a short time, you can refreeze the food for later if it's still fresh and hasn't spoiled yet.
Step 3. If you choose live prey instead, move them away quickly
Put the rodent in the cage and see what happens. If the snake snubs it for 10-20 minutes, move it away quickly, as the prey will try to save its life by scratching the snake. Then put it back in its cage and wait for a better time.
Step 4. Organize a feeding schedule based on your snake's age and size
Puppies generally only need one meal a week. As they grow, age and size, they need to be fed less often (considering the portion will be larger). Be sure to do your research to find out how often and how large the portion of food to offer your pet should be.
- As you change your feeding schedule, always keep in mind that you shouldn't force your snake to eat. Offer him food and, if he doesn't want it, take it away.
- Learn about regular feeding based on your snake's species. Some may need to eat once a week, others once a month or a couple of times a year.
Part 3 of 3: Handling a Picky Snake
Step 1. Make sure the food is hot enough
This is in case you choose to serve thawed rodents, of course. The snake must have the impression that the mouse is still alive, or at least that it has recently died. Boas and pythons have receptors on the snout that detect the heat emanating from the prey and prepare them for the meal and can be the most demanding, for this reason.
- If you have any difficulty, hold the rodent close to a hot bulb for a few seconds before offering it to the snake.
- Do not heat rodents in the microwave unless you have a microwaveable one. If you decide to go this route, set it at very low temperatures.
Step 2. Use your brain
Pierce or squeeze the skull of the prey to get some brain out of it. The gray matter of the rodent will release peculiar smells, which will attract the snake. If you dare, you can use this technique even with live prey. Here's how to do it:
- Insert the tip of a very sharp knife into the rodent's frontal lobe.
- Insert a toothpick and take some brain out of the skull.
- Smear it on the mouse's face.
Step 3. Rub the body of the mouse with that of a lizard
Strange, right? But it could be a last resort: the dead rodent will be more palatable to the snake if it has been rubbed against a lizard's body. Buy some anola lizards or wavy pickles at your local pet store and have their scent mix with that of the mouse. This method is not the most convenient and economical and cannot be used every time, but it will be useful to accustom your snake to eat what you offer.
- This is a great way to get your snake used to defrosted food if it previously only ate live prey. It will not be an immediate step and you will have to give it a few tries.
- Other methods of dealing with this type of situation include changing the size or color of the prey. Changing the type of prey could also be a solution (if you've tried a rat, offer something else like a mouse, gerbil, etc.). Try turning off the lights. Some snakes, such as ball pythons, are nocturnal animals and are therefore active in the evening or at night. You could also soak the prey in chicken broth. Also try to rub the smell of another animal on the prey.
Advice
- Snakes may not touch food for even a couple of weeks, but keep an eye on their appetite and be on the lookout for any problems your friend may have.
- Royal pythons are nocturnal animals and love to eat at sunrise or sunset.
- You can watch your friend eat or just close the cage if you are sensitive.
Warnings
- Warning: Offering live prey to your snake may be the best choice, but it is also more dangerous for them, as rodents struggle to save their lives and could scratch and injure your snake even severely.
- Before looking for live prey, make sure it is legal in your country to feed reptiles live prey, as this is additional and unnecessary suffering inflicted on the prey, but also because of the danger that the snake could incur.
- Don't stray too far when your friend is eating.
- Feeding a snake with live prey can shorten its life, because the endorphin and thiamine levels of an endangered rodent rise enormously and large amounts of the latter can be very dangerous for a snake. A mouse killed "humanly", on the other hand, will not realize what is happening to it and its body will not respond by raising the levels of these toxic substances.
