Beast190272
New member
Has anyone had experience having trouble getting copperheads on a frozen prekilled mice feeding regiment. ? I've never been the biggest fan of prekilled mice. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
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problems getting copperhead on prekilled diet...
- Thread starter Beast190272
- Start date
hhmoore
tired & cranky shadow
I moved your thread to the venomous discussion forum.
If you're not a fan of pre killed mice, why do you want to get your copperhead(s) on them?
I've only worked with a handful of copperheads, but I never had any difficulty getting them to take f/t. Heating the prey is probably a good idea in the beginning (take advantage of those thermoreceptors), but once they're established, it doesn't matter a while lot.
I don't remember offhand if any would eat f/t off the floor of their enclosure...they usually grabbed them off the tongs quickly enough that I didn't have to think about dropping the prey.
If you're not a fan of pre killed mice, why do you want to get your copperhead(s) on them?
I've only worked with a handful of copperheads, but I never had any difficulty getting them to take f/t. Heating the prey is probably a good idea in the beginning (take advantage of those thermoreceptors), but once they're established, it doesn't matter a while lot.
I don't remember offhand if any would eat f/t off the floor of their enclosure...they usually grabbed them off the tongs quickly enough that I didn't have to think about dropping the prey.
Snake-Queen
New member
My one suggestion would be to heat the mouse/rat to 100 degrees. This can be trick to get the temp right in hot water.
Tim Cole
CLOSED ACCOUNT
I have the best luck getting them weaned over when they come out of brumation.
Feed 2 small live meals in a shallow dish. After a few weeks, substitute the second meal with a f/t. Since they are expecting a second food item this sometimes works.
Feed 2 small live meals in a shallow dish. After a few weeks, substitute the second meal with a f/t. Since they are expecting a second food item this sometimes works.
OBTkeeper
New member
I currently keep 15 copperheads. 13 northerns, a southern, and a broad banded.
All wc except for the broad banded, and all have eaten f/t right off the bat except for the southern. After trying for 2 months using every trick in the book to get the southern to eat f/t, I tried a live mouse. Ate it like a champ. No matter what I do, it will only eat live. Yours might be like mine, it might only ever eat live. If you can't get it to switch, i'd just stick with what you know it will eat.
All wc except for the broad banded, and all have eaten f/t right off the bat except for the southern. After trying for 2 months using every trick in the book to get the southern to eat f/t, I tried a live mouse. Ate it like a champ. No matter what I do, it will only eat live. Yours might be like mine, it might only ever eat live. If you can't get it to switch, i'd just stick with what you know it will eat.
hhmoore
tired & cranky shadow
Two things to try with something that doesn't want f/t (aside from variations in how you present the prey, or husbandry adjustments):
- try a different prey item. You'd be surprised at how often simply switching to rats or mice will trigger a response. Every year I get babies that prefer one out the other, giving them what they want if the best way to get them to feed.
- build a strong feeding response. Get them eating well, but don't overstuff them. The idea is to get them responding quickly to offered prey every time. Once they're coming for the food before it his the floor, offer a well heated f/t.
Sometimes it just takes time. I've had live feeders that took 2 yrs to get on f/t....and prey specific animals that took longer than that to get eating what I wanted them to eat.
- try a different prey item. You'd be surprised at how often simply switching to rats or mice will trigger a response. Every year I get babies that prefer one out the other, giving them what they want if the best way to get them to feed.
- build a strong feeding response. Get them eating well, but don't overstuff them. The idea is to get them responding quickly to offered prey every time. Once they're coming for the food before it his the floor, offer a well heated f/t.
Sometimes it just takes time. I've had live feeders that took 2 yrs to get on f/t....and prey specific animals that took longer than that to get eating what I wanted them to eat.
I had a problem getting mine to eat to when they were young. They were to skiddish. I had to take my time. If I put the mouse infront of its face to quickly it freaked out or if i moved outside of the cage it would immediately turn its attention to me and leave the mouse in there to rot if it had already bitten it. I covered part of the cage up with a towel to conceal myself a little and took my time to make sure not to make it nervous. It started to do alot better.