Snakes are hunting animals. If a snake is in captivity, the snake's best food is live or dead mice. You can also feed your pet snake by buying it at a pet store. Be sure to buy snake food that is appropriate for the age and species of your pet snake.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Choosing the Right Food
Step 1. Buy a mouse
In the wild, many snakes prey on mice and other small animals. Not all mice that have been eaten by snakes are healthy mice. Snakes need other nutrients to keep them healthy. If you keep a single snake, you can buy healthy mice at the pet store. If you keep a large number of snakes, it would be a good idea to set up a rat farm for your snakes to eat.
- Be sure to buy healthy mice. Also make sure that the rat is fed a healthy diet and does not contain chemicals.
- If you don't want to feed your pet snake with mice, you can feed your snake maggots, insects and other food. However, snakes usually choose what food to eat. By giving your pet snake a different food, it will make the snake depressed. Give food in the form of rodents for your pet snake.
- Do not feed your pet snake with live crickets, as crickets can harm the snake.
Step 2. Choose live or frozen foods
Snakes are pets that are loved by many people, so there are many food products specifically for pet snakes. Many pet snake owners choose live rats for their snakes' food, but buying prepackaged frozen rats can also be a good option.
- If you feed live rats, you can treat your pet snake as if it were in the wild. However, by feeding live rats, you will have to make a rat farm or buy them at the pet store to feed your pet snake every day. If your pet snake doesn't eat the rat you gave it to you, you will need to remove the rat from its cage. And put the mouse back in when your pet snake looks hungry.
- Many say that feeding pet snakes with rats that have been frozen is the best way to go. But the drawback is, the way this is done does not include the way snakes eat their prey when in the wild.
- Usually, small snakes prefer live mice as food. When it grows up, the snake can only taste the taste of a packaged frozen mouse.
Step 3. Give food according to the size of the snake
Usually different sizes of mice are sold for pet snake food. Small snakes need smaller prey than large snakes. As your pet snake grows up, you'll need to feed it bigger food too. However, if you give food that is too large, it will be difficult for your pet snake to digest the food. It is better for you to provide food for your pet snake that is suitable for the snake's body. The sizes of food available for snakes are as follows:
- Pinkies: these are baby mice, called "little fingers" because they haven't grown fur yet. Pinkies are good for small snakes.
- Fuzzies: these are baby mice that have just acquired their first signs of growing fur. They are slightly larger, so they are good food for large baby snakes, such as boas, mouse or milk snakes, or medium-sized adult snakes of all species.
- Hoppers: these are adult mice, enough for baby ball snakes (which are quite large) and adults.
- Big rats: these are the biggest prey. These rats are suitable for food for large adult snakes.
Step 4. Provide water
In addition to food, what snakes need is fresh water. Provide enough water to submerge your pet snake. Snakes don't drink much water, but someday they will submerge themselves in water to stay fresh and healthy.
Make sure the cage is always clean. You should frequently clean your pet's cage to keep it free of bacteria
Method 2 of 3: Feeding the Snake
Step 1. Prepare the food
If you provide live food, you do not need to prepare anything but live food. If you give food that has been frozen, you must first thaw it and heat it to the specified temperature. This is the method for defrosting food for pet snakes:
- Place the frozen food on a paper towel and place it near a fan until it thaws. Don't leave it out too long, and you only thaw as much as your pet snake needs for one meal.
- Wash the mouse body in soapy water and rinse thoroughly. Rats can carry a foul odor that can discourage your pet snake from eating them.
- Place the food in a bowl of warm water and allow it to warm up for about five minutes. Snakes will not eat food if it is cold.
Step 2. Find out how to properly feed your snake
You should understand the nature of your pet snake before feeding it. Some snakes choose their own food that is already available in the cage. There is also a snake that eats food that is deliberately hung by its owner. Try both ways to find out what is the best way to feed your pet snake.
- If you are feeding it by placing it in a cage, place it on a small plate or in a bowl separate from the snake's bed.
- If you are hanging food from the cage, use tweezers or pliers, and don't use your fingers, as you could be bitten by your pet snake.
- Whichever method you choose, give your pet snake 20 to 30 minutes to decide to eat what you have been given. If the snake does not take food within this time, remove the food and try another time. You can't force a snake to eat if your pet doesn't want to.
Step 3. If you are using live prey, remove it immediately if it is not being eaten
Place the mouse in the cage and see what happens next. If your pet snake doesn't eat the prey within 10 or 20 minutes, remove the prey from the cage. If the snake is not hungry and the prey remains in the cage, it may be that the live prey will try to bite your pet snake in an attempt to save itself. Take the prey and try another time.
Step 4. Create a feeding schedule for your pet snake
Small snakes usually only need food once a week. For larger and older snakes, they will usually need food quickly. Start by feeding once a week, then try to feed every six days. If your snake picks up food right after you feed it, try feeding every five days. Usually, a large adult snake needs to eat every three or four days.
When you change your feeding schedule, keep in mind that you should not try to force your pet snake to eat. Give it food, then take it if your pet snake doesn't want to eat
Method 3 of 3: Choosing Food
Step 1. Make sure the food stays warm
If you choose frozen mice and then thaw them for your pet snake's food, you'll need to heat them up so that they appear to be alive. This is especially important for boas and pythons who have receptors on their faces that can sense the heat emanating from their food.
- Try keeping the prey in a warm light bulb area for a few moments before feeding your pet snake.
- Do not heat mice in the oven unless you only have one mouse provided for your pet snake's food. If you are using an oven, use a very low heat.
Step 2. Consider braining techniques
Piercing the prey's brain can provide a scent that can attract the attention of your pet snake. This technique can be used on live or dead mice, this is certainly not easy to do. If you want to try this method, follow these steps:
- Insert a sharp knife or scalpel into the rat's head.
- Insert a toothpick into the rat's brain to extract the rat's brain.
- Rub the mouse brain on the mouse's nose.
Step 3. Try rubbing it with a lizard
It sounds weird, but in a way it can make your pet snake more appetizing to eat a dead mouse if you rub it with a lizard's body. You can buy lizards from pet stores. Then you can give the smell of lizard to the mouse's body by rubbing it so that your pet snake has an appetite for food. While this method doesn't have to be used every time you feed your pet snake, it's a good way to get your pet snake to eat.
This is an excellent method to use when you are feeding your pet snake a diet of live and frozen mice
Suggestion
- If your pet snake has not eaten for a week, then you should have it checked.
- Pythons are usually nocturnal and will feed in the morning or evening.
- You should check the presence of your pet snake in the cage at all times.
- Always feed your snake in a separate container. Doing this ensures that your pet snake will not ingest the substrate which can cause disease and indigestion.
- Feeding frozen mice or live mice is the best option. If your pet snake doesn't want to eat frozen mice, find other ways to keep your snake fed and healthy. However, if your pet snake likes frozen mice, be sure to always have live mice available. Live rats usually carry parasites that can harm and even kill snakes. There is a case where the snake has not been able to kill a live mouse enough to eat it, so the mouse will find a way out of the snake's body, then the rat will tear the snake's stomach from the inside. To prevent this from happening to your pet snake, be sure to provide frozen mice for food.
Warning
- It should be noted that giving live prey is dangerous for snakes. Rats can resist and potentially cause serious injury to snakes. When your pet snake is not hungry, and you continue to feed live rats, the rats will attack and injure your pet snake.
- Don't leave the snake alone.
- In some areas, it is prohibited to feed live animals.
- By giving food in the form of live mice, it can shorten the life of the snake. This is because the levels of endorphins and thiamine from rats can be harmful to snakes. When live rats are digested by snakes, rats will fight and secrete a type of chemical that is toxic to the snake's body.
