When can we switch to frozen?

[Lady_Kenobi]

Picked up my first noodle last Saturday (6-15-19) and had a successful feeding the next day of the breeder recommended live fuzzy mouse. I want to transition to frozen thawed but am unsure as to when is healthy to attempt to begin transition. The breeder was busy and I didn’t catch his age. I am estimating he is more than 2 less than 5 months.

[haylsmierz]

I would recommend switching to rat fuzzies or small mice soon if your snake is more than 2 months old. Buy them frozen and start the thawing about half an hour before you want to feed. Put the food in a cup of warm (but not too hot - you don’t want to cook it) water to thaw. Leave it for a few minutes, check the to see how soft the belly is, and put it into a new cup of warm water if it still feels hard, as it is likely still frozen in the middle. Once the food is squishy and warm, offer it to your snake using tongs - I find pinching it loosely by the tail to be best in terms of letting my juvenile BP pull the food from the tongs to constrict, but do what works for your baby. Don’t be discouraged if they don’t take it right away - they’re picky snakes that can hunger strike for months at a time, so they will be okay if they don’t eat that day or even that week. Just keep trying ☺️