Tell me your horror-feeding stories

[sunshinenorcas]

So, tonight was feeding night. Talking to local pet-shop that I go to/trust, reptile guy recommended two small f/t mice because at 106 grams, Tali is a little underweight. I want to switch her to f/t rat crawlers ASAP, but right now, I have mice.

I get home and wait til evening and put the mice under her heating lamp to defrost and to let her know food was on the way... definitely worked! She immediately crawled across the tank, climbed on top of the hide, and starting checking them out along with trolling the along the tank and sniffing the air. When I checked the mice, she struck at the wire. Girl was HUNGRY.

So, I give her the first mouse and it goes off without a hitch except she took it from the hot hide and kinda rolled down and off of it. She eats and swallows it and I gave her the second mouse... she struck so fast and hard that it exploded when she coiled D: Her tank smells VILE. She ate all of it, but of course she dragged it ALL around her tank, so I have to change the bedding (which I was planning on anyways- I just wanted to give her a day or two before I did). And she also decided to take a bath with her mouse, so I have to clean and scrub her water dish too. Ugh. Joys of animal care.

Tell me your feeding stories gone wrong so I feel a little better.

(yes her stuff is gonna be changed tonight/soon- I'm just letting her settle before I disturb the princess. Also letting her get out of hunt mode because I like my fingers)

[CrystalRose]

I know how you feel. I had that happen a few times with my first BP. It's gross and definitely smelly. It was feeding night here too tonight. Mine wasn't as bad as yours but I had cleaned Ellas tank earlier tonight. I had it all cleaned up,plants perfect water crystal clear,etc. Well,I fed her and she decided to drag her rat through the water bowl a few times so then I had a bowl of brownish water filled with Eco-Earth. She knocked over every plant and decoration in the tank readjusting her rat. So now her tank basically looks like a hurricane went through. My husband is now calling her Hurricane Ella lol.

I changed her water once she went back to her hide but I figure the decorations can wait until tomorrow. I really need to learn NOT to bother cleaning her tank until a day or so after she eats lol.

[treeboa]

The lamp probably concentrated the heat on one part of the mouse's skin, causing it to weaken and burst open. You can avoid itby using a heat pad or soaking in a bag in warm water instead. I had this happen many times before I figured this out. There hasn't always been an internet with its good sources of info like this site, LOL!

[sunshinenorcas]

I know how you feel. I had that happen a few times with my first BP. It's gross and definitely smelly. It was feeding night here too tonight. Mine wasn't as bad as yours but I had cleaned Ellas tank earlier tonight. I had it all cleaned up,plants perfect water crystal clear,etc. Well,I fed her and she decided to drag her rat through the water bowl a few times so then I had a bowl of brownish water filled with Eco-Earth. She knocked over every plant and decoration in the tank readjusting her rat. So now her tank basically looks like a hurricane went through. My husband is now calling her Hurricane Ella lol.

I changed her water once she went back to her hide but I figure the decorations can wait until tomorrow. I really need to learn NOT to bother cleaning her tank until a day or so after she eats lol.

Haha, she did that with the second mouse too! She dragged it EVERYWHERE while she was re-adjusting. Me and my roommates were watching and joking about it... "This is thisssss side of my tank, and then here's thissssss side of the tank, and oh, look this is my pooollll... lets go for a swim before I show you that side of my tank." (of course dragging the mouse guts EVERYWHERE it looked like a murder scene) She finally finished it in the water, so I don't even know what was going on in her snake head. I had her on aspen so the clean up wasn't that bad, but I just switched to eco-earth and I'm going to be adding plants tomorrow... so next feeding time might be a LOT more fun in the clean up.

The lamp probably concentrated the heat on one part of the mouse's skin, causing it to weaken and burst open. You can avoid itby using a heat pad or soaking in a bag in warm water instead. I had this happen many times before I figured this out. There hasn't always been an internet with its good sources of info like this site, LOL!

Yeah, that's what I figured happened- I put the second mouse underneath quickly to warm it back up... shouldn't have done that haha.
I've had explosions with mice in water too with snake 1 (admittedly, pinkies and fuzzys with thinner skin)- maybe my tap is freakishly hot? I had more luck with putting under the lamp, which is why I went back to it- although part of the reason before was I had a picky KSB who didn't like to eat and thought the smell would get a feeding response- never worked. I don't think I need to entice this one with feeding times hahaha. She eats like a pig.
I'll try the heat pad though and luke room/room temperatures to thaw- maybe a quick warm up with the lamp, idk D: she strikes so fast, I wonder how warm they really need to be.

[MootWorm]

Been there done that. Except mine was actually in a ziplock in hot water. I don't now if the temps were too high, the mouse was freezer burnt or what, but man was it nasty!! I pulled the baggie out of my cup, and it was a muddy-red mouse slushy. I can still smell it. Ugh. Well at least the stray cats got a tasty treat that night

[treeboa]

Yeah, you can overheat no matter what method you use. You can, also, just have the rodent burst from the skin being weakened from freezing. It does REALLY smell, not to mention make a big mess!!

[BPLuvr]

I used to have that problem all the time when I bought them through a pet store. Now that I buy online it hasn't happened. I put them out for a few hours and thaw at room temperature. I like to take them out in the morning and feed in the evening but that is for small rats. Once thawed I heat them with a haird dryer.

[DestinyLynette]

I feed live, period. xD Having rodents in a communal freezer and thinking about thawing just doesn't do it for me.
However, while I don't have a "horror story", I have a derp story.

When I first got my bee, I tried to offer him a meal a day or two after his arrival. Due to the lack of available rat pups in my area, I feed my little ones mice. I also knew nothing of spider wobbles at the time. He began striking defensively, once missing, then the second time he got a mouth full of soil substrate.. I mean FULL of it... ugh. I felt so bad for him. I figured since snakes couldn't spit and I didn't want him swallowing a mouth full of mud, I had to get it out. I took him out, gently pushed his jaws open, and used a loop made out of a twist-tie to scrape the now-wet and compacted dirt out of his mouth. I got most out before putting him back in, mouse removed. Poor baby. He's such a sweetie though, he didn't once try to bite me.
The mouse (an arrogant mouse, I must say- it played hop-scotch over my snake) in question was then presented as an offering to Her Highness, Rosca. She never misses a "snack".

Since this, I've had no problems feeding Zerok, although he usually misses at least once. He doesn't have a wobble except at feeding times; I've noticed his head trembles a bit and it takes him a good while to focus on his meal to strike- as opposed to the girls who strike and lock on sight. My fiancé says Zerok is his favorite because he's such a derp... He never fully sticks his tongue back in either.


Oh, and while not a horror story, I actually fed my adult a rat so big a few years ago, I panicked. I was assured five times over that the jumbo rat was fine for my 2500g snake (which based on the .1 - .15 feeder weight I know now, is correct), but good GOD I had never seen a rat that huge! Guinea pigs get that size man. But it was either that or let her go another week without eating (my pet shop has an awful issue keeping in stock- I wish they'd breed them already). Rosca usually is done with her meals in ten minutes or less, this monster took her 20 minutes to just get past the shoulders. I hadn't expected her to take this long and I had to leave, and regularly called for someone to check on her. She finished just fine, and after she finished, she went straight to soak in her water tub.. and stayed there for a few days. My mom said she probably felt fat.

[treeboa]

I don't like having rodents in my food freezer either. I have a house so I have a separate freezer just for my frozen rodents.

[gaiaeagle]

While not really a horror story, I have another derp story. Our two normal females are very aggressive feeders. We use plastic tongs to prevent being maimed when they go after their rats. So before my boyfriend and I moved all the snakes into one rack, we had some upstairs in one room and some downstairs in the new rack. I was feeding the ones downstairs and my boyfriend was feeding the ones upstairs. I hear him calling me to come upstairs. So I go...and see one of our normal girls wrapped around the feeding tongs. Apparently she missed the rat, struck and coiled around the feeding tongs. After taking a picture, because pictures or it didn't happen, we assisted her with uncoiling the tongs and put her back in her tub to eat her rat. She is so scary when she is feeding.

Not the best of pictures, but here is she wrapped around the feeding tongs.