Our first S.F.E.

[frankykeno]

Mike was feeding Baby the 6 month old b.p. last night and the oddest (but rather funny) thing happened.

Baby hit the mouse as usual, very fast and aggressive. I don't know if she missed a bit or Mike let go too fast with the hemostats but the mice sort of flipped in the air and Baby jumped and the dang mouse ended up partly underneath Baby.

Now here's the funny bit LOL. Mike decided he was going to "help" Baby by tugging the mouse out with the hemostats. Well Baby has now instructed my dear husband about the "don't touch MY mouse" rule! Faster than the blink of an eye she made two strikes towards the hemostats and one at Mike's hand. None of them connected and I believe she was just warning him off as I'm sure she could have bite him if she was serious about it.

The truely hilarious part was when our 14 year old son and our 12 year old daughter both chimed in at the EXACT moment that Mike decided to "help" Baby....."don't do that....you are going to make an S.F.E.!!!!!" Being a good lil wife, I of course tried to NOT laugh....much!

Anyway, Mike is fine, Baby is fine and promptly snarfed down her mouse after making her point. We checked her visually and will recheck her again tomorrow to make sure she didn't actually connect with the hemostats.

It's a good lesson tho for our family. Even though Baby is a lovely snake that very easy to handle, she isn't domesticated and we overstepped a boundary. I'm actually glad she did it and the kids were there so we'll all remember to respect our snakes and not get complacent with them.


~~Jo~~

[xdeus]

I almost made the same mistake last week with my big girl. I told you about the bite and coil that she gave me when I first got her. She weighs 1500 grams, but it looks like she should be 2500. I figured she was just very hungry and my thumb must have looked very mouselike.

Anyway, last week I was feeding her two small rats and when I placed the first one in there, she struck at it but it dropped down in front of her. She didn't see it, so I thought I would just pick it up with my tongs and give it back to her. The only problem was that she was eyeing my hand again (maybe she remembed that it tastes better than a rat). Fortunately I didn't get close enough for her to strike this time and instead gave her the second rat. When she hit that one, I grabbed the first one and eventually gave it to her later.

I'm glad to hear your husband didn't get hit, and hopefully he'll be a bit more cautious next time. And if any S.F.E lessons are to be made, it's better to get it over with when your snake is still small.

[daniel1983]

Ha....I get struck at a few times during every other feeding especially my female.Once the scent of mouse gets in the air....anything warm and moving will get nailed. That is why she is no longer in the tub that is 'face height'

[frankykeno]

You know Daniel sometimes I swear these snakes are getting almost trained that the hemostats mean food. Is that possible? There's been a couple of times where I have the hemostats in hand but Mike is off p/king the mouse in another room and Baby especially will almost "key up" at the sight of the shiney hemostats.

Can a snake do this or am I just imagining a response?

Like I said I'm glad this happened. With such nice natured snakes it's awfully easy to get a bit "lazy" and forget for a moment they aren't puppy dog friendly, though certainly not an indication she's "mean" or it was anything more than an S.F.E. on our part.


~~Jo~~

[daniel1983]

I don't know about the hemostats, but I do realize that they can tell when Monday (feeding day) comes around. Usually they will be in their enclosures for the majority of the day....but on monday....everyones head is peaking out of their enclosure...just waiting for some food all day

[frankykeno]

Daniel I swear Baby has only one thought in her head any day of the week...."got mice? how about now? hey buddy, can you spare a mouse?"



~~Joanna~~

[gncz73]

my spotted python eat f/t and we have a bowl on top of her tank thats just for thawing and when we mo the bowl she knows its time to eat

[kavmon]

yeah, feeding time can be fun! i have a few that will come out of their tubs and go get the rats if i let them! lol. i certainly wouldn't want to feed them in a seperate tub!!!


vaughn

[bg1906]

What size hemostats do you guys use? Mine are 12'' in length, is that a good length?

[frankykeno]

Our hemostats are smaller than that. We have to special order the 12" ones or order online. For now while our snakes are small these will do but not apparently for much longer LOL.

Vaughn, there's no way in heck I would feed Baby outside her tank and then handle her. Even after her 2nd mouse she's very hyper alert for awhile in case a third mouse might wander by. No way would I be touching her then LOL. (Hmmm Baby's idea of heaven...a self-serve mouse buffet!)


~~Jo~~