Problems at the pet store.. with snakes..SOLVED!

[TheaN526]

So today was a VERY interesting day. Remember the post about finding all the dead snakes and other reptiles/issues with animals not being fed?? Well the manager decided it was time for all of us associates to take ownership of feeding and caring for all animals in the store..So ALL of us feed the snakes..the other manager was feeding at very random intervals and none of us knew when they had last been fed.

I told my manager I was going to clean the Ball Python and Corn snakes cages so she says "Okay.Go ahead" and I said "Really?" LOL. And than I said "Hey the snakes are doing the I'm hungry dance." and she says "Well feed them." I looked at her like she was crazy. I was like "WHAT????? ME??" I say "Okay.."very hesitantly.

Boy,I was not prepared for this... You guys should've warned me about adult corn snakes and their feeding response. LOL.. We have to feed live mice, pinkies, fuzzies, or pups.

I fed one corn snake and all he did was stare at it. It was a white mouse. I took him out and gave the snake a tan one. WEeeeee..... Well that was the kicker. This one likes tan mice! He started in on the white mouse for a moment but than decided it was yucky. He opened his mouth and tried to bite it but it ran away. When the tan one came in he constricted right away and fed.

I got out the second one and boy was he doing the "Hungry..ME WANT FOOD NOW!" chant. As soon as I gave him a mouse he took it and the mouse went bye bye. Poor mouse.

3rd corn snake was REALLY hungry. I swear they must've not been feed in like 3 weeks!! I gave him a tan mouse and he said "thanks..munch"

Egads.. Now I'm on the 4th Corn Snake and he's acting pretty hungry. I try to take him out of the tank and into the feeding tub but he tried to hang on to the tank for dear life. He even musked me twice! Turd!. As soon as I put the mouse in the the tub with the snake he constricted and ate quickly. After he was looking around hungrily so I gave him another one.. I had the mouse in my right hand and I was about to close the tub when he practically leapt at the mouse, yanked it out of my hand, and constricted.He practically flew! I had to quickly put him back in the tub and close the top. It was pretty freaky!!

The smaller type snakes all fed on pinkies, fuzzies, or rat pups. That was pretty uneventful. lol

Coastal Carpet Python was given a small rat pup and he was hanging on the tree checking it out for about 10 minutes. He finally decided to eat it. He had it in his mouth the wrong way so it took him a while.

Now the kicker. You know I've never really done this whole feeding thing before so it was a dumb move on my part. I was feeding the red tail and I had the pinkie in my right hand about to give it to her when it leaps up at my thumb and bites me. I let go of the rat pinkie and quickly close the tub lid. It took this snake about 45 minutes to eat. I guess it was shy. She/he finally ate and I put it quickly back in the tank. It scared the crud out of me! LOL

I guess I had finally convinced the manager that we all need to take responsibility for feeding the snakes. One manager can not do it. I'm really glad I did this because now the snakes will be on a regular feeding schedule and we will be able to tell the customers what their feeding response is and when they last fed. I just took ownership of a situation that got out of hand. It's nice to be given more responsibilities. LOL

Sorry this was long winded..but it's my first experience with feeding adult snakes. It was quite interesting.. LOL.

Now I shall know- Don't dangle food in front of a hungry snake. You will probably get bit. Use the snake hook for a hungry hungry snake. Wash your hands after handling prey items.

So.. I got musked, peed on, and bit. What an eventful day! LOL

[PythonBreeder]

LOL Nice story! I really enjoyed it.

[LunaBalls]

thanks for caring....and nice story

[mainbutter]

I love feeding corns. My experiences with a number of them make me believe they are complete garbage cans willing to eat just about anything that waggles just right.

[blackcrystal22]

Tongs!

[TheaN526]

Tongs!

LOL. I totally could've remembered that at the time but it completely slipped my mind. Stupid me. Almost getting my face bitten off by a hungry corn and red tail.

[mainbutter]

Bites even from an adult corn aren't bad at all, but a big RTB bite.. I could see a particularly bad one requiring stitches.

[TheaN526]

Bites even from an adult corn aren't bad at all, but a big RTB bite.. I could see a particularly bad one requiring stitches.

This one was a baby..or I think. Since we're starting a feeding regimen I am sure they will all start growing like weeds. I'd get photos but I'd get in trouble. That red tail must've been a hungry little stinker. It took the thing like an hour to eat. My manager told me to give her that much time.

[wolfy-hound]

Good for you! Sounds like a great feeding day. You can also make cards up with the info about what day they were fed last. It will make sure no one can misremember when they were or were not fed, and notes like "likes tan mice" can be put on them. It will look even more professional, and probably help out anyone that has to feed or care for them when you aren't around.

[jrosen123]

Awesome! I'm glad to hear that everything is starting to get worked out.

kepp us updated!