Made the switch to rats today
Today I made the switch to live rats for one of my girls, and fed for the first time to two of my boys. Let me start with my baby girl. She's 245g and she was eating live adult mice. So I drop in the new rat pup and she looks like she's going for it, but she just watches for a bit. Now what I don't get is she started to strike at it but would never coil up for the kill, she just struck at it 4 times and that's it. Just as was about ti give up and take the rat out she finally decided to eat the thing. So hopefully next week she will take the rat more easily and quickly.
Now for the next guy, he's almost 1000g and is eating medium rats. This is the first time I have fed live rats and I have read about the bites they can inflict. Well, unfortunately we both learned the hard way and the rat got a good bite right behind the jaw area. It didn't look that deep and didn't bleed, but I'm sure it didn't feel too good. Just after he was done eating I found him completely submerged in his water dish, head as well. I'm assuming the water felt good on the bite. Is there anything I can do to help him? Can I put any type of household medication on him?
And for the third, this feeding went actually well. I remembered watching a video on YouTube where a guy spun the rat in a big to get it dizzy. I tried that and it worked great! However, he seemed more interested in me than the rat. I'm not sure if it was aggression towards me but I actually had to step away for a while to get his attention on the rat lol.
Anayway anyone with input?
Made the switch to rats today
Just one suggestion, don't spin/disorient/stun the rat. When coming out of the daze, he can be very defensive, which will up the odds of your snake getting injured. And honestly, it's just inhumane. If you go through the trouble of stunning, you might as well just kill the rat quickly and offer it fresh-killed. Or if you're going to continue with live, make sure the rat is as calm and well fed as possible, and keep a pencil or tongs handy in the event it tries to bite. Just my .02.
Re: Made the switch to rats today
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ronin
I will try the beradine but I will have to get out tomorrow and get some. But I will watch to see how it looks tomorrow.
I had tongs on hand but the one that got bit wrapped up the rat so good the only thing I could see was a few feet sticking out. I wasn't happy about spinning the rat but I had to do what I thought was safest for the snake and it worked. My goal is to get all my snakes on frozen rats and I'm just trying to move slowly.
Stuff happens, and sometimes all you can do is roll with the punches (as far as the bite goes). It might be worth trying fresh killed next with your other guy, it might take a while to figure out exactly how he likes it presented to him, but you'll get there. Best of luck with it and keep us updated on the bite situation.
Re: Made the switch to rats today
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Badgemash
Best of luck with it and keep us updated on the bite situation.
Update, after a few days from feeding I picked him up to take a look at the bite. The bite is actually a bit bigger than I though,t but it's not swollen and it doesn't seem to bother him. So hopefully it was just a surface wound and nothing bad will come of it.
