Feeding technique ok to do?

I've had my BP for 3 years now. He is still feeding on mice although he has taken a small rat a few times. My feeding technique has always been to dangle the food from tongs until he comes out of the hide. This can take awhile. If he does actually come out (or poke his head out at least) I try to entice him by dancing or dragging the item across the substrate to simulate movement. He is super timid though and startles fairly easily where if it gets too close he will retract, sometimes completely back into his hide, other times just a few inches starting the process over again.

I recently went out of town and had my friend (a new baby BP and first-time snake owner) feed my snake while I was gone. He reported having no trouble feeding my BP and when I asked how he did it, he basically said he shoved it more or less in his face. Reluctant but willing to see if I could replicate this I tried and got it to work. What I did was lift up his hide, and dangle the food directly in front of his face and following him if he recoiled away from it. He quickly strikes and eats the mice using this method.

Is this OK to do to the snake? I imagine if it were too stressful he either wouldnt eat it after striking, or would regurgigate, but they have all stayed down. Is it ok to continue with this method?

I have to do similar with my snake, essentially tapping it against his snout before he'll "accept" the item.

Obviously, don't hassle yours too much like pulling it out of its hide, or pursing it if it retreats, but usually mine is already poking out since I thaw and hair dryer the food in the same room as him so he gets to smell it and that wakes him up and gets him more active and into "hunting" mode. Might be worth doing similar to get yours out of their hide and more in the mood to strike before offering the prey item to them, but mine's shown no ill effects from getting a rat tapped against his snoot thus far and hasn't gone off feeding or shown any other signs of stress from the experience.

We have a few that need the rat RIGHT in front of their heat pits before they are like "Hey...thats food!!" We have some that are lunging the second the rat is dangled....no need to jiggle. And we have some that we need to lay the rat down and leave it and its gone in the morning. If he eats, doesn't regurgitate and seems healthy otherwise then I would do what you gotta do.

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How are you defrosting the prey ( I'm assuming it is F/T given the dangling and dragging ) and how are you heating it before presenting it?

I would make sure it's nice and hot like 100F or a little higher. I usually take the hottest water from my sink and dunk them for 20-30sec before I offer. All I do with mine is poke the nose of the rat into her hide (if she's not already out and interested which she usually is) and then I very slowly move the mouse left to right or up and down as I move it towards her. If she hasn't taken it by the time it gets to her nose I GENTLY boop her with the rat and she nails it. Sometimes I can barely get the rat in her cage before she comes probing out towards it, so obviously different personalities, but gently tapping the item to your snakes nose should be fine.

Different snakes prefer different ways of offering- I think if it works and he's eating, it's all good!

Depending on the BP, I've had to stick the nose into the hide and just wait for the jump scare. Some are totally fine with me lifting off the hide and poking the prey's nose right in their face or touching noses, and they'll strike. Sometimes the confident ones will come out of their hide right away if the tub gets opened and they smell food, and they'll nail it. Sometimes leaving the prey's nose at the hide entrance and just leaving them alone for an hour does the trick- when I check back, the prey is eaten.

Great posts guys thank you!

My method is somewhat unconventional, I turn on my PS3 and thaw+heat it up in a plastic bag with the exhaust heat from the PS3

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Originally Posted by Blitzjg

I've had my BP for 3 years now. He is still feeding on mice although he has taken a small rat a few times. My feeding technique has always been to dangle the food from tongs until he comes out of the hide. This can take awhile. If he does actually come out (or poke his head out at least) I try to entice him by dancing or dragging the item across the substrate to simulate movement. He is super timid though and startles fairly easily where if it gets too close he will retract, sometimes completely back into his hide, other times just a few inches starting the process over again.

I recently went out of town and had my friend (a new baby BP and first-time snake owner) feed my snake while I was gone. He reported having no trouble feeding my BP and when I asked how he did it, he basically said he shoved it more or less in his face. Reluctant but willing to see if I could replicate this I tried and got it to work. What I did was lift up his hide, and dangle the food directly in front of his face and following him if he recoiled away from it. He quickly strikes and eats the mice using this method.

Is this OK to do to the snake? I imagine if it were too stressful he either wouldnt eat it after striking, or would regurgigate, but they have all stayed down. Is it ok to continue with this method?

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All my five Royals /Balls will only strike from within their hides these days - clearly they feel more secure doing that .


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If your snake is on the timid side, then you might consider simply leaving the F/T prey item inside his hide with him. I have found this works extremely well, particularly among younger snakes. I actually have one ball python who will exclusively feed this way.

If you have an UTH running, place the prey item under the warm hide as this helps to warm it up for consumption.

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Originally Posted by Regius_049

If your snake is on the timid side, then you might consider simply leaving the F/T prey item inside his hide with him. I have found this works extremely well, particularly among younger snakes. I actually have one ball python who will exclusively feed this way.

If you have an UTH running, place the prey item under the warm hide as this helps to warm it up for consumption.

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Mine won't feed this way, only the snoot tap. Seemingly once its left in there and not directly offered to him he hardly registers it as a thing. Best I can figure, some snakes are maybe a little "nasally blind" when it comes to their heat pits and need the prompt. YMMV.