about to make the dreadful switch :tears:

ok heres the situation ... ive had my BP for a few months now n up unttill about a month ago she seemed to have lost interest in F/T.. instead of the fast n furious snap n wrap she would just kinda slide sniff around and eventually decide to eat it with any sort of constriction... then 3 weeks ago she decided she didnt want anything to do with any of it... so my next step is to try F/T rat pups n if that doesnt work ill go to live, so my questions are - has anyone else experinced something similar ?? n everyone says when feeding live to supervise to make sure the prey doesnt fight back - what would u do if the prey fights back ??... :bow:

You can always hold your prey item with hemostats.

u mean tongs rite ??.... but wouldnt they interfer wouldnt with the snake trying to constrict?... or would the danger pretty much be over by then ?

Yes tongs. Adam from 8 ball has a very good video on his site. Brian from BHB also has some good feeding videos. Take a look at these videos and Im sure all your questions will be answered.

thanks man ... shoulda looked a lil harder my self

You could use a kill chamber for rats (I am in the process of putting one together), I fed one of my balls a sm rat for the first time fri and I was a little nervous even though I used tongs all went well, I tried that thumping method, but either I'm a weakling or just a wuss, I didn't render it unconcious, so kill chamber for me

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by llovelace

You could use a kill chamber for rats (I am in the process of putting one together), I fed one of my balls a sm rat for the first time fri and I was a little nervous even though I used tongs all went well, I tried that thumping method, but either I'm a weakling or just a wuss, I didn't render it unconcious, so kill chamber for me

---

I'm pretty sure he was saying the snake is not responding to f/t, so it would doubtfully respond to anything else dead..

Many people feed live all the time to hundreds of snakes with no problems. If you see the mouse starting to bite the snake (which it probably won't be able to even if it looks like it is) you can stick a pen in it's mouth to make sure it doesn't do any damage.

Don't hover over the snake though, it could cause it to not feed.
Also, if you want to feed f/t at all, you should try feeding in the enclosure if you are already not. They will feel much safer in their own home then in a separate new place.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jeff Krupa

Yes tongs. Adam from 8 ball has a very good video on his site. Brian from BHB also has some good feeding videos. Take a look at these videos and Im sure all your questions will be answered.

---

Please, watch Adam's videos. I second this suggestion. Adam's video is great, and it's exactly how I feed my snakes. I haven't had any issues with holding the rat by the nape of the neck with my tongues and holding the rat about 3-4 inches away from the snakes head. This works with mice too. You should get a straight, face-on strike. No biting there, save from the snakes. ^_^

i would feed in her enclosure but i have eco-earth substrate ... not to mention a rather cramped cage with room to lay enough paper towle down to feed on... but the main reason for not wanting to go live is that its a lot easier to keep a freezer full of food on hand

wouldnt it be possible to get a bite inside the mouth with a face strike n not see it happen ??