Feeding Live...

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Originally Posted by bearhart

I feed live. The first time I did it he got the mouse's whole head in his mouth and I thought that's the way it worked. But, over time I've found that the snake doesn't go for the head at all. It only happens if the rodent is coming straight at the snake for the strike. The majority of the feeds he gets them somewhere along the side and then re-aligns them for swallowing. So far, it doesn't seem to matter much because he squeezes them so hard they are unable to do much.

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Is it normal for them to not go for the head? I assumed that was the best to go for since thats the main defense of their prey. And this past feeding he did get bit, not bad but I'm still gonna keep an eye on it. And I don't leave the mouse unsupervised, if he doesn't show interest within a few minutes I put the mouse back in the cage.

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Originally Posted by bearhart

So far, it doesn't seem to matter much because he squeezes them so hard they are unable to do much.

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Maybe it's just my bp, but she always seems to aim for the mouses rear, and definitaley eats from the rear. The way she coils around the mouse usually leaves the front half able to flail around, and I just recently found what appears to be a small bite mark that a mouse made WHILE being constricted. I watch the feedings closely and there is no way the mouse bit her before she got the mouse.

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Originally Posted by Nikki0326

Is it normal for them to not go for the head? I assumed that was the best to go for since thats the main defense of their prey. And this past feeding he did get bit, not bad but I'm still gonna keep an eye on it. And I don't leave the mouse unsupervised, if he doesn't show interest within a few minutes I put the mouse back in the cage.

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They in reality don't aim for any certain part of the body, they just strike at the heat signature their heat pits pick up.

I haven't had to deal with it but I have heard (and seen) people that keep a pencil or something long on hand to allow the mouse to bite on if it's head is free. A friend of mine was feeding and the ball struck and coiled around the butt end of the mouse. The mouse started biting the snakes coils, and he just stuck the pencil in the mouses mouth so it started biting that instead of his snake.

Like I said, I've never had to do it, so I'm not too sure about it, but it seems to help. ^_^

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Originally Posted by crisstyle21

I will only feed my young 1 year olds small mice alive. I learned this from my raising my older 11 year old female. I learned larger prey items have the tendacy to protect there selves and bite. So now my older female and borneo get pre killed rats. Once my het pairs grow up it'll be prekilled for them as well.

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You must be feeding a much larger rat than necessary. 4-5 week old rats are just as clueless as the mice are about what's about to happen.

i'd be worried that the mouse would bite off the eraser and the snake would eat is w/ the mouse then what are ya gonna do.... just let nature take its place.....

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Originally Posted by crisstyle21

I will only feed my young 1 year olds small mice alive. I learned this from my raising my older 11 year old female. I learned larger prey items have the tendacy to protect there selves and bite. So now my older female and borneo get pre killed rats. Once my het pairs grow up it'll be prekilled for them as well.

Today I realized that now im gonna feed all my snakes in seperate containers due to a factor which caused me to have a TITTY attack. I seen a peice of mulch in my girls mouth today and was made me sweet balls taking that thing out. I would defenity feed her and my borneo in the tub for now on, and my to hets in stertile containers

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thats what we do we have a feeding tub, but small mice is not enough i would think.. we have all ours on live small rats and they have yet to hurt any of ours.... even our 7 month old budda is on small rats..

remember rats are and have more nutrition then mice...

They may be more nutritious, but for who? My grandmother? Since we don't know the nutritional requirements of Ball Pythons, that speculation is a moot point.

All of mine eat mice and I have '06's who are 700+ grams, and that's on only 2 mice per week. I also have one female(who is currently gravid) who was 780g last May. On only 2-3 mice per week, she gained over 1500g and is currently 2200g empty.

It doesn't matter what the snake eats, just so the prey is the correct size and the snake eats consistently. Two 20-25 mice is the same exact thing as one 40-50g rat(which is ALL any Ball Python ever needs per week). Yes, they CAN take larger prey, but it's not in the best interest of the animal. True, my adult females could easily take a large rat(150-200g), but that doesn't mean a thing to me. They gain weight very easily on 2-3 mice per week, usually 100g/month depending on the snake.

To KIBPLOVER, I thought alot of your snakes were fasting right now? And if they are, and are babies, you need to figure out why(too large of prey, too large of tub, temps inconsistent, etc). And have you sealed that rack yet? If not, it's going to just fall apart as MDF is not that sturdy unless you seal it prior to exposing it to constant moisture.

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Originally Posted by SatanicIntention

They may be more nutritious, but for who? My grandmother? Since we don't know the nutritional requirements of Ball Pythons, that speculation is a moot point.

All of mine eat mice and I have '06's who are 700+ grams, and that's on only 2 mice per week. I also have one female(who is currently gravid) who was 780g last May. On only 2-3 mice per week, she gained over 1500g and is currently 2200g empty.

It doesn't matter what the snake eats, just so the prey is the correct size and the snake eats consistently. Two 20-25 mice is the same exact thing as one 40-50g rat(which is ALL any Ball Python ever needs per week). Yes, they CAN take larger prey, but it's not in the best interest of the animal. True, my adult females could easily take a large rat(150-200g), but that doesn't mean a thing to me. They gain weight very easily on 2-3 mice per week, usually 100g/month depending on the snake.

To KIBPLOVER, I thought alot of your snakes were fasting right now? And if they are, and are babies, you need to figure out why(too large of prey, too large of tub, temps inconsistent, etc). And have you sealed that rack yet? If not, it's going to just fall apart as MDF is not that sturdy unless you seal it prior to exposing it to constant moisture.

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:rockon:

I read some research on the matter, (can't remember where at the moment, I'll look for it and get back to yall) that actually states two mice is better for a snake than a rat. Sure, the rat may be more nutritous, but 2 mice has everything a bp needs and then some. The reason two mice is better for a snake is due to the size and ease of digestion. Skin and hair are VERY taxing on the digestive system to digest and usually the last parts digested along with the bones. So then if the skin/hair is the last thing to be digested, then how does the rest of the animal get digested first? Easy, the acids seep in through the bodies orifaces, aka the mouse and rectum and digest the prey from the inside out. Two mice provide twice the openings for acids to reach their targets and aids/speeds digestion hence causing less stress to the snake because it is widely known that digestion is a whole body experience for a snake. Digestive tract has to expand, organs secrete far more bodily juices to digest the prey, the heart enlarges, breathing becomes labored. etc etc.

This is not to say that feedig rats is bad, however contrary to popular belief 2-3 mice are just as good, if not better than an equivalent sized rat.:salute:

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Originally Posted by crisstyle21

I will only feed my young 1 year olds small mice alive. I learned this from my raising my older 11 year old female. I learned larger prey items have the tendacy to protect there selves and bite. So now my older female and borneo get pre killed rats. Once my het pairs grow up it'll be prekilled for them as well.

Today I realized that now im gonna feed all my snakes in seperate containers due to a factor which caused me to have a TITTY attack. I seen a peice of mulch in my girls mouth today and was made me sweet balls taking that thing out. I would defenity feed her and my borneo in the tub for now on, and my to hets in stertile containers

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Here's a link to a few posts about what I do (live, seperate tub) as well as an account of a successful feed today :)

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...830#post554830