How long do you leave a feeder in unattended?

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Originally Posted by Deborah

To me here is your main problem, you offered F/T mice to an animal that was eating Live rats.

Switching can be tricky and when done it is often better to

1# Switch a well establish snake, which means a snake that is eating for you with consistency already

2# Take one step at the time in other word switch to mice first than once your BP eats mice with consistency switch to F/T

Right now your priority is to get him to eat so try offering live rats once a week (If your BP refuses wait a week before offering again).

In the mean time only handle him like you have done only when necessary.

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I was offering F/T rats and he didn't seem that interested. I only tried the live mouse because: 1. their cheap at 1.50 2. When my older snakes were on live, I found them to easier to remove if they aren't eaten. I had a near escape of a feeder rat before I was able to properly dispose of him.

I will try a live small rat next time.

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Originally Posted by mikedahitman87

I was offering F/T rats and he didn't seem that interested.

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Which is normal since he was eating live rats ;)

Again switching is easier done when the animal is well established and a consistent feeder.

Switching can take time and tough love but for now get him to eat at least 4 to 6 meals before trying to switch him to sometng different.

Some of my snakes will not eat if I am watching over them, they just wont. I clicked the 15 minute option, but I check in once every 5 or so. Pretty much I stay in the room because every single rat/asf/mouse seems to go into a corner and mess with the beding; they are not going to attack the snake. When I hear a thump I take a peek into the tub to make sure everythings going good and then I leave. Some people think leaving them alone with the prey is crazy ( Then again they normally only have a few snakes...)but if I waited around for each one to eat while I was watching a few wouldnt eat and Id be there all day. If you do have a large collection and wait for all the trouble feeders to eat in front of you then more power to ya.

I don't walk away until the rat is dead. -Shrugs.- I don't even set the rats down. They're fed off of tongs. I feed live because that's what my snakes eat, but I won't take risks with them. It's not worth it.

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

Some people think leaving them alone with the prey is crazy ( Then again they normally only have a few snakes...)but if I waited around for each one to eat while I was watching a few wouldnt eat and Id be there all day. If you do have a large collection and wait for all the trouble feeders to eat in front of you then more power to ya.

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This was one of the points I tried to make with first post. If more people with large collections responded, it would be interesting to see how they affected the poll.

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Originally Posted by Melicious

I don't walk away until the rat is dead. -Shrugs.- I don't even set the rats down. They're fed off of tongs. I feed live because that's what my snakes eat, but I won't take risks with them. It's not worth it.

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I have seen that in some videos. How you do that? Does the rat squeak and shriek?

Simple.

1) I hang until a good strike is put on the rodent.

2) Next, even if the rodent is in a death lock, I check that the rodent cannot bite the snake. If I see that the rodent can or is biting the snake, I break its neck.

Once those two criteria have been met, I move on.

Brandon

I have found for me the best way is:

phase I: let rodent hang around for 15-20minutes (I have big viv)
phase II: when mouse is still there unattached i try to "raise probability" by putting in barrier and wait another 15-20minutes

When nothing is happen... snake is hiding and I can not see head of snake (I call it "I don't care pose") I just remove rodent...

I didn't answer the poll because there's no never option.

I only have 3 snakes that eat live. I use separate feeding tank because my viv is packed with too much decorative stuff in it so the live rat has a gazillion places to hide and chew on the decor. I take out the snake, put in the feeding tank, drop a live rat, watch until rat is coiled. I have 2 immediate strikers, so they go first because they're easy. And then I got 1 prima donna. If she goes on that S-curve of the neck, then she's interested and it's easy because she's a pro-striker - never missed the back of the rat's neck. But then, if she doesn't go on the S-curve, then I just sigh and sit down infront of the tank for about 20 minutes before giving up and taking out the rodent. Sometimes she strikes the rat after 10 minutes of disinterest, but after 20 minutes and she's still not in hunt-mode, she starves for another week.

I can't leave them unattended because I've had instances when the rat bit the snake! One time, the prima donna wasn't showing interest so the rat got brave and took a bite out of the snake's neck which caused the was-not-interested snake to pull back and WHAM! Dinner. The rat didn't puncture the snake that time.

Then, another time, my silly spider (who is such a bad shot!) struck the rat on the back leg, coiled, but left the rat's head free, so the rat took 2 big bites on the snake, but before I was able to intervene, the snake coiled up the rest of his body around the neck of the rat. It was wierd because usually, the snake only coils about 1/3 of his body, but this time, he was coiled up all the way to the tail! He had 2 bloody punctures. I was not happy. So now, I watch the rats with tongs at the ready.

ive had them bite the tail and coil