Success! They ate!

Just a wee bit overwhelmed but..

Do when feeding in its own container, do you use tongs to put the prey into it? Otherwise I imagine a snake striking at my fingers as I place a mouse/rat into its home, heh. I've never been bitten before by a snake. Ferrets, birds, cats, and fish, but not snakes. It's not something I want to find out.

I know there are several who say "OMG don't get a snake if you are worried about being bit." And no that isn't what my problem is, I'm not worried about it, I just don't want to flirt with open snake mouth if there are ways around it. Does that make sense without me sounding rude? I hope so...

My husband's been bitten by just about everything before at some point in time and he tells me the bird and ferret bites hurt more than a ball's bite.

I guess some of it is me worrying it will think my hand is a mouse one day. My fish bite me all the time, my bearded dragon doesn't seem to know where the food ends and my fingers begin, but has never bitten my fingers when empty. I don't ever worry about my german shepherd mistaking my fingers for a steak though at times I have to be a little quick to make sure a fingertip doesn't go with the treats ! Are snakes able to recognize "Hey, my human buddy is feeding me, better wait a moment until its in safe" range, or is this a good time to invest in a tong?

Washing your hands before and after encounter is good practice for a number of reasons.

During feeding, avoid touching the mouse at all. If you must (like he gets away or something) be sure to wash your hands again. Personally, I feed live and just dump the mouse straight from the bag he came in. If you feed non-live you must use tongs. I think everybody will agree that keeping mouse smell off your hands is a good thing to do. Also, be sure to discard / clean any mouse-smelling stuff afterwards.

When removing the snake from the cage I always approach slowly, but steadily, to give the snake plenty of time to identify me. I also try to approach (my hand) from a direction behind the head and at the shallowest angle possible. I always pick him up from the fatter part of his body and I usually touch him lightly once right before I pick him up. I figure if he's going to go postal on me he'll do it at the first touch and I'll be free to yank my hand out.

From what I've heard the BP bite is on par with a cat scratch.

snakes will absolutely not recognize your over a mouse, i have had my 5 foot brazilian rainbow boa wrap herself completely up my arm while latched onto my hand because my hand was warmer than the mouse. i would suggest getting tongs for feeding because it makes things so much easier.