Re: How do you feed your BPs?
Oh I didn't notice you were from the UK. I'll look into it man.
:rockon:
Re: How do you feed your BPs?
I have 16 BP's that eat f/t. And 4 bp's that prefer live. Whatever they'll eat is what I feed them. I personally don't have time to raise my own mice. Forget that.
Re: How do you feed your BPs?
It's amazing how long this myth will survive. Rodents under constriction from a snake do not die by suffocation. Suffocation is a longer process of death for the rodent which would present it with more opportunity to fight back. Nature did not design snakes in such a way to allow for this type of kill which would create an unsafe environment for the snake.
Multiple studies on the constriction action and power of various snakes show that in fact the rodents are almost immediately immobilized and die due to an instantaneous shutting down of major blood vessels and pressure on their heart muscle. Basically they die about as quickly as we would of massive and complete heart failure. This creates one of the cleanest kills in the animal world, very humane for the prey animal, very safe for the predator.
I am of the opinion that there is no more humane or effecient way for a rodent to die than by the natural action of constriction by a snake. For this reason among others, I choose to feed live.
Re: How do you feed your BPs?
The only reason I don't throw live mice to my snakes: I have had a king bitten BADLY and a RTB bitten even worse... and gotten infected. Now I only give F/T. If a snake won't take it they don't eat this week.
Re: How do you feed your BPs?
Whatever the actual reason for them dying by constriction, I don't want any life or death struggles between large rats and snakes to occur in a fish tank in my room, so I cut that part out of the equation, and I don't like the idea of frozen rats thawing out in my house, so I kill them myself, outside, in a bucket. Some of my bigger BPs and my big Coastal all eat Jumbo's. Those things don't look like something I want running around, fully functional, in an enclosed area with any snake that I paid any amount of money for.
I'm not trying to look like Mike Vick out here, but sometimes some small rodents are just dealt a bad hand in life.
Re: How do you feed your BPs?
There's no reason your Ball pythons ever need jumbo rats. 45-50g rats is ALL they need once per week, no more. Big meals cause fasts and inconsistency in feeding. I'm sure your carpet would be EASY to switch over to f/t, and you wouldn't have to spend an arm and a leg for those huge meals. Feeding large rats to Ball pythons who may or may not want that meal, is a great way to get your snakes bitten and hurt. Not a wise practice.
FWIW, my boa, who is 25lbs and 7.5ft, is quite able to take down a live 2.5lb rabbit without any assistance from me. It is usually dead within 1 minute. These snakes are very capable of taking down their prey without our help. They've done it for millions of years and will continue to do so even after we are gone.
Re: How do you feed your BPs?
I agree with Becky on that prey size thing. Even our largest female ball python whose just passed the 3,200 gram mark would never be offered a large or jumbo rat. The absolute biggest she's ever been offered would be what I'd call either a large small or a small medium. That size is perfect for her as far as growth and will not trigger a fast or cause her body extra strain in digesting an overly large meal.
Re: How do you feed your BPs?
i have a feed box for my snake. A Heineken box that is starting to accumulate dried blood and hair from her previous meals. it's the only way i can feed her, she wont eat otherwise! I give her F/T but i think i'll give her some live every now and then.
Re: How do you feed your BPs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by dr del
Hi,
I would urge you to look into finding a more humane way of dispatching the feeders.
dr del
I kill my mice with a .45....
just kidding, as i mentioned earlier, i feed f/t.
I'd imagine that a quick knock to the back of the skull would me more "humane" (would the proper term be rodente?) as i doubt it would feel anything. but getting squeezed between coils is probably quite uncomfortable. Either ways, one's natural, the other one (theoretically) is painless. You decide
Re: How do you feed your BPs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by anthrpicdecadnce
I kill my mice with a .45....
just kidding, as i mentioned earlier, i feed f/t.
I'd imagine that a quick knock to the back of the skull would me more "humane" (would the proper term be rodente?) as i doubt it would feel anything. but getting squeezed between coils is probably quite uncomfortable. Either ways, one's natural, the other one (theoretically) is painless. You decide
If fed the proper size prey the constriction of a snake is actually very quick and humane in itself.
