It was not as difficult as I thought it would be - Snake Feeding.

Some of you might know and/or remember me and my question about Artemis and feeding her live and my worries and my parents hang ups on feeding live at least until I can switch.

Well I have been giving it the valiant effort with the f/t, but she was having none of it. She shed this morning (beautiful one peice with eye caps attached and everything :gj: ) So today after being unable to get her to eat f/t for 2 weeks, I decided it was time to get over my squeamishness and ignore my parent's dirty looks and told them we MUST get a live mouse, she's only a juvenile, very young, I didn't want her to starve to death.

I'll admit I almost chickened out a couple times after watching the mouse meandering around in her tank for 20 minutes and her not showing any interest. I almost started to get attached :colbert: So I went to sit at my computer desk across the room, so I could observe, but not see the teeny mousey paws and ears up close, lol. While I was watching, Artemis struck it and coiled, I hurried over with the camera, and was making sure the mouse wasn't putting up a fight, I watched her kill and eat it and I didn't feel NEARLY as upset about watching it as I could have sworn I would.

My parents on the other hand aren't speaking to me or Artemis now, hehe.... But Just thought I would let you guys know, I did man up and not let my snake starve to death for the convenience of my parents's timid hearts..... I DID have one, but I like seeing my baby eat better than I like the little mousey I have no attachment to.

Which is not to say I don't feel a little bad, I'm not a sociopath, I don't like seeing little critters get killed, but It didn't bring me bursting to tears like I feared it might. (I have owned pet mice before, that was why I was worried).

So now Artemis has shed, pooped, ate, and gotten mite free in my care, I think I can do this. :gj::gj::gj:

PS: She did have mites, but I got rid of them very easily. :D

I had to have the petstore lady go in the back to get my a mouse, the ones for sale were too large for her, all the way adults. She took me back to the breeding room and I got a nice weanling for her, there were SO many more rodents in the back than in the store front, I was amazed!

Huge congrats on getting her to eat!

The first live feeding is always the worst cuz you really don't know what to expect. Just in my experience. They get easier as you go on, I think since you just get used to it. My BF and I say a "Thank you" to the mouse each time we feed live. We figure it's the most we can do :rolleyes:

Here's to hoping you have many more successful feedings! :banana:

I think I will start doin that, I know the mouse isn't actually volunteering, but I SHOULD thank it for giving life to my baby.... I know it will get easier, I'm just really glad she ate, I was getting soooooooo scared, because it was all stacking up, she was taking "too long" to shed, she wasn't eating, she hadn't pooped yet, she and I were fighting the mites, I was seriously about to consider finding her a more experienced home, and say "beginner snake my left foot". But now every problem is solved and I WILL be keeping her :D.

I think the actual beginning is pretty hard for newbies, but once you get ahold of things and they start falling into place they are pretty easy to take care of. I think if I had read alot more of this website, my beginning would have been alot easier. Being that she was more than willing to eat, just not in a 20g tank! lol.

After the first few weeks, it's smooth sailing and you'll be thinking about what you can get your hands on next!

Congratulations. I'd tell your parents that feeding a mouse to a snake is the same thing as feeding dog food to a dog, or a person eating a hamburger (unless they are vegan). There's really no argument that holds water against that, IMO.

You know, the mites weren't as much of a nightmare as everything I've read had made them out to be, sure I had to do the work, but it's not like it was difficult, I just changed her bedding to paper and changed it daily, soaked her in warm water daily and sprayed her tank down with weak bleach water and reptile relief a couple times, plus putting it on her twice. It only took a week. Which I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a long time, but it wasn't that long to me, especially not seeing her go from mites literally all over her and in her heat pits to not seeing any at all in a week, it was very very nice.

Well, they'd have an argument, Icy and that is "the hamburger isn't alive when I get it" lol, they aren't vegetarians, and we do feed our dogs dog food, and they were okay with me trying to feed f/t, but I think the idea of a snake (which they reallly don't like that much anyway) killing a warm fuzzy critter in the house is too much, lol.

You should show them "Our Daily Bread" or "Food Inc" And they'd think different.

Does that make me a psychopath if I enjoy watching my snake eat a live rodent?:rofl:

Good job with feeding your snake live, you had to do what ya had to. I had to do this with my Dumeril's boa when she was refusing F/T, and now she eats F/T but today she refused.. like last week too.. I think I have to get a live rat next week. But anyway, congrats on your snake eating!

P.S. Snakes, especially Ball pythons, can go several months without eating.

nah, you aren't a sociopath, but sometimes I think if I admit that I like to feed my turtle minnows or my little mantis buddy his moths and flies that people will think i'm some kind of sicko, I just thought I would add it on here too, I forget that everyone on here LIKES snakes, where I'm from, almost noone does. And I just thought that since she was so young it wasn't good for her to go without.

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Originally Posted by ranapipiens89

nah, you aren't a sociopath, but sometimes I think if I admit that I like to feed my turtle minnows or my little mantis buddy his moths and flies that people will think i'm some kind of sicko, I just thought I would add it on here too, I forget that everyone on here LIKES snakes, where I'm from, almost noone does. And I just thought that since she was so young it wasn't good for her to go without.

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Yeah I have a few family members who hate snakes, so if I told them I would feed my boa live rats they would be like "What????". I don't even see why there is a reason for people to hate snakes, they actually do so much good by keeping the rodent population stabilized. I can't seem to get through to those family members about snakes though, they don't listen.

Though, when I feed live I think it's really interesting. I like to see how my boa would ambush it, then full on attack it. I just found that pretty interesting. If I told people at my school I like watching rodents get killed by my boa people would think I'm psycho lol. People around where I live seem so weird about snakes, like they think snakes will kill them if they touch it.

That's just about the way it is here too, everyone makes the creeped out noise and scoots FAR out of the way, lol, it's funny, but kind of sad, haha.

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Originally Posted by ranapipiens89

I watched her kill and eat it and I didn't feel NEARLY as upset about watching it as I could have sworn I would... I don't like seeing little critters get killed, but It didn't bring me bursting to tears like I feared it might. (I have owned pet mice before, that was why I was worried).

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I've had hamsters, rats, and currently a guinea pig, all much beloved pets. What you posted is exactly why I feed F/T and why I didn't even get a snake for 30 years until recently discovering that they can be fed F/T. I remember your earlier thread about the feeding dilemma. Congrats on getting over that difficult barrier. I'd probably be a teary-eyed mess who'd have to leave the house while there was a live critter running around our BP's tank. :oops:

It's not good for hatchlings to go for months without eating, so it was a good choice to go ahead and feed it live.

I've fed over 5000 live prey items, and I still feel badly for the rats and mice that get fed off. It gets easier, but for those of us that love all animals, it's never a pleasant part of keeping ball pythons. I'm thrilled after my babies all have full bellies though.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

but for those of us that love all animals, it's never a pleasant part of keeping ball pythons.

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Yes, that's exactly it in my case: I love all animals. Everything but cockroaches and mosquitoes, LOL! But seriously, I'm the one picking up a lost earthworm and putting it back in a moist grassy patch rather than have anyone step on it. Snails, slugs, ladybugs... all critters. And when it comes to cute mammals that recognize and interact with us -- rats being THE BEST pet rodent I've had the pleasure of owning -- well...

Thanks for your post.

Thanks everyone for replying, I just felt a little proud of myself, I am a giant animal lover and still love little mice and rats, would actually adopt some rats as pets, but they won't even consider it since I have my snake, I guess they also assume anyone with a snake is a heartless monster that tosses rat upon rat to their doom without even a side thought about it..... But it's all cool, I have my baby snakey and I have her healthy and eating, and that's all I could ask for for now.

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

Does that make me a psychopath if I enjoy watching my snake eat a live rodent?

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It depends on the reasons behind it.

If you get a kick out of pain and death, yeah maybe a little.

If you get a kick out of a successful hunt, enjoy seeing nature doing its thing, I think that's perfectly normal.

Also if you get a kick out of your snake performing as it is supposed to, that's good too. I have to imagine its the same for people who go hawking, and set their hawk on prey.

I think I will always feel a little bad about feeding off rodents. Although I don't like mice and rats as much as other people here, I don't like that they have to go through the pain, and when one goes quick I always breathe a sigh of relief.

I only have one friend that doesn't like me talking about my snake and when I have to feed her. Which is funny, cuz she used to have a cornsnake that she fed live herself. She thinks snakes are gross and she doesn't like it when the rodents squeal. One thing she doesn't understand (And probly never will) is that this is my pet, it's an animal I have taken under my care and I will not let it go hungry. If I do convert to f/t one day great, but I will only do it if my snakes are getting hurt or if it's more convenient for the both of us.