How do YOU feed your BP?

How do you all go about feeding your BP?

Well, it actually depends on the snake, since they all have their preferences. For the live eaters (about 2/3 of my collection) I simply throw the mouse in their enclosure, and they take care of the rest. :D For the f/t feeders, it's either placed on the floor of their tub, or dangled with tongs for those who like to strike... as I have now learned, you need to be flexible with a larger collection! I don't use separate feeding bins for any, since it's just too much work with 17 snakes - and personally I think it's more stressful for them.

Open tub - Drop rat - Close tub, than on to the next snake etc

Most of mine I will just drop a live rat in and they're straight. A couple of newer ones have never fed for me so I'm trying to figure them out still.

I don't like to touch mice or rats... Never have been very keen on them. I use tongs, take the mouse or rat by the tail and drop it in the tub... Make sure the coil is good, and forget about it. With my female, who is being converted to p/k and f/t, I dangle it for a min or two and if she doesn't strike, I just leave it in there and cover up her tank. She'll normally take it in privacy.

Right now I feed f/t and I use tongs and feed in the enclosure with all of my snakes. As I begin producing my own feeders though, I will probably switch to live. I will continue to feed in the enclosure.

Open the tub, dangle f/t ASF with tongs, wait for strike, close tub.

I hate feeding live, and these are my first to BPs but luckily the older one (5 or 6 yrs? got him from a friend who's husband moved out and left it) that had only ever eaten live, had no prob eating f/t.. and my new baby ball girl I got a in Jan. was already on f/t..
both do quite well without even tongs I just toss the f/t mouse/rat in and the get it.

All of my snakes take their food from the tongs in their enclosure.

Stress-free feeding times are always the best:gj:

I was feeding my BP frozen medium rats which he enjoyed, but the process to prepare them took several hours as I thaw them out in warm water before giving it to him. I found that I was unable to get a regular feeding schedule because I would not be able to dedicate 3 hours to being in my office on any regular day. I get pulled out frequently into the field, so I had to find another solution.

I decided to try a live rat. I dropped it in his enclosure and although I don't like the sound of the mouse dying, it is very VERY quick (not like they are suffering) and I felt like I really got to see how my snake would act in the wild. Instead of sniffing around and snapping at a pair of tongs, I witnessed the snake slowly creep up on an unexpecting rat before striking. It was really interesting and to me, the enjoyment my snake got out of it (and me) makes it worth it even though I don't particularly like riding home from the pet store with that cute little rat.

This also makes it much easier for me to regulate his feedings.... every Friday now!

I feed f/t and I feed in the enclosure. I either thaw my rats out on the counter (takes a couple hours) or I put them in the fridge and let them thaw over night. I warm them in hot water for 10 min and they're good to go! I try not to handle the rats with my bare hands bc I'm HIGHLY allergic to them! They stay in the baggie all through the thawing and heating process and then I handle them with tongs. With one of my snakes I don't even have to do a zombie rat dance...as soon as he smells it, it's over! My newest little guy still needs a little convincing, LOL, so the rat does a little dance all over the place!

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Originally Posted by straydog1980

I was feeding my BP frozen medium rats which he enjoyed, but the process to prepare them took several hours as I thaw them out in warm water before giving it to him. I found that I was unable to get a regular feeding schedule because I would not be able to dedicate 3 hours to being in my office on any regular day. I get pulled out frequently into the field, so I had to find another solution.

I decided to try a live rat. I dropped it in his enclosure and although I don't like the sound of the mouse dying, it is very VERY quick (not like they are suffering) and I felt like I really got to see how my snake would act in the wild. Instead of sniffing around and snapping at a pair of tongs, I witnessed the snake slowly creep up on an unexpecting rat before striking. It was really interesting and to me, the enjoyment my snake got out of it (and me) makes it worth it even though I don't particularly like riding home from the pet store with that cute little rat.

This also makes it much easier for me to regulate his feedings.... every Friday now!

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Yes thats the way I plan on doing it also. Just setting the mouse in the tank, and letting the snake sniff him out and slowly creep up on him. I figured that is the best way to feed them because in the wild they arn't going to get fed with tongs or frozen pre-killed prey. Also this way he can get a little extra exersize and I don't have to bother handling him before/after the feeding by tanking him out of his tank. I'm sure they enjoy hunting their food because its basically their instinct.

Holding the snake by the head, I smack the bejesus out of it with the rat to make it angry enough to strike..then leave them to it in the gladiators arena, and let nature do the rest.:rofl:









Seriously: I feed males and females alternately..not on the same day...so, open tub, drop in rat, move on to next tub. Give everyone 30 minutes..then make rounds to remove any uneaten prey.

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Originally Posted by PurplePython

Yes thats the way I plan on doing it also. Just setting the mouse in the tank, and letting the snake sniff him out and slowly creep up on him. I figured that is the best way to feed them because in the wild they arn't going to get fed with tongs or frozen pre-killed prey. Also this way he can get a little extra exersize and I don't have to bother handling him before/after the feeding by tanking him out of his tank. I'm sure they enjoy hunting their food because its basically their instinct.

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They are not hunting out of enjoyment, they are hunting because it is how they eat... you may or may not get a better feed response in the manner you described, but do what works for your snake.

I always hear "this is how they do it in the wild" but your snake is not in the wild, I will hazard a guess the snake is many generations deep into captivity? Eating off of tongs is just as effective, as is eating FT vs. eating live.

They get as much exercise hitting FT as they do live. Again, a captive snake has a limited range of movement and hunting range, so truly the difference in minimal (and ineffective).

Feed in what ever manner works for you and the snake.

Bruce

PS: I feed a combination of FT and live. Some FT I leave in overnight, others I zombie-dance around the enclosure, others need 20 minutes with live prey, other hit instantaneously, all depends on the snake.

I feed live mice because that is all my snakes will eat at this point. I just drop the mouse in the enclosure, superivse the feeding and then leave the snakes alone so they can eat in privacy.

I am trying to switch to frozen. My mojo male is a hide striker, and was scratched during the last live feeding. Stupid rat! How dare he scratch my snake. Lol.

It would calm my nerves if they would all switch to frozen, but if they would rather have live then so be it.

i feed my bp in a seperate 20 gallon tank.

All my snakes are fed p/k or f/t. Sometimes the only way to get my big female BP to eat is if I put her in a separate tub in a dark pre-scented dark room. All the others are fed in their enclosures using hemostats.

In a separate enclosure, f/t mice, typically dangling from my fingers by their tails. Most of my snakes won't go for a f/t mouse that's just lying there cold.

But I'm usually too lazy to grab the tongs unless I have to retrieve a dropped mouse from under a snake that's still staring intently at my empty fingers.

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Originally Posted by broadude

Holding the snake by the head, I smack the bejesus out of it with the rat to make it angry enough to strike..then leave them to it in the gladiators arena, and let nature do the rest.:rofl:

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HOLY COW!!! You made me laugh so hard! I totally got a visual on that!

i only feed f/t or fresh killed in separate tubs with no tongs just throw them in

I feed both my Spider and my normal live. My little spider, Parker, is only eating medium size mice. My normal, Sugar, is eating small / young rats. I watch over as they kill and eat, ready with tongs to prevent them getting bitten by the mouse/rat. Feeding takes place in a separate tub.

Mine ate live last night!!!! :banana::banana:

2 weeks ago to the hour, she had eaten a medium rat (pretty large for her) at the previous keeper's place. She was slow to eat it, but at least she did! That's the shortest period of time between feedings in her whole 6 years of life!

I have her conditions 91-94 warm side, 81-82 cool side, ambient 81-82, humidity 60-70%.

I was told this snake just won't eat, and not to bother trying more than every 2 months. I call bs. :irkd::rolleyes:

Anyway, I have a question...should I try the next time with a freshly killed rat? I'd like to get her on F/T. There's a local rat breeder that will give me a heck of a discount on quantity (ends up being $1 per small rat instead of $3 per).

Also, what's the best way to kill the rats to freeze them? I read one that worked ok last time -- "sack and whack". Just wondered if there's a different quick way. And, is there a way to stun a live rat so it wouldn't squirm in tongs? Thanks.:)

I feed frozen mice and rats.

I defrost in luke warm water right next to the tubs. I have to keep topping the water up every so often with hot water to keep it luke warm. It takes about 30 mins for a small mouse and about an hour for a small fat rat.

I then warm the water with the rat in up to fairly hot bath temperature for about a minute.

I then dry it of with paper towels and hold it by the tail and offer it a few inches away from the snake.

Jim

The snake pushes a button in his enclosure. Then a large ball bearing rolls along a track and falls onto a lever. The lever pulls back a string on a tiny bow and arrow. The ball bearing rolls off of the lever releasing the arrow which flies across the room an pushes a button that opens the door on the tunnel that runs from the mouse cage to the snake cage. Then the snake waits for dinner to arrive.

I feet f/t, so naturally I use tongs (not quite confident enough for hand-feeding ;) ). Imo, feeding outside of the enclosure is a waste of time. There are ways to deal with cage aggression, and feeding in a separate area is not one of them.

I feed f/t if at all possible. I have two shy feeders that I have to just leave the rat in right before I go to bed, one that hits the f/t as soon as its placed in the tub and one thats recently switched to f/t that takes a little convincing.
My snakes are not going to be any less snakey because they dont get to 'hunt' in a small enclosed space, there is -no- chance of injury or infection due to a bite or scratch regardless of how low most people consider it to be with live, and Im sorry, but the rat does suffer, anyone whos been choked out understands thats not a comfortable sensation by any means :P.

If I have to feed live to get them to switch I will, I wont knock on people who do feed live thats their decision, but in my opinion the -wild- argument is completely invalid, ever aspect of the wild has been removed with controlled captivity. Most snakes wont even eat once a week in the wild, and definitely not within a smallish tub or tank.