Tongs or other?

I have always prescented the room and then placed the rat in with my bp (supervised).

I was wondering what every one else does. I would make a poll but just can't figure it out.

For feeding my ball pythons I don't use tongs, I hold the rat by their tail and dangle it in front of the snake and they are eaten.

For feeding all my snakes, I use 12'' hemostats and dangle f/t prey.

I want to keep my hands WAY back from my carpet python, you wouldn't BELIEVE her strike range. I even keep my hands out of the cage and around the corner while dangling the rat in via hemostats.

The young BRBs get hand-shy by having all that warm body mass near them while feeding.

I drop the rat in and supervise with chopstick in hand.

BP I open the tub drop the live rat in the tub - no tongs used

Colubrids I use tongs since I feed F/T most of the time.

I feed F/T and I use tongs, just because my hand has a better heat signature than the mouse, and I don't enjoy being bitten by anything, so...

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Originally Posted by llovelace

I drop the rat in and supervise with chopstick in hand.

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Dont forget the teriyaki sauce:gj:

I use 18 in hemostats and feed f/t

Quote:

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Originally Posted by llovelace

I drop the rat in and supervise with chopstick in hand.

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LOL. I do that too. I have a long cooking chop stick I use incase the rat gets feisty.

12 inch hemostats and f/t....never heard of prescenting a room? But I never had something refuse to eat, either?

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Originally Posted by ed4281

LOL. I do that too. I have a long cooking chop stick I use incase the rat gets feisty.

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Whenever I feed live, I ALWAYS place a "chomper" (chop stick, hemostats, whatever is around around and fits) in the rat's mouth after the snake strikes and coils. They chew on it as they expire, and never think twice about trying to bite the snake.

I haven't had to feed live in a year and a half though (except for one harmless pinky mouse since the store was out of f/t)

I use tongs. I use a blow dryer to warm f/t rats and prescent the room and after that blow dryer has been running for a few minutes all of my snakes are out ready for food. Most of the time my snakes strike almost immediately when I open the tub (I could put just about anything in the tub and they would strike at it). I have a feeling that if I didn't use tongs, I would have a bloody hand after every feeding.

I don't use tongs when I feed live. My snake is now on f/t so I use 16" hemostats. He has an insane feeding response because he is just a baby and I really don't want my hands near him, lol.