My BP's have no killer instinct.

I'm wondering if your snakes are quick to strike live prey or if they have to work up the nerve to strike. One of my ladies is completely terrified of live prey while the other will strike if she is given sufficient time and the prey remains motionless while she is debating. I used to watch Snakebytes on youtube and some of those snakes would come up out of the tubs after the rat. I know it was probably edited to show the only the most spectacular feedings, but it makes me wonder what typical python attacks are like.

i dont know about live but on f/t mine doesnt even strike really.. he comes out of his hide really slow like hes gonna smell and just as hes about to touch it he moves to the side a little bit grabs it then curls around it really fast but no real strike.. he takes it off the tongs like a dog would lol real nice and easy out of your hands then once its in their mouth its chomping time lol

and i know what your talking about with snakebytes if them jumping out is common i have an uncommon snake lol

not sure if anything i said goes with what you were saying though lol:D

Most of my snakes are on frozen thawed and will not strike the prey at all. I just leave the dead prey in their enclosure and thay eat it without pretending to kill it :D. In my experience my snakes lost their instinct to strike the prey at around the 1000g sub adult range. I have 5 adult ball pythons and only my 1 normal female still strikes her prey consistently.

Iv actually been lucky. All 6 of my BP's sit at the top of the tub waiting for me to open it. Tho i do give the room a good pre-scent so it gets everyone and feeding mode. Its like teasing BP's :) Give them the smell of food and let them sit there and take in the smell of dead rodents YUM! Gets mines in the perfect feeding mode :)

As for the boas.. Well it doesnt matter if i pre-scent or not u just stick it in there they will take it no matter what rofl.

I have a 5 month old male normal that sometimes strikes when I give him f/t small rats and other times I have just have to leave the rat in the enclosure with him. I also have another bp that strikes all over the place when I put the live prey in the enclosure.

I have many snakes, especially females, who will come flying out of the bin at you if you don't keep your limbs out of the way during 'feeding season'--they do not care if it's live, dead, FT, or pink with purple polka-dots, they are ready to eat it. lol...

At this point (20", 170g) Fang strikes fast and hard when I dangle a F/T mouse in front of him.

I have a little bitty het pied guy who seems to not know how to be a snake. He came to me as a problem feeder, and is really small (so small I keep him in a tank by my bed, so I keep an extra eye on him). He will strike live after much waiting, and just eats f/t, but he also doesn't seem to know how to shed right either. I've had to help him with both of his sheds so far. Its a good thing he's so darn cute.

Every single other BP that I have strikes f/t with gusto.

Some snakes just don't get it!

My little girl is always a little hesitant to feed. She seems to wait and get a real good sniff of it first before she strikes. I think I'm going to try thawing the food in the room with her before I feed her.

Well after feeding frozen thawed or dead for so long they will loose their natural feeding response, hence why I hate to feed frozen thawed. All my snakes eat Live great and will come out of the bin if you don't immediately put it in there.

I've had even the nicest snakes lunge out of the tub towards the prey since i always feed live. I feel feeding a snake dead prey is like feeding a human LIVE prey, it just wasn't meant to happen and is un-natural.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

I have many snakes, especially females, who will come flying out of the bin at you if you don't keep your limbs out of the way during 'feeding season'--they do not care if it's live, dead, FT, or pink with purple polka-dots, they are ready to eat it. lol...

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Been there, done that! I bought myself a big normal female being sold right after laying a clutch. I had no idea they were such eating machines! She'd hit her F/T rat so hard, she almost dislocated my shoulder a few times!

Gale

I guess I can put mine down as problem feeders. Schrodinger, my big girl, is a rescue and was only fed (underfed) a couple of mice here and there. She was taking F/T but has refused the past couple of months. She wants nothing to do with live prey and runs away from them. Dasia, my little girl, has size issues and likes little rats. But she takes forever sizing them up and deciding whether she wants to eat or not. The past couple of years Dasia has gone off feed for the winter so her behavior hasn't got me too concerned.

Still there is a reptile show in Dec. and I think I'll pick up a few ASF's and see if a little hit of Python crack gets their attention.

Thanks for all the replies.

The snakes at BHB are accustomed to being offered food when the tub opens, so they probably get ready as soon as they scent the f/t rodents thawing. But I bet they have their problem feeders, too--it just doesn't make for very interesting video, watching a snake repeatedly refuse a mouse.

Most of my bps have gone through a period where they're clearly scared of their dead mice. When I finally get them to eat--or when I break down and offer live--it's like they're still scared, but the rodent is moving around in such a way that they can't help themselves, they have to bite.

I let mine slow thaw on top of the racks... and hit them with a hair dryer right before I give them to mine.. They will take about 2-3 sec of looking at it.. and it is gone..

my girl sometimes gets overzealous and will strike at anything during feeding time. even had her lunge out of the tub once.