Munching (Dialup Warning)

I've been away from this forum for quite awhile now. *apologies* This summer I spent an extensive amount of time away from home, travelling the country before college started. However, while I was away from here, I was not away from ball pythons themselves, as my babies are doing quite well.

Now in college I get home every other weekened to see them, and on the off weekends my uncle (a snake owner himself) is more than happy to feed them. So, here are some pictures from a few months ago (taken so I could print them all out and show them to my roomies who are terrified of snakes, and keep them close to my heart)



Dinnertime:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...CCruciaMAD.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...iConstrict.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...RomeEating.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...omeEating2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...omeEating3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...omeEating4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...omeEating5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...omeEating6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...omeEating7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...omeEating8.jpg

Great pics :D

woha,
thats pretty brave feeding a bp with another one close enough to pick up a feeding response. anything ever happen?
that could be dangerous to you and to your snakes. just giving you a heads up :)

they were both eating/

even so, its not a great practice.

Ohh wow. I didnt even notice there were two snakes in those pictures. I didnt see the other one.

Hey brandon, havent been talking to you in a while man, how's the corn?

Ok ... lets get this back on topic.


Astra_Valyesky, they look good. However i have a couple of questions. Are you feeding more than one at at time near eachother? Are you just feeding on the floor?

Quote:

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Hey brandon, havent been talking to you in a while man, how's the corn?

---

ohh shes doin pretty good, calming down alot with more and more handling, definitly not the same snake she was awhile ago...........but she has her little pissy moments every now and then.I managed to get tagged by her a few weeks ago, i went for her water bowl and then thats when she got me, didnt hurt a bit tho :D

I agree, that is not safe at all...feeding multiple animals in the same vicinity is just WRONG. And it appears that they are just on plain carpet...dirty at that...that's not safe either!

are u feeding them on ur carpet?

Great pictures though. I really like the 4th and 5th ones, where you have almost a matchbox cars loop of bp eating.

I also agree that would be a really bad practice to have them that close to eat...Please tell us it was just for pictures...and it was only once :P

Yes, I do feed them together, and I do generally feed them on the carpet. However, I'm not too worried just yet about feeding them together as they're placed a great distance apart (generally five feet if not more) and before the second of the pair is set down, the first is already working on their meal (which is why in the image the one was just starting on the head, when the other was midway through feeding). As soon as one is done, they're returned to their tanks. The carpet, that too I don't see much wrong with, it's cleaned just as often as the snake's cages themselves (as the room they are in just for the snakes themselves). The little bits there generally come from cleaning out the cages and is vaccumed, but larger bits are always cleared up before feeding. The reason they look quite so close in the last photo is because the female tends to move a bit while feeding, especially just when she's gotten the legs in and she's stretching out. However once they start reaching yard-length in size they'll be fed at separate times and in their own areas.

Ingesting carpet fibers...ingesting other things that were dropped into your carpet.. Bloody exploding mice guts into your carpet...the works :) It's just not very sanitary (for you, or the snakes, really).

Nice snakes you have there. I like the coloration on the first one; looks nice and golden.

I would advise perhaps putting them in a rubbermaid while feeding them, and feeding them one at a time if possible. I only say this because it's easier to keep track of one snake eating than two. And the rubbermaid would prevent any lint an' stuff from getting on the food, as well as protect your carpet from the infamous exploding-rat theory. :)

I think that makes sense. I'll pick up a large rubbermaid tonight at Wal*Mart. Never had a mousie explode yet, but I've seen them come close o.O :D. And thank you, the male is a more vibrant golden colouration than the female, he's also a very large puss and hates any attention given to him. :3 as you can see from the first picture he also likes to snap when feeding, he'll strike five or six time's before he's had enough of a work-out to latch on to the food.

cheers to being an old member. This site has changed alot since you last posted I believe(well depending on how long ago you last posted)

Thank you, and yes it has. I don't think I recognize _anyone_ yet (besides KLG). It's also a bit more antagonistic than I remember, I find myself having to defend my claims as a snakeowner more than enjoy an atmosphere of peers.

Astra, I remember you from before. The tone of the site has changed somewhat with a lot of newer members and the average age having dropped, but it's still generally friendlier and more supportive than most reptile communities. I hope to keep it positive as we grow.

I remember you too.
I think that this place is still awesome. Sometimes people have a way of appearing a little "strong" when giving their opinion, or putting others in line. But I think alot of it actually has to do with the medium itself; typing, it is often hard to convey just what we are saying. if it were a verbal exchange, it'd be a lot easier to tell what emotions people are feeling as they talk.
Overall though, this place is a lot, lot more mature and enriching than some other forums I go to.

It is very difficult to bring across the proper tone inflection of your words when you are typing. This is why very often people think that what they are reading is an attack on them or might be a little harsh toward them. Usually it ends up being a misinterpretation or misunderstanding.

Great looking snakes by the way!

Yes, this place has always been far more helpful than most other herp forums to be found online. Something still to be proud of. And I will credit the harder tone to text-based speech rather than verbal communication. Drop in age is to be expected I suppose as younger people find a love in snakes...I was there once :D

Thank you Eddie.