Anybody else NOT do the zombie dance?

I started feeding my BPs F/T a few months ago and i automatically thought i needed to do the zombie dance so they could eat. I tried this for a few weeks and then one day i just thought "what if i just put the rat in there?" So i tried it. 3 of my 5 eat every time this way. One is hit or miss and i sometimes end up doing the zombie dance. And one will only take it if i do the zombie dance. How many of you have a real easy time fedding F/T?

I dont do the usual "dance", personally I think it would be harder to "lock on" for the snake. Ive noticed with loki I just thaw the mouse and hold it a few inches away from him. No movement needed, once he smalls it he perks up, double checks that it's food, and hits it. It doesn't take him long at all to realize it's food, not me.

Not only do I do the dance, I like to make up funny voices while doing it too. :dance: (but usually they hit it before I can do anything)

I used to have to do the zombie dance but since my two bp's have grown all I have to is open the tub lids and present the prey near their faces and they strike and coil just beautifully.

I have to coax my BRB to eat with the Zombie Dance, but it just scares my Ball Python. My Ball wants the mouse left on the floor of her cage with the lights off only after 10:00 at night. The mouse had better be at least 100 degrees F. It will disappear between 10:00 and 10:10. My Corn snake likes a mouse scent trail with a mouse hidden at the end of it under some substrate, so she can slither after it and eat it in secret. My BCI never gives me a chance to do anything. Usually I am just sitting outside his tank looking at a piece of tail in the tongues wondering where the rodent went. The BCI has a wicked fast strike.

David

I only zombie dance when someone is looking like they're thinking about maybe eating, but haven't made up their mind. Usually adult males, usually this time of year. Other than that, nope!

DANCE?

We don't need no Stinking Dance!!

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...679dfb420c.jpg

I have small handful of animals that require a dance. I'm lucky if I can get the rat/mouse in front of their face before they launch out of the tub looking for food!

It just comes down to what your BP prefers. I don't think any of mine like the dance. I don't let my boyfriend feed them anymore because he goes in there with the rat like a freaking wrecking ball and scares the poop out of the snakes. He tells me "You have to move it more!" and I hate wasting the rats when the snakes are too freaked to eat it -__-

I just slowly lower the rat in and they usually take it like that, otherwise I've had a lot of success with rubbing the rat on their body if they don't take it right away (lower body, away from the snakes head, as getting too close to their head usually sends the snake into flight mode, in my experience anyway). One of our girls wouldn't eat F/T, so we started rubbing her body with it instead, she would coil throw, then get mad and turn around and slam it. This works like a charm for her every time, so you just have to figure out what works for each of them ;)
We've found our male is more likely to eat the F/T if we drop it in his cage and cover him up/leave him alone with it.

I feed live so no need for dancing. Most of my snakes have such a good appetite that they will snatch up the rat before it can touch the tub floor!

I only have boas now so I do not. I just throw the rats in there and they are gone 10/10 times

Don't usually have to, they tend to strike right away. My Enchi female struck so fast I didn't have time to turn the rat towards her and as a result she got the side of the head along with the rubber tips of the 12" tongs I was using. It was not easy to get the tongs back from her! LOL

Mine don't get the zombie "dance", it's more like the zombie amble...

Im just glad that i dont struggle too much to feed them F/T. Live is still way easier.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Mine don't get the zombie "dance", it's more like the zombie amble...

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Some get a seriously spazzy dance, some get the amble, some get the staredown, some get drug straight towards their head, some come flying out faster than I can get the rat in there that the rat only wishes it had time to dance (those are the ones that make ME do a little dance!). Ultimately, it comes down to knowing your animals and what generates a good feeding response in each of them.

:gj:

No dancing dinner here... My baby ball doesn't even strike at mice. If I do "the dance", she looks at me like I'm crazy and goes back to her usual business. Thought I had a "dud" ball python at first, but learned that she's just different...to say the least. She's a great eater, nonetheless. Instead, I just place the F/T on his rock and then she knows what time it is. :)

We don't usually need a dance, but we do have a bit of a ritual. First, I put the frozen mouse on the shelf next to her tank, so she can see a mouse(this gets her hungry pretty fast). Then I stand in front of her and dunk the mouse in and out of a cup of hot water. She locks on to it and gets into that striking pose. Then it's a little game to see if I can get the mouse hot enough for her to take it, then dry it and give it to her before she strikes the glass. If she's ready to eat, all I need to do is dangle the mouse an inch or so above her face. She looks up and the mouse is taken.But I have to be quick, because if it's there longer than ten seconds or so, the mouse cools down. And if she smells it cooling down, she figures out it's dead, and no amount of reheating it will get her to take it.

She will refuse a mouse if I don't stand in front of her with the water. Like I have to do that or else it's not time to feed. And way back when I fed her in a box instead of in her tank, she'd 'kill' the mouse, but wouldn't eat unless I was sitting next to the box. She has some weird issues.