Best way to offer rat on Tongs

What is the best/safest way to offer the rat on tongs - is it by the scruff of the neck or by the tail?? What do you all do??

Thanks

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by L.West

What is the best/safest way to offer the rat on tongs - is it by the scruff of the neck or by the tail?? What do you all do??

Thanks

---

i dont have a boa so take this with a grain of salt, but with my bp i grab the scruff on the back so it sits as natural as possible, but as of late i have had to get my bp about ready to strike then drop the rat and he hits it as soon as it hits the ground.

I hold the f/t by the base of the tail with tongs.

I hold my f/t by the scruff of neck for my bp but I"m unsure how it compares to a boa.

Edit: Just realized this is the boas thread and not bps, whoops

I've used both techniques and both have worked for me and my snakes. With something like this, I say go with whatever works for you and your snake.

I always do it by the base of the tail. Might depend on you snake and how readily it will take frozen/thawed. try from the tail or scruff of neck if it doesn't seem life-like enough.

I have always offered by holding it by the scruff of the neck but last night while feeding - my largest boa seemed like he may have hit the tongs a bit and I was scared I had hurt him thus the reason for my question.

I want to be sure I am doing this right so as not to hurt them in any way.

All my boys eat great - never refuse a meal.

I always hold the rodent by the end of the tail ( tongs) and it virtually guarantees they get hold of the head -- never considered doing it any other way tbh


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Scruff of neck for me. Never had an issue.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by L.West

What is the best/safest way to offer the rat on tongs - is it by the scruff of the neck or by the tail?? What do you all do??

Thanks

---

The bonus of just holding the tail is that it , I feel , that it minimises the chance of the tongs also getting caught up in things ...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

By the scruff.. In general, this makes it better seen as food for picky snakes and also seems to help with aim, since you can point the rat's nose in their face.

I started offering by the scruff ever since my first snake refused f/t if I offered by tangling from the tail LOL

I guess I will continue to do as I have always done - offer by the scruff.

Thanks to all of you who chimed in.

Appreciate the help.

Well...... In my experience if ya warm it up well with a hairdryer and offer instantly you can offer it 'balls first' and they will still take it :)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

I always offer by the tail most of the time as sometime if I’ve offered by the scruff they have come off the branch at such speed they have wrapped round the tongs aswell and had to retrieve them after dinner was over, not good when it’s the first one of many,loll


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

I hold them just above the hips. Better control than the scruff, way more natural position to present it to the snake in than by the tail. Seems to work for both the pythons, and the rosy boa :)

i hold the rodents by the backlegs i've had a tail detach before lol.

Sent from my LG-M151 using Tapatalk

When I was feeding a lot of pre killed rodents I tried holding them by the scruff of the neck. I had quite a few snakes hit the tongs, probably several at every feeding. I switched to holding them by the middle / end of the tail and it fixed the problem. If you have a problem feeder you may have better luck holding by the scruff of the neck as it's a bit more natural. I've also laid the snake on the bottom of the cage and pulled it back and forth / side to side by the tail, that's about as natural as you can get and keeps the tongs further away from the snake.

Usually I grab them about the middle of the back. Never had one strike or hit the tongs before.

I think I will try out the "middle of the back" next time. I don't like them hitting the tongs at such a force. Seems like eventually someone is going to get hurt.

All the opinions have been very helpful.

Thanks to all