Discussion: Removing parts of F/T prey??

After feeding my rats today, I was thinking of ways that i could possibly make the task a bit easier on both myself and on my noodlekids.

I feed my snakes frozen thawed rats and I was wondering about what the results would be for two ideas I had:
1) Removing the hand/footpaws
2) Removing the tail

Shocking? Unnatural? Unnecessary? Detrimental?
I would say, Yes, Yes, Yes, No.

A bit more detail on why I think its at least worth a try

Claws- I can't tell you how many times (with gloves!) i've stuck myself on these dingdang rat claws, it stings and i'm always worried i'll contract WhozaWatchamaCallitCoccus and they often puncture the plastic baggies I use to heat them in the water. There's also the non zero chance they scratch or puncture the soft insides of my snakes. I figure using kitchen shears to snip them off while they're frozen shouldn't be much of a hassle at all (I haven't tried it yet, so i'm not sure how much bleed there could be.)

Tail- Its function for the rat is balancing and dissipating body heat via large blood vessels running through it. If you google "rat tail cross section"you'll see its about 70% bone, the rest being vessels, tendons and a small amount of muscle, which to me seems like removing would be the human equivalent of cutting the crusts off your sandwich. The reason I bring it up at all is that its a lot of unnecessary length for the snake to swallow. A snake's stomach is long, but its not infinite. Do you remember that time you were eating spaghetti and you swallowed, but one of the noodles was so long that it hung halfway out of your mouth but also still down in your throat and you coughed/gagged and hated every second of it? I'd wager that snakes can experience that same sensation. Human stomachs are sacks, so our food falls in and can spread out, snakes on the other hand just have a straight tube. Once that food is in there, it stays in that orientation the entire time (another reason most experts say to feed a single large meal rather than 2 smalls because they have to lineup behind each other). I don't see any harm in removing something thats appears not that nutritious and hangs outside of the stomach for X amount of time to waste space in the esophagus (I also have no idea how much bleed there could be removing a tail, but i'd still try it)

So, what are your thoughts on this? Worth a try? Silly? A hassle?

Tails are not bread crusts, lol. Our snakes have evolved eating whole prey animals- they need all the nutrients (minerals) from the bones (etc) just as much as any
thing else...they would not stay healthy eating "boneless rat wings" (if there was such a thing & if they were big enough). Even those pesky claws supply minerals.

So my answers are:
shocking? no; unnatural? well yes; unnecessary? yup! Detrimental? A big yes.

Now it's not rare for brittle frozen rodents to lose toes when jostled around prior to thawing, that's nothing to worry about. But I wouldn't remove parts intentionally.

Just because humans eat meat (unless vegan) & not usually the rest of the animal doesn't mean it's ok for snakes...we're omnivores & don't live on meat alone. Snakes get all their nutrition by eating the whole animal, & even the prey's GI tract supplies essentials.

I thank you for your reply!


(I see you around a lot, its nice knowing you're always there to lend advice :] )

Yikes ... right I’m a big softie at heart soooooooo..

I have a batch of frozen day old chicks but they’re soooo cute looking when they’re on tongs that I started snipping the heads off and now I’m just offering a little feathered ball :)


They’re only offered occasionally just to spice up their tedious diets .

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They're made to eat the whole prey, I'm sure snakes have evolved to deal with any problems claws and tails might pose at this point.

One of the reasons snakes don't suffer from the nutritional deficiencies that many other captive reptiles species do is because they eat whole prey, which ensures they get all the nutrition they need. Moreover, I have never heard of any instance of claws or tails causing any sort of problem for snakes, except if the prey was live, but of course it would be barbaric to clip the toes or teeth of live rodents!

The only instance I've heard of people removing parts of prey is clipping off the tips of the beaks of F/T chicks for young snakes.

While I guess that clipping claws and the tail wouldn't do any serious harm in the long run for a well fed pet snake, I just don't think there is anything to be gained from it. Besides, I think my voracious juvenile BP would not want to lose any part of his meals no matter how small lol

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

Yikes ... right I’m a big softie at heart soooooooo..

I have a batch of frozen day old chicks but they’re soooo cute looking when they’re on tongs that I started snipping the heads off and now I’m just offering a little feathered ball :)


They’re only offered occasionally just to spice up their tedious diets .

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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Now this adjustment seems a bit more important. The tails and claws i suggested are just bones and the rat has plenty enough in the rest of their skeleton, but the head of a chick has brains and eyes, which are much more crucial. However since you're feeding it as kind of a snack instead of their main diet, I can't say I see anything wrong with it.

I would like to put out the idea that just because something is occurring naturally, doesn't make it the best way by default (I'm not saying this in a passive-aggressive way mind you!). I just feel like its our responsibility as pet owners to examine all aspects of our care for our pets for ways to improve on it rather than just doing things out of convention. Consider the first person to suggest an all rat diet. I'm sure there was opposition, "Snakes don't eat just one thing in the wild. They won't get proper nutrition that way." or the person who first implemented UTH, "Basking lights are the most natural replication of the sun. Heat doesn't just radiate from underground in their habitats".

I clip beaks and sharp toenails/claws from fowl that I feed, as they have been known to scratch up the inside of a snake badly enough to get infected and eventually kill the animal.

Otherwise if I remove parts of a f/t feeder it's because I need that part for a specific purpose, such as feeding a tail to a snake that will take it as a "worm", or a hind leg from a jumbo mouse as an assist-fed meal for a non-feeding small snake.

Yea I agree, those rat nails are long and sharp! I got poked a few times as well. I had thought about clipping them (rat pedis?), but nah.. Too much work. Snake ate it fine. Is it beneficial with or without the nails and tail? Don't know. It makes an interesting experiment though.

P.S. I don't clip the beaks or feet off the chicks.

It won't hurt anything if you clip the nails/digits while frozen. It might be safer for the snake in the long run. Tails? I need them to hold on. Try feeding rabbits, talk about claws!

Now, think about the rodents in the wild, the claws are dulled by life.

I got scratched by a rat's nails over the weekend, and I wondered the same question.

I think you could clip the nails if you really wanted to, but I don't think it's really necessary.

I occasionally think about this, but for a different reason than the snakes getting scratched on the inside... sometimes, like this week, my ball python tries and fails to eat from the leg first and eventually has to back out, but then the rat's claws seem to catch on her teeth and she twists around with the rat dragging from her lower jaw until it finally unhooks and falls down. I know that it's very unlikely, but I always fret about this being the day that it doesn't get loose quickly and either twists her jaw, pulls out teeth, or causes her to panic.

I don't intend to trim claws because that scenario would be a fluke, but still.

I seriously lol’ed with the rat tail and noodle comparison.

I dont think u can ever compare a snake eating experience with a human unless u post a video of u swallowing a turkey whole.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I clip beaks and sharp toenails/claws from fowl that I feed, as they have been known to scratch up the inside of a snake badly enough to get infected and eventually kill the animal.

Otherwise if I remove parts of a f/t feeder it's because I need that part for a specific purpose, such as feeding a tail to a snake that will take it as a "worm", or a hind leg from a jumbo mouse as an assist-fed meal for a non-feeding small snake.

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wow! I've never thought to use limbs as feed for smaller reptiles. Thats a great idea! How do you get them to eat it in the right orientation or does it not matter which end of the leg they start from? How can they recognize it as food since it doesn't have a face? How do you remove the leg?

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Originally Posted by Danger noodles

I seriously lol’ed with the rat tail and noodle comparison.

I dont think u can ever compare a snake eating experience with a human unless u post a video of u swallowing a turkey whole.

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Don't think I won't! Thanksgiving is a-comin! :D

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Originally Posted by bcr229

I clip beaks and sharp toenails/claws from fowl that I feed, as they have been known to scratch up the inside of a snake badly enough to get infected and eventually kill the animal...

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I can totally see doing this- some fowl have real weapons, & even the few times I've fed chicks, I worried some because of the overall head/body shape & how it "went down". I've just never seen the need for giving pedicures to any rodents, & I'd never remove the tails, no reason at all (unless you need a piece to feed a snake that's still too tiny to take whole pinkies).

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Originally Posted by Joykoins

...or the person who first implemented UTH, "Basking lights are the most natural replication of the sun. Heat doesn't just radiate from underground in their habitats".

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Actually, while heat from the sun starts from above, the ground (rocks, roads & everything else) absorbs & retains heat...that's how snakes survive underground in the winter- by instinctively going several feet below earth, it stays warmer & keeps them from freezing to death. So it's not at all unnatural
for heat to radiate from their underground habitats...they evolved to utilize this very thing.

Go to Africa or any desert and walk around barefoot and see if it’s hot. The sidewinder rattlesnake adapted to this crazy heat. No the heat doesn’t penetrate super deep but royal pythons dens are not that deep. Have u ever seen them dig them out of a den? It’s normally not but a few feet deep

Speaking as the idiot who used to get bitten by frozen rats all the time when I worked in a pet shop :oops: ....

Once they are thawed I have never had any real issues - if they are all contorted I usually straighten them out by hand before offering.


dr del

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Originally Posted by dr del

Speaking as the idiot who used to get bitten by frozen rats all the time when I worked in a pet shop :oops: ....

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:rofl: But seriously, I can see it when they're all stuck together & you have to separate them in a hurry...(trying to give you some cover here) :giggle: