feeding with tongs

Do you use feeding tongs (hemostats, whatever you use) to feed or do you feed them by hand/drop the prey in?

I have been using feeding tongs because I would rather the mice not have a chance at biting my animals and the snake doesnt seem to mind either. I refuse to feed them by hand because quite frankly i try to avoid getting bitten. My boa lunges at me on feeding day (As do a couple of the balls when they know i have dinner near by) and it just makes me feel better im not within 6" of their mouths (Assuming they dont miss) i was just wondering who else, breeders included feed by way of tongs.

well, Im not a breeder, but I feed 14 snakes every Sat, and I have never used tongs. I use the tail of the prey. This insures that the head is struck first (well most of the time). Sometimes they will get the legs and the face, but still not able to bite!

My son feeds our bp and he uses rubber tipped tongs just because he is more comfortable doing it that way. Our bp has a pretty strong feeding response and he just doesn't want to get bitten. I'm also afraid that if he gets bitten so early in the game that he will lose interest so I'm all for the tongs. I'm sure one of these days he will get tagged but if we can lessen the chances, then why not.

I feed f/t and just hold by the tail. Only been bit once by a snake with bad aim. I'm looking at a retic so if/when I get that I'll certainly be switching to tongs.

I have redtails, and hogs, and the one that scares me the most is the Carpet python!

Hmmm.... interesting idea. Maybe I'll get a pair of hemostats and try that. My ball was a little put off by how active his rat was last week (he'd had a few mice in the prior weeks) so perhaps that would work better.

I use tongs. I pick the rat up Wack it on the side of the rack And wham! The snake gets it by the head. If the snake ever gets it by the neck, I use the tongs and Sqweeze the face off of the rat so it does not bite my beloved snake! I hate rodents!!!:)

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Originally Posted by JASBALLS

I use tongs. I pick the rat up Wack it on the side of the rack And wham! The snake gets it by the head. If the snake ever gets it by the neck, I use the tongs and Sqweeze the face off of the rat so it does not bite my beloved snake! I hate rodents!!!:)

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:rofl::rofl::rofl::8::8::8:

I second that ":rofl::rofl::rofl::8::8::8:"

f/t wooden tongs - hold by the tail. I still jump when they strike :)

guess I'm addicted to the little adrenaline rush

Just one ball python here and I use my hand. Just grab the rat by the tail and drop him in. He's only a few months old right now, and I feed him in a 10 gallon tank. I just drop the rat in the side he's not.

I use tongs to feed....I grab the live rat/mouse by the back of the neck.

Tongs for the ball, and older corns, but for da babies, they get my hand! Easyer for a smaller snake to use hands..imo.

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Originally Posted by Noek

f/t wooden tongs - hold by the tail. I still jump when they strike :)

guess I'm addicted to the little adrenaline rush

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I jump too....and I'm not even the one feeding! LOL

Yea, I hold by the tail for everyone now. I just recently stopped using tongs for my carpet though, he's probably the most high strung of all my snakes when it comes to feeding time and it took me a while to get used to how he strikes.

And I totally still jump when they strike too. I even jump when my little 10 inch Spotted python strikes. :rofl:

i use tongs for my girl only because she's starting to get big.. ( not terribly big, 500 grams or so ) but i feel safer feeding her with tongs. she's always been on F/T but she's missed before and when my hand is a similar temp as her rats and probably smells like them because i've been "preparing dinner" i'd rather not have her latched on to me in a feeding strike. poor girl, she missed the memo on her prey being already dead ( she constricts for at least 5 minutes, then decides she's done a good job, and eats her rat).

We use hemostats for all our snakes and will always do so. Using stats allows my grandkids to help out and really minimizes the chances for an accidental hit!

I have 4 bps and feed f/t with hemostats. If a snake is already waiting for food it will snatch them from the hemostats. If not I set the rat on the snake's hide and go away for a few minutes and when I come back the rat is either gone or in the snake's grip.

I use feeding tongs here for my four balls. I have one girl who tries to tag me almost every week, her rats never even touch the floor, and I wouldn't want to be dropping that rat in with my bare hands! I still jump when they strike too!

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Originally Posted by TanyaL

I jump too....and I'm not even the one feeding! LOL

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I jump when they take their sweet time; flicking their tongues, moving the head around, getting into the strike position then WHAM! Gets me every time!! I'm glad they are so fast cause I jump so that I darn near pull the rat back out of the tub!! Silly snakes!

I use a huge pair of hemostats and I still feel like sometimes its not enough, and no matter how many times I feed them, it still scares the crap out of me everytime they strike. I almost got tagged last night, she took one look at the rat, one look at me, and decided I was a better meal and she nearly flew out of the tub at me, good thing she's in the bottom tub .;) I also find it very ironic that that happens to be the snake I named Pandora, I'm always scared to open her "box" lol.

I don't use tongs. I do make sure I've scented the room well and then I drop them in. I figure you're more likely to get in their way the more you try to 'help'.

I am snake sitting a bp for a friend. The first 2 months I just dropped F/T in tank and it would take him an hour to eat. Then I switched to rubber tipped tongs. BAM! Strike every time. Last nite though I had a little mouse and he bit the tongs with the mouse. I was able to pry his mouth loose and he finished up the mouse. No blood and only an indentation in tong so I dont think he lost a tooth.

I tend to use tongs even though I feed f/t because once the room is scented, he'll strike at anything that moves. I just just kitchen tongs, though - he has his own set. It's especially tricky if he's in blue. He still wants to eat, but clearly can't see much of anything!

Entropy. I love you default picture... Mmmmmm Crown....