Best place for snake to strike mouse

is the head the best place for them to strike a mouse?
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n...Picture063.jpg

I would say yes if you feed live like i do its the best place that way the rat or mouse cant come back around and bite the snake :D

What you have to do is get a non-toxic marker and paint a bullseye on the mouse's head so the snake has a target to aim for. :-)

Just kidding, definitely don't do that.

JonV

Heck yeah! By the head is the way to go!

The head is definitely a good place for the snake to hit. I always worry when one of my snakes hits a rat low on the rat's body. When that happens it is much easier for the rat to potentially bite or harm the snake.

hey bud i would knock out the feeder before giving it to the snake, I unfortunately lost a young albino berm when i was younger and just starting out with snakes and i know a berm wasn't the best starter. anyways i put the rat with the burm and it hit the rat by the side didnt get a good coil arond it and the rat bit the head of my burm, killing it instantly. so now a always with my ball pythons knock it out where its stunned and put it infront of the snake the feeder will still jump but it wont comprehend to bite back... I say never take a chance bud...

And don't take that advice above me. Either feed live or feed f/t. "Thumping" the prey item is inhumane, and gives the prey a chance to "come to". When they do, they are scared and in pain, so they will lash out at the only thing available: Your snake.

Your snake knows where to strike, they have been doing it for millions of years.

best way to avoid your snake getting bit, let it do the work and keep some hemostadts in case the rat/mouse starts chomping, you can use them to move the prey's mouth away from your snake!

Lesser gets his prey by the mouth almost every time, but it started to worry me after I read a thread about a mouse biting the inside of his snakes mouth and alot of issues afterwards. Im sure that that was a one in a billion shot, because my mouses head cant move in the clutch of allmighty lessers mouth:D

I always wear gloves when I feed mine so if my snake grabs too low and the mouse/rat has a chance to bite him I pull the rodents head back so there is no chance. I would rather be a bit "inhumane" then let my snake be bitten.

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Originally Posted by Cop

I always wear gloves when I feed mine so if my snake grabs too low and the mouse/rat has a chance to bite him I pull the rodents head back so there is no chance. I would rather be a bit "inhumane" then let my snake be bitten.

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lol, once the snake has grabbed the prey all bets are off. I don't think moving it's sharp little fangs away from your snake is going to cause it any MORE discomfort than being strangled. I recently got my first hungry ball bite. someone could have been trying to break my finger and I probably wouldn't have noticed due to the constriction! XD

it was pretty funny, but doing my best to keep to from happening again!

i have to say if your too sensitive about being inhumane then get a rabbit as a pet dont be owning snakes and start saying the wrong and inhumane man please you buy rats and put them in the cage with your snake you think it dosent know whats going on. please man thats my method and it works great i never had a rat bite or attempt a bite ever. but live isnt the way im telling i know some snakes only eat luve but my method is the next best thing to it and thats stunning the rat so it still is moving..... and please dont tell me you guys dont enjoy watching your snake eat i know i love it. and its really cool anyways take it or dont, dosent bother me ok bye

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Originally Posted by darkbloodwyvern

lol, once the snake has grabbed the prey all bets are off. I don't think moving it's sharp little fangs away from your snake is going to cause it any MORE discomfort than being strangled. I recently got my first hungry ball bite. someone could have been trying to break my finger and I probably wouldn't have noticed due to the constriction! XD

it was pretty funny, but doing my best to keep to from happening again!

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I'm saying that I don't want the rodent to bite my snake and when he strikes him in the wrong spot I stop the rat from biting my snake.

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Originally Posted by royalballs

i have to say if your too sensitive about being inhumane then get a rabbit as a pet dont be owning snakes and start saying the wrong and inhumane man please you buy rats and put them in the cage with your snake you think it dosent know whats going on. please man thats my method and it works great i never had a rat bite or attempt a bite ever. but live isnt the way im telling i know some snakes only eat luve but my method is the next best thing to it and thats stunning the rat so it still is moving..... and please dont tell me you guys dont enjoy watching your snake eat i know i love it. and its really cool anyways take it or dont, dosent bother me ok bye

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Stunning the prey is an incredibly stupid idea. If you want to completely avoid a possible snake bite, pre-kill the prey or feed F/T.

what kind of complications can come from a snake being bitten by a rat?

Depends on the size of the rat. I feed live but whenever I feed s snake a larger rodent I CO2 it first. I had a mouse wake up from a stun and go pysco a few years ago. The small rats that I feed live are so overmatched by the snakes I feed them to that it is lights out as soon as they strike, no worries about retaliation. I think its when you feed larger adult rodents you see alot more fight. Thats why I dont like mice(they are nasty lil buggers) and prekill any rat larger than a small.

I also raise my own rats which are hand tame so they are not stress out and as defensive. I think this helps, I have seen live rodents that are stressed out that go bonkers, again a waking stunned one could go Rambo, I've seen it.

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Originally Posted by bigT

what kind of complications can come from a snake being bitten by a rat?

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The same kind of implications as lets say...a big dog biting you, and don't have the means to get medical help or dress the wound. Rats can leave a NASTY bite on a human, now imagine that on an animal 1/50th your size. Its almost like a shark bite!

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Originally Posted by bigT

what kind of complications can come from a snake being bitten by a rat?

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An large rats has very long teeth, like some mentioned earlier in the thread it he bit down right through the top of the snakes head it was lights out!

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Originally Posted by West Coast Jungle

An large rats has very long teeth, like some mentioned earlier in the thread it he bit down right through the top of the snakes head it was lights out!

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Absolutely, rats are not just a prey item for some animals, they are a well armed predator.

Basically, anywhere a snake can grab a rodent without being bitten by the rodent is good enough imo.

I feed live holding the rat with the tongs so the snake always gets a good strike at his head.

when the snake strikes low, i have like a chopstick so the mouse can bite it instead of my snake.

they are the perect ambush predator, my snakes 99/100 grab the rat/mouse by the snout and its all over, if the odd time its a bad strike i just monitor the whole time, simple

i fed my new arrival (a rescue...) today and ended up feeding it 2 mice. the first mouse, the snake only caught by the FOOT... so it was kind of traumatic. i thought for SURE at one or two points that the mouse had chomped onto my snake, but in the end i was mistaken and the snake got lucky. second mouse got it head first.... twas beautiful lol...

Well, I'm sure I will get a "you're inhumane!" response to this, but here goes anyway...

My situations is 'special'... that is becuase my snake is 'special'... and I do mean 'special' :rolleyes: He has been a horrible eater ever since he was young. I got him from a very reputable breeder and he was very healthy and has been ever since... except that he's a little... um... off...

First - he is sooooooo picky, he will only eat live, white, male rats :confused:

Second - he will eat them forwards, backwards, sideways, or any other way he can get them down if I don't intervene and turn the feeder so the rat's head is near my bp's mouth.

Third - (and this is what leads to the 'inhumane' part) I have only had him 3 1/2 years and can count on one hand the number of times he has hit the feeder in the head... even though I hold the rat with tongs so he can get a cleen strike. As a result... three bites from feeders! Two were fairly superficial because the rat only caught a part of his skin. The third, however, was pretty nasty and it took a lot of diligence in keeping away serious infection. SO... since he will only eat live (tried frozen, CO2, and pre-killed - as in not moving) and if fully alive, has a high risk of injury, I have to break necks. Then I feed immediately while nerves are still 'kicking'. It is this inhumane?... guess it's a fine line for some, but for a neck to break instantaneously and then within seconds be in coils... I doubt it is any less painful than a bite and constriction! AND my bp can eat "live" without any chance of injury from a feeder bite.

Some may think that is inhumane but in your case it's the last resort. You have tried all of the above and nothing has worked for you. Since, you do love your snake you have to feed it. Correct? So, at all costs to it's food. You have to do what you have to do. My 2 cents.

Otherwise, my Ball pretty much catches them right behind the ear and faces their mouth away from her and gets them just like that and....


WAM! ALL DONE!:snake: