First attempt at feeding bp with F/T rat hopper

[MidMoLineman]

Well first attempt at feeding blade was a success. He was fed only mice by his PO. I bought a frozen hopper just a bit smaller than the largest part of his body. I thawed in hot water and used a blow dryer to finish. He was really looking for that rat when i was blow dryin it near his cage lol!

Now i damced the rat a bit and rustled a bit. He never struck but after a few minutes going over the rat he just opened up and slowly ate it. Is this normal for no attack response?

Just curious and happy. Now maybe i will get that Tokay i've had my eye on. Oh and pics will come when i get to a puter since i'm on my iPhone right now.

Alan

[bad-one]

Congrats, and some will just eat it like that. My three f/t eaters will strike if I let them, and two of those would just eat it like that if I left it lying in the cage

[SnakeGirl3]

Yeah, I've got a few that don't strike, they just begin eating. I think they've figured out that their meals are already dead, but that's just me.

[jjc]

I just posted a thread about this...the title was something about not being a killing machine. Simon eats like a champ, but he doesn't waste any energy in doing so. He doesn't strike his prey, and he only bothers to coil it if he tries to eat it backwards and can't get past the hind legs. If he tries to eat it backwards, he will flail around and coil a bit before he gives up and takes it from the head.

I have no other snakes to reference, but Simon is a great eater, and he has never struck at anything (rodent or human). I believe I've compared watching him eat to watching a cat eat dry food (he's that exciting, lol). I'll take that over a finicky eater any day, though.

[Covington]

I have a big het pied yhat has eaten just like that since the beginning. Never misses a meal, in shed or not. All the others strike an squeeze. I called her a lazy fat butt however maybe she"s just smarter than all of the others.