Two eaters, one non-eater

[Marla]

Not too bad, I guess. Snyder took an f/t adult mouse and it was a little big for her and took a while to get down, but stretching the skin to eat did start her shed going. And there was no hesitation or coaxing needed, so that's good, too.

Hanover took his like a little champ (smallest adult f/t mouse we had), though it took him nearly 10 minutes to figure out it was going to go a lot more smoothly if he started from the head instead of trying to take a bite out of the middle.

Seymour snatched and constricted the heck out of an f/t adult, but apparently got startled and distracted by some noise or motion and gave up. We're going to try again in a day or two in a darker box (we normally use opaque so we can supervise but there is privacy) and see how it goes.

Overall, not bad, and particularly for little Hanover who was only 85g when I weighed him last Sunday, at 17" long. Snyder and Seymour were each 119g, but Snyder is about 24" while Seymour is about 19". You all know about Snyder's problems that she started out with, though, and I've had her just over a month and gotten her to eat two pinkies and two adults now and the mites are definitely a thing of the past. I think she'll pull through and put on some weight.

[emroul]

Congrats on all the great feeders! I'm sure Seymour will coemm around, they always do.

[Marla]

Thanks! i think he will. He grabbed it like a man grabbing his last meal, just ended up backing off. He has by far the best muscle tone of the group, so he's obviously used to eating.

[Wizill]

Hey Marla, it is very unlikely that a bp will (pretend too) kill the meal if they aren't going to eat it. Sometimes my snakes grab the rodent, "kill" it, and leave it be for about 5 or 10 minutes. How long did you leave the rodent with the snake?

[Marla]

About half an hour after he backed off of it. Then we tried 'dancing' it in front of him to get him to grab it again, but no go. He was done. I think the flashing light from the tv or something made him think it wasn't safe to eat (and be vulnerable). Snyder did the same thing the first time I tried feeding her an f/t adult mouse.

[Wizill]

gotcha... oh well, at least he began the process... which is a lot more than some folks can say about their bp's. glad to hear the bp's are doing alright .

[Marla]

Thanks, I'm glad too. I think he'll finish it if I can make him feel safe enough next try. Seymour has a funny posturing thing he does, where he pretends to be a cobra, standing up tall and swaying from side to side. Maybe I should get a basket and a flute.

[Wizill]

you mean when he swallows? my snakes do that too.

[Marla]

No, he's not swallowed for me yet, this was my first attempt to feed him. We've left them entirely alone since we got them Saturday except for weighing them Sunday. But we handled them while the mice were warming up last night to perk 'em up and he sat balancing the very end of his body on the table with the rest up in the air, head slightly forward, swaying back and forth. It was probably just his way of exploring the environs a little, but it was still kinda funny looking.

[jotay]

Hey Marla,
My Ozzy does the whole Cobra routine also, it cracks me up.
He reminds me of the Lochness Monster because he will do that and try to move along and when he is on the covers of the bed it looks like he is in water.
I tell ya these guys really have their own personalitys and they are so darn cute!
Ozzy has gotten so when he hears me he will come out or at least stick his head out of his hide and say hi.
Gonna try fedding him out of his cage tonight , hope all goes well