Live prey vs......

[Adam_Wysocki]

hey adam
how do you responsibly feed a live adult rat to a snake.
for example how do you feed live and make sure there is a low chance of a rat bite?

1. I feed my snakes in their enclosure ... this minimizes stress on the snake and allows them to "hunt" from familiar ground.

2. I leave their hide boxes (and everything else) in the cage ... this gives them some cover to hunt from and protects their bodies from the rats.

3. I feed nothing bigger than a small rat ... small rats teeth are still very soft just in case ... that said, I've never had to worry about "just in case".

4. If the meal isn't eaten within a reasonable about of time, it is removed before the rat gets the chance to become hungry/bored/curious.

In my experience, the rats are oblivious to the idea that there is even a snake in the box with them and usually just hang out in the corner and chew on the substrate until they are nailed (although, most of the time they are nailed mid air before they even hit the floor of the cage)!

-adam

[gncz73]

thanks Adam and yes you are lucky to have a friend thats hooks you up like that

[doobysnack]

i went to feeding my rtb prekilled fuzzie rats do to i fill rats have more nutrion and i dont want my snake hurt one of my old bps got bite by a live mouse once so then i started knocking them out.i never could get my bp to eat frozen thawed.

[Jeanne]

Half of mine eat f/t or p/k.. the other half eat live- out of neccessity. I tried to get all mine switched over to p/k or f/t, but 2 of my bp's refuse anything thats NOT live. And to be honest, if I had a HUGE collection, I just dont know that feeding f/t would be a good choice b/c of the space it would take to thaw a bunch of rodents.

[Smulkin]

Valid point - I'd think trying to supervise all those feeds would be equally tricky.

I have a few BP's that have gotten to the point that they no longer bother with constriction - once the dead rat is laid on the doorstep of their hide they'll just start gulping. Neph (afrock) won't even take anything live anymore - or constrict it for that matter - and considering her potential size that just a-ok with me lol.

[VFT]

I promise you that I have females MUCH bigger than your largest and they do fine with small rats.

I noticed your profile says that you're a ball python "breeder" ... then you must know that if you make those girls too fat, they will either not produce or slug out.

Small rats rock for adult ball pythons!

-adam

this could get fun
So Adam what do you want to put on the fact that your females are "Much bigger" than mine? Let me know.

As for producing slugs or nothing well......
2004 10 eggs all good


2005 12 eggs all good


sure looks like them large rats hurt her bad....
lol

[Adam_Wysocki]

Valid point - I'd think trying to supervise all those feeds would be equally tricky.

Well, I am a professional.

Seriously though ... for beginners and people with a few snakes that want to feed live I absolutely advocate responsible feeding and direct supervision until the rat is all the way gone.

Once your collection gets fairly large, you certainly gain the experience to know who needs to be watched closely and who will do fine just having a rodent dropped into their enclosure. I certainly wouldn't be an advocate of feeding your average pet ball python the same way I feed my collection.

-adam

[Adam_Wysocki]

this could get fun
So Adam what do you want to put on the fact that your females are "Much bigger" than mine? Let me know.

Looks like you're the man boss! LOL



-adam

[Smulkin]

Once your collection gets fairly large, you certainly gain the experience to know who needs to be watched closely and who will do fine just having a rodent dropped into their enclosure.

I would think that would have as much to do with the rodents as it would the snake.

[Adam_Wysocki]

I would think that would have as much to do with the rodents as it would the snake.

How's that? I know my snakes ... aggressive ones, timid ones, etc ... don't know the rodents from Adam ... (pardon the pun) ... rats and mice aren't vicious carnivores that are just sitting waiting for the opportunity to sink their fangs into a snake .... they are actually pretty passive until they are cornered, and contrary to popular internet forum beliefs, ball pythons are quite adept at cornering, killing, and eating live prey in a way that allows them to be safe.


-adam