Help with feeding

[CMO]

I just got a new bp and had a bit of a sad night trying to feed her. I got her a small rat (shes about 600g+) but rather than eating it she kept biting it . Whats going on - why is she just biting it??? I feel bad for the poor rat - is there a better way of doing this!!?? I was told that it is has been eating live so a tried to feed it by dangling the rat with tongs - is this the best way to feed live???

Thanks for any help

[Kaorte]

How long have you had the new BP? If its less then a week, you should just wait another week before trying to feed. A 600g snake will have no problem going a few weeks without food.

I usually offer f/t on tongs but sometimes I just set it in the cage and they eat it that way too.

[rabernet]

Sounds like she's defensive striking and not feed striking.

How long have you owned her?

I don't use tongs for live prey. I drop the prey in the opposite end of the enclosure of where the snake is (I don't feed in a separate tub), and if the rat isn't eaten in about 20 minutes, I remove it and house it for another week.

Was it eating live rats, or live mice for the previous owner? If it was mice, it may not convert to rats right away.

[grim reaper in NY]

Snakes sometimes do funny things with their food. My Red Tail will strike and constrict the daylights out of it's food and then just leave it there after he's sure he's killed it. But, when I try to remove the dead rat, he shoots over and immediately coils around it again and refuses to let me take it out. It's like his teddy bear or something..I dunno.
My point is, each snake attacks and eats it's prey the way they want to, not the way we think they should. As cruel as it may seem to watch a snake do that to live prey, it's the law of nature. Just give him some time and he'll adjust to feeding.

[CMO]

Okay thanks, I have only had her a few days - i'll let her settle in and try feeding again next week.