I read here a lot but I'm not one for posting because I don't feel I can add much to what the very knowledgeable people here are saying but I thought I would share this little story with you.
I have been having trouble lately finding the right sized food for my 2012 female normal (my only snake). I have been wanting to move her to rats for a while but the only rats I can find are small adults. The all look a little on the big side. the local breeders wont part with the youngsters for some reason. More money I'm guessing. So I have been feeding her 2 adult mice a week for the last month or two and now I can't find mice. Someone is buying them all up it sounds like. She takes them just fine and is looking great. Not sure of her weight as I don't have a scale. I know I need one.
On with the story. A local pet store set out to find me some small rats. I got as call and went to see what she found. The rats she showed me where boarder line too big. She said if my BP wouldn't take it I could bring it back for a refund dead or alive. So I brought it home and set out to see what happened.
I feed live. I know its not the best but my plan was to wait until she was on rats before I switch to PK. When I got her she was live fed so I just went with it. She is so good at head strikes no mouse has ever bitten her. So I wasn't thinking about that when I dropped in the rat. The rat got a look at Medusa and it stayed backed in a corner while Medusa came over to check out this giant mouse. It took about 2 tense minutes before she struck and wrapped. She bit the rat on the side of the shoulder and left the rats head by her neck.
The rat tried to bit her neck and with out thinking about it i shoved my finger into the rats mouth to save my beloved Medusa. I held my finger their until it was dead. My finger will be fine. The rat never drew blood and I hit up the first aid kit when it was over. That rat on the other hand will be in a nice neat pile on some aspen in a couple weeks.
I will be moving straight to PK after this. The things I go threw for my pets......
All you people that feed live keep this story in mind next time you just toss a rat in and walk away.
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