First Feeding and a Problem

[Bogertophis]

Thanks for your thorough responses, very helpful! So you’re saying if this happens in the future where I see he can’t find the rodent after leaving him for some time, to still go in and re heat it even like you said I have a high chance of taking a feeding response bite? He was locked onto me and head cocked back about to strike the glass last night when he saw me and dropped his rat. Not sure I’d be able to go in there and get his rat from him without him launching himself at me. Have you ever done this, and should I have just waited until he moved away from the rat to take it out and re heat?


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Use feeding tongs, & if needed, use a cardboard box lid (for example) to block him from biting you. This is a BP, not a charging rhinoceros. Get some 18" non-locking hemostats, or use some long, blunt ended BBQ tongs. Yes, you can wait a little while until he calms down & loses interest, but the delay makes it more likely he'll lose interest in food too.

"Have I ever done this?" Yes, for many many years & keeping many kinds & sizes of snakes, lol. And I don't like bites any more than you do. I also practice the "art of distraction" pretty well- if he's following your motion, let him follow the hand that's not doing the retrieving. This is a matter of practice & experience, trust me I'm not trying to get you "eaten" by a BP, lol. Estimate his "reach"- a little more than half a snake's body length, & stay out of his reach. Or put something between him & your reaching hand. Multiple ways to do this- you'll get this.

If you think this guy is challenging, you should have met my 7.5' boa (BCI) at meal time. I had trouble opening her enclosure to get the food in- she always KNEW when food was on the way, & she was "loaded for bear" & aiming at me the whole time.