And I quote:

"I personally hold the mice while the snake strikes, coils, and constricts so that i have better control of the situation, and can then, once the mouse is in the grasp of the snake, control the head until the prey perishes.

This prevents bites, and also keeps the mouse from startling the snake like it may if it were to run freely in the enclosure.
Though, keep in mind that some snakes might need to get used to a method such as this ( some get skittish if youre hanging out watching them hunt)"

scary

Try dipping the animal in chicken broth once its thawed. [/QUOTE]


This is extremeny dangerous, yes. Putting your hand anywhere near a snake that's in feeding mode.. not a good idea. Take it from me. I was merely removing an "unwanted" prey item once. My adult female struck and coiled around my thumb. It turned purple and luckily my hubby was home to help gently peel her off. Dunking her into a nearby fish tank did nothing! Invest in a pair of hemostats if you feed f/thawed. If you feed live.. snakes have been constricting rats and mice for millenia. Let the snake do its job! I think that most bites in feeding (rodent biting rat) are when people dangle the poor rat by the tail, pointing the business end of the rat right at the snake. Rat mouth goes in snake mouth.. untold inner mouth damage that you might not even notice. Now when I toss the rat in and let the snake find it, the snake almost always grabs for the rodent's side and the head is left hanging to the side gasping but not able to reach the snake.
Then... close your snakes' cage and beat it! Get out of the room. I cannot imagine how many times peoples' snakes get distracted by gawkers that either turn their attention to the gawker, and his/her heat signature, and leave the dead rat to lay. I would watch at first to make sure the teeth of the rodent are not gaping open and able to bite the snake; in that case, I slip in a metal antenna and hold the rodent's head away until it is dead; this is very rare in my experience.