F/T Feeding Behavior... A "killing" machine, my BP is not...

[pavlovk1025]

I dont use tongs, I feel they are a waste of money. That said, I was lowering a F/t rat by its tail into my big, already breeding, female's tub and she struck so violently that I was stuck holding the skin from the tip of the rats tail. Now THAT is striking and coiling your prey.

[cornball252]

I dont use tongs, I feel they are a waste of money. That said, I was lowering a F/t rat by its tail into my big, already breeding, female's tub and she struck so violently that I was stuck holding the skin from the tip of the rats tail. Now THAT is striking and coiling your prey.

Happens with me all to often.. Leaves me standing there grossed out! haha But i use my hands. I feel better about it. Would rather them sink there teeth in me than hard metal.. Even though im one step ahead ^_^ most of the time!

[jjc]

eek! Rats are prone to sloughing injuries on their tails, so it doesn't surprise me that some of you have had rats leave you with "lasting memories" after a particularly impressive strike/coil.

I'm not upset by my snake's lack of "enthusiasm" for eating, and I'm actually pretty impressed with how easy he's been so far (aside from the hideously expensive set-up costs to feel up-to-par in this forum). I was mostly just wondering if anyone had a snake that behaved in such an extremely mellow (and easy to please) fashion toward feeding. I really was a bit freaked out when I decided to buy a ball python, because I was convinced they were all terrible eaters, and that I'd be in for a world of hurt trying to get a Petco ball python (of all BPs) to eat F/T. I've admitted he was definitely an impulse purchase, since I was about to buy the baby corn snake underneath him, but I'm pretty impressed with him, so far. He's been nothing but a great eater, mellow (hasn't balled up once), and amusing since we got him.

The little guy definitely has the makings of a "lap snake", and he's very easy to get along with. I have no idea why I didn't get a snake before this. My boyfriend is somewhat distressed by his propensity to hide all the time, but I'm okay with that. I told him, if we get another snake, we'll just have to get a dwarf boa or something else equally "friendly" (he wants something he can play with all the time...I'm okay with the BP chilling in his hides 90% of the time, since I get a geeky sort of fulfillment from maintaining his temps and humidity), but I have no complaints about my little guy, so far.

I still don't know if "he" is a "little guy", since he hasn't pooped, and I haven't taken him to Dr. Stahl yet. However, when he poops, we're headed to Dr. Stahl to see what I've got (hard to pick a name, when I don't know if "he" is a boy or girl) and get him/her checked out for parasites.

[Lolo76]

I have no idea why I didn't get a snake before this.

LOL... exactly my thoughts. I had avoided getting one mostly because of the feedings, since I was sure it would bother me to feed mice/rats to a snake - surprisingly it doesn't bother me at all, once I got past the initial ickiness. Even the live is okay with me, which is good since most of mine refuse F/T.

Oh, and nothing wrong with a "Petco BP" if you love him/her! Some of my best pets have come from questionable sources, so that doesn't necessarily mean anything...

[cinderbird]

I dont use tongs, I feel they are a waste of money.

I duno... I've had some pretty bad misses with almost all of my snakes and I'd rather they get a mouth full of metal than a mouth full of my finger any day.

i use hemostats to feed all my animals. I have no desire to "train" my carpet to accept food from my hand because when (if) she gets to 8-10 feet, that could be a very dangerous mistake.

[dr del]

Hi,

I actually wondered if there was some way of "rubberising" the tips of hemostats?

At the moment I dangle from my fingers but that is a recipie for Stupid Feeding Errors (SFE's - i.e. me getting bitten ).

To avoid them possibly hurting themselves I'd prefer they bit me than metal but rubber coated metal seems the most logical compromise.

How thick would the rubber need to be? And how could you attatch it firmly enough?


dr del

[Patricia]

LOL... exactly my thoughts. I had avoided getting one mostly because of the feedings, since I was sure it would bother me to feed mice/rats to a snake

That's the sole reason I never got a snake till now. It was only earlier this year when I discovered that they could be fed frozen rodents, and then I wasted no time getting a snake! Mind you, I'm still a bit icky about handling the frozen critter. We've had beloved rats in our menagerie of pets, so it's not easy for me.

[BuddhaLuv]

I feed mine f/t med rats and does 1 of 3 things as of lately:

1. I open the viv, lower the rat with the tongs and he scares me because he is so darn quick striking it LOL. He usually coils as well.

2. I open the viv, lower the rat with tongs as he peeks out of his hide and waits for the perfect moment to strike. If I have the patience, while he ponders, I will continue to dangle it infront of him. Otherwise and I drop it and usually within a minute or so he strikes and coils.

3. I open the viv, lower the rat with the tongs and he completely ignores me and the rat, doesn't peek out of his hide or anything. I eventually drop the rat and he simply eats it slowly like a gentleman never striking or coiling LOL.

Maybe mine is just moody or likes to mess with me LOL.