Had a little scare last night....

[Exotic Ectotherms]

Well last night was feeding night. All of my BP's are on F/T rats and I use a 12" rubber tipped pair of tongs to feed them. My mojave ate no problem. My pastel refused as he usually does. Nothing new for him. When I opened the tub for my albino, I had a hunch she was in shed. Albinos can be really tough to tell when they are in shed. Anyway, I figured I would still offer the rat because she is a GREAT eater and has eaten while in shed before. She wasted no time striking at the rat. The problem is that due to her impaired eyesight she missed the rat and sunk her teeth into the rubber tip of the tongs...and then proceeded to wrap her coils around them and begin constricting the tongs! So I'm standing there holding a snake-kabob wondering what to do. I knew I didn't want to try to pry her off...that could have a bad outcome. Inspiration struck me and I grabbed the misting bottle I use to mist their tubs. I lightly misted her and she started to loosen up enough to slide her off of the tongs. I had to be REALLY careful because her bottom teeth were in the rubber tip and I didn't want to break any. I pushed the tip a little further into her mouth rather than trying to pull it out, and she promptly opened her mouth for me. I checked the rubber for any teeth stuck in it and was relieved when I didn't find any. Meanwhile, the rat was laying on the bottom of the tub. I assumed she wouldn't want to eat after her ordeal, but before I could take the rat out of the tub she grabbed it and started constricting! She is such a great eater!!!! Sorry for my longwindedness...but I thought my story might help someone if presented with a similar situation.

[ballpythonluvr]

Wow! You got very lucky here! It is cool that you have such a good eater on your hands though. I wish my male normal would eat like this. He is afraid of small rats and small adult mice. I am having to feed prey items that are smaller just to get him to eat. He is even afraid of f/t small rats and small adult mice.

[Exotic Ectotherms]

I am having to feed prey items that are smaller just to get him to eat.

Yeah...I have to do that with my pastel. He should easily be eating small rats, but I have to offer pups or weaners to get him to eat. He's an '08 and only about 900 grams.

[ogdentrece]

I really love great eaters.. I have one which I'm crazy in love with because recently I made a stupid feeding error, ended up dropping him a couple of feet. He was so freaked out, but still ate!! He made a couple of strikes without bites just to ensure it was safe first though.

[corgigirl9]

Good job on the quick thinking! I especially enjoy your description of the snake kabob!

[Exotic Ectotherms]

Good job on the quick thinking! I especially enjoy your description of the snake kabob!

LOL...it was the weirdest looking thing!!! That is the only way I can think to describe it...lol. I wish I had my phone near me so I could have taken a pic. She's such a good eater she tried to put down a set of 12" tongs...lol. It's really awesome to see the power that BP's have when constricting up close and personal.

[Iaunu]

Great Story =D i'll keep this in mind if anything like this ever occurs. My baby still hasn't eaten within my care T_T

[Alexandra V]

Haha great story and thanks for sharing! I feed f/t and my snakes all have scary feeding responses, so I've envisioned this kind of thing many times. Good to know what to do in case it happens

[mark and marley]

hahaha crazy snakie

[babyknees]

My albino can be a bit of an idiot at times and a hit or miss eater. I'm glad yours is a beast!