funny yet sad feeding attempt...

[angllady2]

So, if I have 22 ball pythons and pet rats, and listening to a poorly struck rat scream in agony sends me into the other room, I guess I better give them to someone who doesn't care, hmm ?

Grow up.

So what if he's squeamish about rodents ? Who the heck cares as long as his snakes are cared for ?

And get off your high horse about the rat thing. Half of my snakes eat mice, and they grow and breed and shed just fine. Who made it a law ball pythons have to eat rats ? As long as the snake eats something, I'd feed it a salad if that is what it wanted!

I'm into my third winter of males fasting, and I have no qualms about offering mice to a 2000 gram male if that is what he wants after his winter fast. After not eating for 6 or 8 months while breeding, if he wants an ice cream cone he can have one, just eat something!

Now that I have that out of my system, I'd like to ask the OP a really dumb question. Have you ever considered feeding tongs ? I use a stainless steel pair with locking handles and gripper teeth at the tips, and are about 18 inches long. They are fantastic for handling mice and rats both. And I don't have to worry about getting bitten. You do of course need to be gentle with them, but they are very effective for grasping a squirming rodent by the tail and moving it around. How it would work for you I imagine would be to invest in a pair of tongs and a small plastic critter keeper. You would take the keeper with you when you buy your food, and the store will happily put it in the keeper for you. Once home, you can open the little trapdoor in the lid, reach in with the tongs and snag the mouse or rat. Gently grasp it just hard enough to hold it, if it squeaks and tries to bite the tongs you grabbed it too hard. Have the keeper right next to his tank, and just quickly lift the rodent out of the keeper and drop it into the tank. If he decides he doesn't want it, the rodent almost never runs from the tongs like they do your hand, and you just reverse the procedure.

I think feeding tongs would help you a lot with feeding.



Gale