Question about my first feeding of live rat

[labyrinth]

Gorgeous snake! I'm a brit and I've fed live when necessary (hatchlings, desert spider on 13 month hunger strike lol) I've heard of people keeping a pencil handy incase the food has its head free (to give it something to bite) I've never had to intervene. You may be surprised at how efficiently constrictors kill. I always used to think there would be minutes of suffocating but it really is more like instant heart attack. It's not something I enjoy but sometimes you don't have a choice. It may be worth trying yours on a thawed frozen rat with the head heated above room temp first, you may be surprised. Could be that the pet shop just found it easier to stick with live either way good luck and again, congratulations on such a stunner!

[JimJam]

Well, unfortunately it didn't go well. The snake was uninterested in the rat and the rat started getting aggressive towards the snake so I immediately took the rat out. The next morning I killed the rat, and tried feeding it to her, but again, no luck. I left it in the cage for a few hours before removing the rat. She's only been home with me for about 9 days now so maybe she's still adjusting. I hope anyways. She seems happy and nice otherwise. I'll try again next weekend and give her all week to be alone and not be handled so she can feel comfortable in her terrarium. Any other ideas guys/gals? Oh and I think I'll be trying frozen thawed from now on. It was too stressful thinking the snake could be hurt. :-/

[Zincubus]

Well, unfortunately it didn't go well. The snake was uninterested in the rat and the rat started getting aggressive towards the snake so I immediately took the rat out. The next morning I killed the rat, and tried feeding it to her, but again, no luck. I left it in the cage for a few hours before removing the rat. She's only been home with me for about 9 days now so maybe she's still adjusting. I hope anyways. She seems happy and nice otherwise. I'll try again next weekend and give her all week to be alone and not be handled so she can feel comfortable in her terrarium. Any other ideas guys/gals? Oh and I think I'll be trying frozen thawed from now on. It was too stressful thinking the snake could be hurt. :-/

Read anything you can find on feeding defrosted . There are so many clever little ways of enticing or fooling the snake

Warming up seconds before offering by dunking in very warm water or even using a hairdryer . Even defrosting the rat in the snake room will help as they soon get the scent .

[John1982]

Also, do I need to raise or lower the temp after she eats for a while? Warmer is better than cooler when digesting, right?

So long as you're providing an adequate ambient and hot spot there is no need to adjust temps after feeding.

Well, unfortunately it didn't go well. The snake was uninterested in the rat and the rat started getting aggressive towards the snake

I've never seen a rodent just suddenly start showing aggression towards a snake and I've been feeding live a couple decades. To help me better understand the situation, can you explain the offering in greater detail? Here are a couple questions that pop into my mind.

1) How big is the BRB?
2) What was the size of the rat in relation to the snake?
3) Was the rat hydrated and fed?
4) How did you present the rat to the snake?
5) Where was the snake and what was it doing when you introduced the rat?

The thing about rats, and mice, is they're omnivores - they'll taste just about anything when hungry. Making sure the rodent is properly fed and hydrated is step number one and will give your snake plenty of time to figure out what it wants to do before the rodent forces the issue. Unless the snake is in feed mode and ready to jump on the prey, they're more likely to get defensive or try to flee as soon as that rodent touches it's nose to them. Once that happens, 8 times out of 10, your feed isn't going to be successful. The rare successful feed in this situation happens when the snake strikes defensively and their teeth catch on the prey - this will almost always trigger a wrap simply because they are too vulnerable otherwise, instincts take over.

[JimJam]

John, thanks so much for your interest!

The snake was under its largest hiding spot, which is a big hollow rock. Temps and humidity have been great. I opened the top of the terrarium and just dropped the rat in. That's what the owner of the pet store recommended. And just let "the snake do her thing." The pet store owner where I just purchased the snake(Skittles) has been feeding her "small rats". It was about 6-7 inches long from nose to tail end, a lot of tail.

Before dropping the rat in though I think I messed up by lifting the rock, and exposed Skittles. I let her know we were there and waiting a second before dropping the rat in. As soon as the rat went in the terrarium it started exploring the edges and corners. The snake seemed completely uninterested and stayed coiled up. The rat, while exploring, even walked over the snake like she was a rock. The snake reacted and put her face right up against the rats face and was flicking her tongue. The rat seemed to bite or snap at the snake's face. I'm not sure whether the rat actually got her, but she's been inspected and no signs of harm can be seen. Then the rat seemed to be "digging" to get under the snake, and I immediately took it out. This was all together about 4 minutes of activity. Again, no sign of damage on the snake, and she didn't seem to be reacting to pain or anything.

I have no idea how well fed or hydrated the rat was.
i would say it was appropriately sized, as far as girth of the snake and rat.
The BRB is about 4.5 ft long.

So long as you're providing an adequate ambient and hot spot there is no need to adjust temps after feeding.


I've never seen a rodent just suddenly start showing aggression towards a snake and I've been feeding live a couple decades. To help me better understand the situation, can you explain the offering in greater detail? Here are a couple questions that pop into my mind.

1) How big is the BRB?
2) What was the size of the rat in relation to the snake?
3) Was the rat hydrated and fed?
4) How did you present the rat to the snake?
5) Where was the snake and what was it doing when you introduced the rat?

The thing about rats, and mice, is they're omnivores - they'll taste just about anything when hungry. Making sure the rodent is properly fed and hydrated is step number one and will give your snake plenty of time to figure out what it wants to do before the rodent forces the issue. Unless the snake is in feed mode and ready to jump on the prey, they're more likely to get defensive or try to flee as soon as that rodent touches it's nose to them. Once that happens, 8 times out of 10, your feed isn't going to be successful. The rare successful feed in this situation happens when the snake strikes defensively and their teeth catch on the prey - this will almost always trigger a wrap simply because they are too vulnerable otherwise, instincts take over.

[John1982]

Before dropping the rat in though I think I messed up by lifting the rock, and exposed Skittles. I let her know we were there and waiting a second before dropping the rat in. As soon as the rat went in the terrarium it started exploring the edges and corners. The snake seemed completely uninterested and stayed coiled up. The rat, while exploring, even walked over the snake like she was a rock. The snake reacted and put her face right up against the rats face and was flicking her tongue. The rat seemed to bite or snap at the snake's face. I'm not sure whether the rat actually got her, but she's been inspected and no signs of harm can be seen. Then the rat seemed to be "digging" to get under the snake, and I immediately took it out.

Yeah, many snakes like to hit their prey from a secure location like their hide or a perch. Rats are naturally curious but it could have also been hungry, which would explain the digging around after taking a little test nibble - more like a lick with barely any pressure - on the snake's nose. You did right by removing it, that feed was going nowhere fast. If the rat was indeed hungry each test nibble would have been a bit harder until it hit paydirt or met his own demise - either scenario depending entirely on the snake's reaction to the situation. If you try live again, don't mess with the snake before offering - especially since it's a new animal and still adjusting to her surroundings. Without exposing the snake the rat would have likely made a few passes by the hide entrance while exploring, giving your snake a chance at an ambush if she was hungry and settled enough to accept.

The same principles apply when offering f/t or prekilled if you go that route. Until your girl is a strong feeder, and even after, you want to mess with her as little as possible during a feed.

[JimJam]

Yeah, many snakes like to hit their prey from a secure location like their hide or a perch. Rats are naturally curious but it could have also been hungry, which would explain the digging around after taking a little test nibble - more like a lick with barely any pressure - on the snake's nose. You did right by removing it, that feed was going nowhere fast. If the rat was indeed hungry each test nibble would have been a bit harder until it hit paydirt or met his own demise - either scenario depending entirely on the snake's reaction to the situation. If you try live again, don't mess with the snake before offering - especially since it's a new animal and still adjusting to her surroundings. Without exposing the snake the rat would have likely made a few passes by the hide entrance while exploring, giving your snake a chance at an ambush if she was hungry and settled enough to accept.

The same principles apply when offering f/t or prekilled if you go that route. Until your girl is a strong feeder, and even after, you want to mess with her as little as possible during a feed.

So if I put another live rat in, im worried it'll go inside her hide while she's in there and possibly have a damaged snake. Should I take her large hide out completely the day before feeding her maybe? That way they both won't be where I can't see what's happening. Thanks again for the advise.

[John1982]

So if I put another live rat in, im worried it'll go inside her hide while she's in there and possibly have a damaged snake. Should I take her large hide out completely the day before feeding her maybe? That way they both won't be where I can't see what's happening. Thanks again for the advise.

Leave the hide in there. You have a better chance at a successful feed if the snake feels secure. It's not likely the rodent is going to enter a dark hole with a questionable(snake) scent but you should be supervising regardless. I know it's a step down in size but a 4.5 foot BRB is still a fairly slender snake. Try a rat crawler next time and you can leave it overnight without fear of anything bad happening to your girl. Once she settles and starts feeding for you, bumping up the size shouldn't be an issue.

[JimJam]

Leave the hide in there. You have a better chance at a successful feed if the snake feels secure. It's not likely the rodent is going to enter a dark hole with a questionable(snake) scent but you should be supervising regardless. I know it's a step down in size but a 4.5 foot BRB is still a fairly slender snake. Try a rat crawler next time and you can leave it overnight without fear of anything bad happening to your girl. Once she settles and starts feeding for you, bumping up the size shouldn't be an issue.

Ok cool, I'll do that. To be clear, by rat crawler are you meaning the same as a "fuzzy". I don't know where you're from so we may call the same thing something different. Thanks for your help John, really.

[John1982]

Ok cool, I'll do that. To be clear, by rat crawler are you meaning the same as a "fuzzy". I don't know where you're from so we may call the same thing something different. Thanks for your help John, really.

Rats grow fast! You want something right around 2 weeks old - about when their eyes start opening and they're crawling all over the place. By week 3 they're much more mobile and eating a fair bit of solid foods - tasting just about everything they bump into.