Question about feeding live?

[Nitewolfie]

I've seen a post about putting food for a live feeder to distract it while the snake's getting ready to feast
But what if I held the live feeder by the base of the tale with tongs, would this be a way that would make the outcome with the snake less of a chance to get hurt?
(If this makes sense? been having issues with wording and lil but comprehension, etc lately )

[Eric Alan]

I've seen a post about putting food for a live feeder to distract it while the snake's getting ready to feast
But what if I held the live feeder by the base of the tale with tongs, would this be a way that would make the outcome with the snake less of a chance to get hurt?
(If this makes sense? been having issues with wording and lil but comprehension, etc lately )

Exactly the opposite! You'll end up pissing off the rat and increase the chances of a feeding injury.

[Jon14]

I agree with Eric, restraining the live prey will only cause the live prey to become more aggressive and likely will cause injuries to your snakes.

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[stickyalvinroll]

If you're worried about the rat biting your snake then take the tongs and put it in the rat's mouth

[Nitewolfie]

Ah, okay, just checking. thanks for your responses!

[Slim]

If you're worried about the rat biting your snake then take the tongs and put it in the rat's mouth

Dude, what's your freakin' issue? Was that supposed to be sarcastic, or did you miss the part of the TOS that talks about giving dangerous advice?

[PitOnTheProwl]

If you're worried about the rat biting your snake then take the tongs and put it in the rat's mouth

Should only be done IF your snake gets a bad strike. SMH

[cchardwick]

I tried holding a baby mouse by the tail with tongs, it's very painful for the mouse and they squeal real loud, I won't do that again. I also held a mouse by the tail over my snake and the mouse got real mad and bit my snake on the nose, I wont do that again. Most of my snakes will take a live mouse instantly, especially after the third or fourth live mouse after they figure out how tasty they are LOL. Now if they don't eat within 30 seconds to a minute or so they don't eat for that week and I move to the next snake. For me the good thing about live food is that if the snake doesn't eat the mouse / rat you can save it for another day, unlike frozen thawed, which have been frozen for weeks / months then thawed for a couple hours and isn't really good enough to refreeze after one offering, I can't even count how many I tossed in the trash, such a waste. The hardest thing about feeding live is that if the snake doesn't get a good grip on the mouse and the mouse can bite the snake you may have to use a stick to put in the rodents mouth for a minute or two while the snake does his thing, happened to me once already. I actually used the dull end of my knife, probably best to have a popsicle stick around just in case. I actually got a bit too close at first and the mouse bit my finger, luckily he didn't break the skin! In this case the mouse was actually biting the back of the snake and the snake could feel it, a pretty tough situation. Luckily I was watching closely. I also used to put the mouse in the tub and close it up and let the snake do his thing, I won't do that again...

[Stewart_Reptiles]

First if you buy your rodent instead of producing them you want to feed and re-hydrate them

Second leave the rodent in the room 30 min to an hour prior to feeding, this is called pre-scenting and will entice your snake(s) to eat

Third feed the appropriate size rodent by dropping it in the enclosure, do not hold the prey by using tongs and dandling it.

Fourth removed if un-eaten within 10 to 15 minutes.

In many cases the feeder will barely have the time to touch the enclosure's floor and for those that do they will typically go in a corner after exploring a little, where they will usually fall asleep.

I have fed well over 20000 prey to my breeders without any incident so it can be done, snakes are efficient killing machines and people have a tendency to overreact, panic and exaggerate.

[Slim]

Should only be done IF your snake gets a bad strike. SMH

And even then I wouldn't use tongs. Chop sticks are free at every Chinese restaurant in town. Not that hard to keep one handy in the snake room.