Tiger Progression Thread

[Kryptic]

So I got Tiger (formerly Twizzler) 3 months ago as a 7/8 month old at about 160g. He's a Pastel, Mojave, Gravel. I started him out in a 120 gallon tub, moved him to an ExoTerra 36x18x12, and he's been thriving there since. Spends plenty of time outside of his hide exploring, climbing fake vines, his cork log, hanging out. He's been a ravenous eater since day one. I intentionally feed him erratically (not on a fixed schedule and different sized feeders). I might feed him a small rat one week (big meal), skip a week, then feed him two small mice four days apart the next week. Hell, he even tried to eat my hand a while back after I had been handling a rodent carrier box. He's gotten up to 380g since I've gotten him and had two great sheds.

He's been eating live, but I planned to get him on f/t sooner than later. Between changing enclosures, shedding, and target training, it took me longer than I intended. To target train him, I used the feeder tongs. I would show him the tongs on feeding days only, before introducing the rodent, then I'd place the rodent into the enclosure. I saw the target training was working when I would show him the tongs while he was poking out of his hide and seeing them would draw him out. Last time, he slithered out of his hide, followed the tongs all the way to the little rodent tub I was holding, then took a shot at the tub. After I placed the rat in his enclosure, I had him follow the tongs towards where the rat was scurrying until he switched his attention to the rat. Cool, target training done, ready to try f/t.

As far as the f/t method, firstly, I didn't feed him for 12 days beforehand both to get him hungry and so he could poop for me to weigh him empty. I reheated the weaned rat in a bag, in a hot water dish (120°F water – changed once). My reptile store let me take a temp reading on their live feeders with my IR temp gun. They read between 88-90°F. When the thawed rat registered 90° on my IR gun, I offered it. I waved the tongs in front of him as a target to get him interested and out of his hide. I then grabbed the rat with the tongs and "walked" him slowly towards the snake, then away, to get him in hunt mode. Finally, I hopped him over in front of the snake and he struck hard. Perfect strike right behind the neck and wrapped under the rat's chin, just like with live ones. I used the tongs to tug on the rat to simulate a struggle and death-throes. Like I expected of him, it was an easy transition to f/t.

At first, I planned to continue to offer him live feeders occasionally to let him hunt for enrichment, but now I know that I won't. I see that I can induce him to "hunt" a f/t feeder. It's also so much more convenient. I would feed him only after he was out of his hide at night, so I used to keep the live feeder rodent waiting those few hours in a plastic tub with fresh water, paper towel substrate, a hide, a tube for enrichment, and a few morsels of food. I would do that to make sure the feeder was hydrated, fed, and comfortable before placing it in the snake's enclosure. The feeder would often urinate, defecate a ton, and make a mess with its food and water all over the holding tub, so I would have to sanitize the tub and accessories after every feeding. Plus, the rodent would often defecate and pee when getting constricted, so I would spot clean the enclosure where he made a mess. F/t is so much cleaner, safer, and no less enriching that I'm glad the switch is done.