Responsible live feeding

[Neumann]

Oh god I hope this doesn't start one of those over zealous flaming threads but here goes...

What is the most responsible method of feeding live prey? I've heard one hour max in the cage and don't leave the two unattended. What about cage furniture? If there are a lot of items in the cage will that possibly lead to missed strikes causing the snake to either injure itself or get discouraged. Tips please?

I'm fully aware of this issue, and what a hot topic it is, so please, please don't start igniting your flame throwers. I may even build a co2 kill/stun chamber if it makes you feel any better. Thank you.

[JLC]

We strive to keep our debates civil around here.


I don't leave a live rat in my bp's tub for more than 20 minutes. If she hasn't gotten it by then, then she's not going to.

My procedure is to place the rat in a small holding box (critter keeper) with some food and water to snack on. And that gets set right next to the snake's tub. That "wakes her up" so to speak and she is fully aware that dinner is somewhere close.

After about 30 minutes, I take the rat from the box and drop it in her tub. It's usually caught before it even hits the floor.

I don't feel it is necessary to remove the "furniture"....especially from a BP's enclosure because many of them can be somewhat timid feeders and that sort of disruption is more likely to put them off eating rather than help. Plus they often really enjoy ambushing the rodent from inside their favorite hides.

In a nutshell...
--make sure the rodent is fed and watered
--never leave for more than 20-30 minutes
--allow the snake time to know the rodent is in the room before introducing it

[Nate]

ahh Neumann that's the beauty of this place. It has become noticably acceptable to "do what works for you" (as 8ball Adam puts it)

It's been a while since i've seen one of those hard core debates around here. You're not in the wrong by feeding live. If you were, then so would thousands of others that are doing what works for them.

Judy has given you some great advice, as she always does. Good luck with your feedings!

[elevatethis]

Hey, don't worry about anyone flaming here...most of us feed live and advocate the method as completely safe so long as you have at least some common sense and take care of your animals properly. A healthy, well taken care of ball python will hit a f/t rat with just as much fury as a live feeder would.

I wouldn't remove any cage furniture at feeding time. Ball pythons are all about their environment, and a sudden change like removing a hide or other furnishings might throw them off a little bit. Allowing them to 'hunt' from their hides allows the ball to be in their court, so to speak, and will be a better situation for the snake overall. A snake missing a strike shouldn't discourage a feeding response. I've got snakes that hit the wall of their tub 2-3 time before I even slide open the tub because they are so ready for it.

Some snakes need a little more time with rats before they'll eat them, which is totally normal and varies from individual to individual. I'd say as a rule of thumb, if they don't take it right away, give them about an hour of darkness, undisturbed, and chances are there won't be a rat left in the tank after that.

Get to know your snake. Observe their behavior. You can learn a lot by just watching their body language. I've noticed that I can just 'tell' when a snake isn't interested in eating and I'll remove the rat. No big deal, try again next week.

[BPdad]

Judy,

In a nutshell...
--make sure the rodent is fed and watered

Please elaborate why.

[elevatethis]

Thirsty, hungry rodents are also angry, defensive rodents.

You want a fat, happy rat just stumbling around looking for a place to sleep. That's easy prey!

[daniel1983]

I believe the key to feeding live is 'prescenting'. I generally do this by setting the box of rodents on or near the snake rack about 30 minutes before offering anything. This gives the snake time to 'warm up'. With 'prescenting', you usually have a snake that is aware that a food item is present and is ready to ambush the rodent....even before the rodent is even put into the enclosure.

After I prescent the area with my live rodents for about 30 minutes, I generally just put the rodent in the enclosure. Moving stuff around in the enclosure, removing hides, etc.....just causes confusion and stress on the snake. They are ambush preditors in the wild....and by taking out their hides and such....you are removing their place to ambush from.

I keep an eye on everything for about 15-20 minutes, then take out any live rodents left over.

Larger rats tend to be more aggresive when threatened so, I would never feed anything a live food item over the size of a small rat. Most snakes can be maintained very well on just small rats anyway so that should not be a problem.

This works great for me. Like I said, I believe prescenting the area with the rodent scent is something that makes live feeding very easy and safe.

oh ya.....If you keep coastal carpet pythons, watch out when opening up enclosures after prescenting the area with rodents

[JLC]

Judy,


Please elaborate why.

^^ What Brad just said. ^^

[Mr. H]

It's always great to see people checking on stuff they're not sure about. I remember that on another reptile forums a boy posted in anger about a mouse that had killed his snake, he left him alone to feed and when he came back an hour later to open the tub the mouse dived out and his bp had had his throat eaten out. IMO, ignorance is no excuse, you should always make sure that you're 100% sure about everything you do with your snake. Anyway, we'll stick with the happy vibes, here's hoping you get all the answers you want. Personally, I don't know anything about feeding live except it should be supervised.


Rabernet, where are you!?

the account formerly known as Lovable Sam

[jbo901]

Just because the rat is going to be your snakes dinner, dosnt mean you shoudnt keep it fed and watered in the meantime.