Fed Sammy tonight, and he was quite enthusiastic. Man, they strike fast! He carried it back into his hide, and we turned out the lights and left the room.

Later, I went in to check on him with a flashlight, and he was out of his hide, kind of wrapped around the mouse, and swallowing it head-first. Again, I left.

When we went back in half an hour or so later, he was in his hide again, no sign of the mouse.

He ate it, right? We couldn't see anything we were sure was a lump in his body--wouldn't there be a small bulge? But then, he was curled in his hide, so we could really only see his neck anyway. *Can* you tell just from looking at the snake, provided the prey is the right size (i.e., the same width as the widest part of the snake's head)?

So, anyway, hurray! Successful first feeding (we think).

Something funny happened when we first put the mouse in. Our two young sons wanted to watch, so we stood them on a stool by his cage while Carey lowered the mouse in with tongs. Apparently, the multitude of heat signatures confused Sammy and he struck at our youngest son through the tub. Quite startling! LOL Poor Sammy got his nose bumped by the plastic side of the cage, and we got a glimpse of just how much you *don't* want a snake to think you're a mouse--yikes!

Anyway, thought ya'll might like to know Sammy's settled in and eating. In a couple days we'll take him out and handle him. Hurrah!

Heather