If you feed live...how?

[bait4snake]

im guessing she gets excited (if thats possible for a snake) as she starts breathing heavily and her head starts shaking side to side like a puppy waiting for a treat

LOL That's like the funniest thing. I KNOW they're going to strike when I see that head shake! I always thought of a dog when you're holding a ball and are about to throw it "Is he gonna throw the ball? Is he???? Throw the ball, throw the ball!!!! HE THREW THE BALL!!!!"

[ellie.the.strange]

I just got my snake, so I've only fed him once. If I did anything wrong, please tell me!
I was a bit wary of picking him up at first, (the first time my friend tried, he almost got bit..) so I put the rat in his enclosure. He didn't seem too interested though, so I picked him up and put him in his feeding tub, dropped the rat in, and he ate with no problem. I didn't know people used tongs... I guess waving the rat in front of him with my bare hands was not too smart? haha..

[ChrisBowsman]

I prescent by putting the rodent box from the pet store (which is sufficiently soaked with urine in the 15 minutes it takes to get home) on the vent hole on top of his tub. Within seconds, he starts poking around, and starts hunting. I usually offer the first mouse in about 10 minutes, and place it in the tub away from the snake. After that, I stand back, and enjoy the show

BTW, for the people who stun, how do you go about doing that?

[bearhart]

Cn you link the feeding video please? I can't find it.

doh! I should have done that in the initial post!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl9jqKCdAB8

[bearhart]

For me, the favorite day of the week is Friday. I'm going to try tongs.

Ben

[Jay_Bunny]

I voted pre-scent and then use tongs but as far as the tongs go, it depends on the snake. I don't use the tongs for every snake. I do keep all my rodents in the same room as my snakes but when its feeding day I put their dinner on top of the rack and wait a while before coming back and feeding.

I feed outside the enclosure due to its just easier for me to do. I can clean the tub while the snake is eating and once the snake is done eating I can just pop him on back into the tub. Because I feed in another tub, I don't use tongs. The tub is big enough that I can put the rodent on one side and the snake on the other and the snake can seek out the rodent rather than the rodent being right there up against the snake.

I only use tongs if the snake is living in a tank. Because of all the things in the tank, I just feel better when the mouse/rat is restrained. This is mostly for my corns and a few balls.

[Wh00h0069]

I throw the live rats into the enclosure, turn the light off, and come back after I clean the rats cages. That usually takes about 45 min. I then take out all of the uneaten rats and put them into their rat bins. The biggest rat that I feed to my balls is smalls. Hope this helps.

[NightLad]

I used to pre-scent for 20-30 minutes, but that was when I was feeding in the enclosure. Since I switched to a feed box, Salzedo knows when it is rat-time. From the moment I drop it in the box with him, it has about 1-2 seconds to live. His feeding response is rapid, strong and lethal. No tongs needed either.

However, since watching the above video I'm wondering if maybe using tongs for a while with live, might be a good way to build up an even quicker feeding response so that I can switch to F/T. Hmmm...

Experiment time!

[bearhart]

I think the important thing about the tongs (and they way Adam uses them) is they help ensure a strike to the forward part of the rodent. My experience is that strikes to the rear half of the rodent tend to leave its head free to bite.

[bait4snake]

BTW, for the people who stun, how do you go about doing that?

I hate explaining this cuz someone gets huffy, but here goes. You hold their tail, you swing your arm/wrist like a frisbie in the direction of some hard surface making sure their noggin takes the brunt of the impact, and they either freeze up or start to shake. Snake goes right for them w/o injury, cuz they're "stunned".

Some call it cruel, but I'd consider it more cruel to have it take chunks out of my beloved snake. It's gonna die either way, so I just make it easier and safer for the snake.

I then make the analogy - take a staple remover, clamp it down on your wrist, and twist until chunks of flesh comes off... that's what that "poor defenseless" rat could do to your snake... multiple times.

That's how I justify stunning.