If you feed live...how?

[ShawnT]

I pre-scent and use tongs

[bearhart]

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.

I did stunned tonight. My olive has been taking oral meds and it was really starting to piss her off (not good w/ a 10' snake). Also, she quit taking F/T most likely due to the effect of the meds and/or stress.

So, I talked with the vet and he suggested feeding her very small dosed prey items each day instead. So, I decided to try stunned.

I went to my pet store, discussed it with them, and was lucky enough to get a demonstration on a mouse that was already on his way to a monitor's stomach.

It required much less force and was much less "messy" than I thought it would be. At home, I took my small rat, whacked it on the head with a small wrench, and then injected the anti-biotics into the scruff of its neck. Then, I dumped it in the tub and my snake at it right away. In my nervousness, I probably hit it a bit too hard because it barely moved afterwards and I wanted a bit more activity out of it so that my snake would be sure to constrict it first. In any case, it was 10x better than orally introducing the meds via feeding tube.

I agree that its not a particularly appealing procedure. However, I have to say that the most commonly cited risk of the prey waking up P.O.'d seems way overblown. It doesn't take much of a whack and the rodent is in a state that its never coming back from. Also, I did not get the impression that the prey was really suffering. In fact, I don't think it was really "there" so to speak. Ultimately, I felt that the stunned rodent actually goes through less suffering than the live-fed one.

[.Patrick.]

Always at night when the snakes are wide awake. If they are not out and about on feeding night I just wait for the next night they are out. Then I pre-scent until the snake is obviously excited about eating. Then I just drop the mouse or rat in at the opposite end the snake happens to be at. The food never even knows what hit them. I also don't handle my snakes unless they are wide awake and active.

should i wait to feed at night? i fed mine this morning, well closer to noon, but i pre scented the room and he killed it as soon as it came near him. i also put the mouse in on the other end of the tank, he sniffed around then wandered over towards the snake. BAM!. cool to watch.

[bearhart]

I've never bothered with a particular time of day. I think the important thing is to make sure the snake is ready.

[bearhart]

I pre-scent and use tongs

Where did you get your tongs? Have you had any trouble with the snake striking them?

[JeffFlanagan]

I feed in the evening or morning when they're still active. The room is always pre-scented since most of my ASFRs are kept in the snake room because that room is adjusted to their native climate.

I'll toss an ASFR, rat, or mouse into bins with active snakes five or ten bins at a time. I sit in front of the bins to watch the process and remove any rodents that haven't been killed within a few minutes.

If I can't catch a snake active and get it to feed in two weeks, I give it special attention, changing prey items, using feed bins, vet trip, etc.

Most of them eat very well in their bins.

[Crazydude]

I dont know if im doing anything wrong, But anyway, I usually go to the petstore around dusk/early night, get the mouse, I put the petstore box with the mouse in it (rats soon, local does it as it goes up, Adult mouse-weanling rats) and leave it in for 10 minutes or so, The snake comes out lays on the box ext.

I turn the box on its side and open it, the mouse comes out, and in about 1 minute hes gone. Usually the snake focuses in on the box and right when its out, its constricted.

When i do switch to rats, I will do the tong method, As of right now, i can stand over the enclosure with a pair of feeding tons (not a rodent kind, but work) and make sure all goes well.

I dont get the massive feeding response adam does, but hes never refused a live, maybe its my snake, or If im missing out on something as far as methods go, or doing something wrong tell me, But it seems to work ATM with 1 snake just on mice.

[bait4snake]

I'm glad stunning worked so well for you!!!

After a few hundred times you start to get a better idea on how hard to whack them to get the desired "movement". Yes, if you hit them too hard, they will never come back from it. Sometimes when that happens, and it remains still and my snake doesn't take it, I'll have to offer it to another snake that I KNOW has a monsterous feeding response because it won't wake up or start moving again.

Also, regarding the rat/mouse waking up PO'ed... I never let it leave my hands/tongs until the snake has struck. If I see it waking up, which RARELY happens, I'll pull it away and give it another knock.

[rabernet]

Why is whacking even necessary?

Not once have any of mine been injured feeding un-stunned, live animals. I've never found it necessary to whack my prey.

[elevatethis]

I dont get the massive feeding response adam does, but hes never refused a live, maybe its my snake, or If im missing out on something as far as methods go, or doing something wrong tell me, But it seems to work ATM with 1 snake just on mice.

There is a lot to be said for conditioning these animals to adapt to your husbandry routine.

I always just drop rodents in the snakes' tubs, live and not "stunned." I slide open the tub, gently place the rodent on the floor of the tub, and the snakes are usually waiting patiently in their hides for the rodent to unknowingly stroll into their strike range. I've not had one injury using this method - my snakes are used to it and have adjusted to this routine.

I think that if I were to suddenly switch to offering rodents off of tongs like Adam does in his video, a lot of my snakes wouldn't eat right away - it's "out of routine" and not what they are expecting to happen. Basically, the moral of the story is that you do what works safely and effectively for you and your snakes.

From a large breeder's perspective, I think that the tong method is right on. You don't have a live rodent running around, tearing up paper, or defecating in the corners of the tubs before the snake eats it. I usually try to clean the day after feeding just because the live rodents tend to make a mess in some of the tubs...its amazing what they can leave in the 60-90 seconds before they are eaten.