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RE: feeding snakes live
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by JHarrison on March 2, 2005
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Please don't put endothermic (warm-blooded) animals in the freezer to kill them! The ice crystals form in the blood before the animal becomes unconscious, so it's like having small daggers circulating through your body. (Not to mention really cold!!)
Anyway, it is really easy to cervically disclocate a rodent. Just grab it behind the head and pull quickly on the tail.
One hint for getting them to eat dead: feed two small food items, so that both together are equal to what one feeding would be. Put the first in the cage live, and let the snake eat it. Then kill the second and introduce it right after the snake is finished swallowing, so the mouse is still warm. Many times the snake is so set off on feeding that it will grab whatever it sees without checking it out too much first. I have also had luck with this same idea but spacing it out so the snake gets one thing every two or three days- live, live, freshly dead, freshly dead, frozen thawed. If you introduce it the exact same way each time the snake lerns to associate that with the food and will grab it quickly. Just use small food items. (And use forceps or tongs!)
Kristen
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RE: feeding snakes live
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by DavidG on March 2, 2005
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I know many of you out there dislike the facts of Venomoids I have no problem with them I've even owned one before. My point that I'm getting to is give your snake live rodents, they are not heated up in the microwave out in the wild. They don't eat them thawed, they eat them alive. Their is nothign wrong with it. So what if your snake gets bit, it better figure out what technique to use to prevent further bites. You think wild snakes worry about getting bit? they probably enjoy it, "The thrill of the Hunt".
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RE: feeding snakes live
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by elapidking81 on March 2, 2005
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The problem with the snake getting bit is the bite could get infected and or another mouse could do more damage next time a mouse can do a lot of damage to a snake even kill the snake.
shane
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RE: feeding snakes live
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by emtnurse on March 2, 2005
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A good thump on the head takes care of it. It is quick and unexpected. I hate doing it, but it is more humane than freezing something live where it suffers from extreme cold. Bryan
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RE: feeding snakes live
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by biff on March 3, 2005
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I take exception to David's post. Feeding live doesn't simulate "being in the wild". It is very possible that the snake may have it's eye bitten out by a rodent, I know that has happened on occasion.
You've got a snake in a small enclosure, there is nothing natural about that. Adding a live rodent doesn't change the balance. In fact, it may actually change the behavior of the rodent, esp. if it is capable of realizing there is no escape.
I've never had a snake that couldn't be switched over to f/t with time and effort.
Steve
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RE: feeding snakes live
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by bush_viper17 on March 3, 2005
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I agree with both,sometimes alive does give the snake a good "Workout" and it fulfils its natural "job" of finding and killing its prey, but on the other hand I think if a snake in the wild was offered a dead food item it would eat it just as quick. The reason most snakes dont eat dead rats in the wild is because they usually find alive but some snakes ie:Agkistrodon piscivorous as well as others will take dead or alive in the wild and sometimes goes in search for dead food. I think, if you can feed them live and get away with it, go for it, if you can feed them dead go for it. I have some snakes that eat live prey with out injury and I dont see any problems in the future so I will continue to feed them live prey. But if you have something like a rat snake(a constrictor) or a gaboon viper(strike and hold) you may want to offer it pre killed prey just in case something would go wrong.
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RE: feeding snakes live
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by JTEDENS on March 3, 2005
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An effective but much more gruesome way to keep your snakes from being bitten is to break the rodent's jaw. You can pinch it with forceps and snap the jaw bone quite easily. I have had several snakes that would only eat live and then go for whatever else was around too. I've also had some that will only eat live period. I had a boa that got a bad skin infection after being bitten by a rat, that's when I started breaking the rat's jaw to get her to feed. It's not fun or pretty but the rodent will be dead shortly after you do this anyway. The boa I had wouldn't eat stunned rodents, freshly killed, or anything else. They had to be moving around the cage and she had to 'stalk' them then decide she was ready.
John
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RE: feeding snakes live
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by Dadee on March 3, 2005
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Wow, I'm amazed at some of the tales. No pun intended. This subject has 2 sides of the fence, much like that of the catholic priests. I imagine if you are of the more populated norm, you would give freshly killed, by breaking the neck. On the other hand, breaking jaws and throwing them in the freezer does bring up new ideas. I'll admit, I've tried the frozen theory with a rat on one occasion. It didn't work real good...no matter how much puppeteering I did...they smelled it and turned their noses up. Now, breaking the neck is something I've had great success with. The prey is still warm and doesn't smell funny from the nuking. A quick toss into the trash can, BANG...a large thump against the side of the can and I know, the prey now has 2 puncture marks in it. I'm not saying one way is better than the other, but to listen to both sides of the fence, you can clearly see a majority and a minority. Which side you decide to reside on is up to you...but keep in mind the snakes' ability to stay in the clear and not wind up a liability.
Have fun,
Matt
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RE: feeding snakes live
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Anonymous post on March 4, 2005
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Let me guess. By the looks of your pic, you dont seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed. HOW would you even go about pulling teeth on a mouse?? what a moron
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