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19-Nov-07, 09:47 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: May-07 Location: Reservoir Age/Gender: 39  | | |
Hi all,
I was visiting the local living jungle store in Vic yesterday to pick up a new feeding dish for our beardies new enclosure and noticed the guy trying to feed a 4-5 foot carpet python a rat. The snake seemed uninterested in the meal and the other store attendant was telling him to let the rat bounce on the snakes head to get it angry to take the meal.
Now I am a bit of a newby when it comes to reptiles but surely that is not right.
I am in the process of trying to get the missus to agree to our first snake but after she had been tagged once before by a childrens she is reluctant and seeing this just didn't seem right.
Could someone please educate me on feeding. |
19-Nov-07, 09:57 PM
| | Suspended | Join Date: Mar-06 Location: In The Naughty Corner Gender:  | | | | Hmmmm Living Jungle says it all
__________________
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19-Nov-07, 09:59 PM
|  | Bonus Member Subscriber | Join Date: Mar-06 Location: Ballina, Northern NSW. Age/Gender: 24 | | | | Yea, thats a very strange feeding technique for sure lol.
From my experiences, if the snakes not hungry, it wont eat... simple as that.
As for the education on feeding, If my snakes dont take their meal, i just leave the rat in the cage overnight and usually find it gone in the morning. Reasons for the snake not feeding can include, Cage temperature, Stress, Sloughing etc.... |
19-Nov-07, 10:09 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: May-07 Location: Reservoir Age/Gender: 39 | | | | thanks
Thanks guys and Gals,
I agree Isis i have noticed a few of their beardies looking alittle under nourished and will never buy anything other than the odd urgent bowl or something certainly never any livestock.
Prefer to get my beardies from private breaders and all my supplies from the online herp shops. |
20-Nov-07, 09:51 AM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Oct-07 Location: Sutherland Shire Gender: | | | | I can't imagine wacking it on the head would be good for handling it ! |
20-Nov-07, 01:03 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Aug-07 Location: sydney Gender: | | | | Have had to use a similar method but not hit it on the head.
Sometimes with F/T mice/rats the snake is hungry but not interested for a number of reasons.
If you gently let the mouse/rat bump against the body neck area it can intice a snake to believe that the prey is alive and they will wrap and eat the item if this does not work after a couple of attempts then another method would be required, this method is usually only required on problem feeders when you first start feeding them.
I have one snake that was fed only on live prey before I got her. I had to use this method for the first couple of feeds and now I can hardly get the prey into her enclosure.
IMO this is a last resort before trying live prey..........and live prey is a very last resort.
Hope this helps.
__________________ OziAnimals Carer for Sydney WildlifeCaring for sydneys sick,injured and orphaned native animals. |
20-Nov-07, 01:33 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Sep-06 Location: Melbourne Age: 23 | | | | i have a coastal that had not eaten since march, i managed to persuade him to eat on saturday by tapping the side of his body with the rat. i had to get the snake really fired-up until he was in a state to strike at the rat in in anger/defense.
after half an hour of this, he eventually struck the rat and ate it. this was a great relief because i was getting very worried. i had also tried all the other less confronting methods short of feeding live and he showed no interest. |
20-Nov-07, 03:45 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jan-07 Location: Cranberry Fields Age/Gender: 28 | | | There are many ways to encourage a picky snake to eat, and wacking it on the head with the prey item isn't one of them. 
I'm using scenting at the moment, to transition my snake on to rats (she rather likes mice, so I'm tricking her).
A lot of snake owners wiggle the dead prey in front of their snake, to induce a strike. I used to do this, but my snake has caught on that all her food is dead, so I just put the prey in the tank, and she helps herself in her own time. Lazy girl.  | |
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