Bredli's first feed in new home

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Plissken

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My new/old Bredli female fed for the first time with me today, bang on cue (her regular weekly feed day). So hopefully that's a sign that she's comfortable in her new environment (see other thread). It wasn't all plain sailing though! She struck like a pro, half-heartedly threw a single coil around it and then proceeded to try and eat it ***-first. She kept getting her teeth snagged in the tail and had to keep starting over. Then she seemed to lose interest. I was tempted to just leave her to it and check back later but being a new snake, I wanted to get the first feed done and dusted to put my mind at ease. At some considerable risk to life and limb :lol: I went back in with the tongues and presented Ratty to her a second time (she didn't seem to mind the intrusion). She struck again, threw a good couple of coils around him and waited for him to 'expire'. She then let go and.. you guessed it, tried to eat it back-to-front again! She kept sniffing the head, had a little go at starting to eat from the head-end and then seemed to lose interest again. I then noticed the rats head was tucked under it's body. So in I went again. This time she wasn't as happy about it though. She postured up and started straight over to me. She was definately gonna have me, no doubt about it. Luckily I managed to get Ratty re-positioned so he was lay straight out with his nose pointing straight in her direction. Once she was happy that she'd seen me off she then started to eat from the head-end and in less than five minutes Ratty was just a memory. She absolutely scoffed him!

After she had finished I called the place I got her from and they said she used to get it back to front quite often (funny they didnt mention it before the sale).

Now, please bear in mind that this is my first time feeding a snake in over twenty years. I have never encountered this problem before, as back in the day I only used live food. This is the first time ever using dead, thawed food. I never had a single instance (in a total of 21 Pythons over those years) that ate ***-first. Am I going to have this pantomime every week or is there something I can do with feeding technique to ensure a smoother feed? Just leave her to it? The majority of snakes I owned back then were wild-caught (it's just how it was) is this the difference between wild and captive-bred? Or more to do with live prey vs dead? Or do I just have a big old idiot? :lol:

Thanks!
 
its not a problem lol i have a het darwin yearling who sometimes eats the rat backwards
 
I wouldn't worry. My snakes usually eat head first but really as long as they are eating thats all that matters. Also unless she has proven to be a picky eater if she drops the mouse or appears to loose interest again I would just leave her to it and not try to grab the mouse back out and re-try again with the tongs. Most of my snakes prefer it that way, anyway. I just throw a mouse down at the entrance to their hide or in there feeding bin and they eat it. The hole dangling food with the tongs thing just takes more time (I had a GTP that required it but if they don't need it, why do it).. and picking the mouse up over and over might stress her out and prevent her from eating in the future.

PS: Most of my snakes will eat the mouse I drop in front of them within a few moments but I have a WLP who will only eat in the dead of the night. I put the mouse out before bed and wake up and it's gone... it's okay if the thawed mouse hangs around in the cage for a little while just not longer than a day.
 
My bredli does the same! He just stares at it, I think he prefers to hug Mr.Rat rather than eat him! It takes him half an hour before he figures out it goes in his mouth :lol: If you want to speed up the process give the tail a little tug, stimulates the prey escaping. I did that yesterday and my fella actually began eating it straight away (miracle!)....or maybe he just wanted his hatch-day dinner :?

It's nothing to worry about, she'll probably take the next one in a flash ;)
 
hi there...i may sound stupid saying this but i have read somewhere that if your snake eats ***first then your prey item may be too small just a thought...and your snake how old is it...in your thread you say new/old bredli if it is an adult it should be eating every 10-14 days not weekly so bigger prey less often...this is just what i have read so just a thought for you...anyway sounds like fun and good to see people on the other side of the world love our bredli's....good luck...
 
First of all, many thanks to everyone for your input, it's very much appreciated. Apologies for not responding sooner, I've been away for a couple of days (work really is a four letter word!)

Nilesh, Morbid, Sharky.. It's reassuring to know that She might just leave it and come back to it. I'll give her some space next time. As I mentioned, I've only ever done live feeds in the past. When live-feeding, if the snake doesn't show immediate interest you get the prey out straight away. If any of my WC Pythons ever showed disinterest in food it meant the start of an extended fast. Otherwise it was snap-wrap-gulp, no hanging about.

Although I'm not worried, I would prefer her to exhibit natural feeding behaviour. The reason I like to keep snakes is to observe their behaviour. If the snake looks nice and handles well then fine. But I'd rather have a scabby old snake that's impossible to handle but exhibits natural behaviour over a perfectly clean, stunning morph that just starts to gently consume a food item without striking and constricting (I couldn't beleive my eyes when I first saw you tube video's of this). Don't get me wrong, I'm not into live feeding. In fact the only reason I am able to keep snakes again is that there is now an abundance of captive bred snakes that are bought up on dead food, and the ready availabilty of the frozen food itself. In the intervening years I have become a right softy, and feeding live prey would upset me now that it is unneccessary.

Smileysnake - You may be onto something there. I think she could have had something a bit bigger. I wasn't originally going to post these pics as they are terrible and I wanted my first pics to do her justice. But this is what she had. The rat measured about 8.5 inches long and weighed in just short of 600g. She's 10yrs old. Dont know about length as I haven't had chance to measure her (estimate her to be over 7ft though). And VERY heavy bodied. I am beginning to think she may have been powerfed at some point. Anyone got pictures of a healthy female at max adult size for me to compare? I took these pics in stealth mode on my phone as I didn't want to disturb her. I hope to post some decent photo's over the weekend as I plan to get her out for the first time and see how she handles.

Thanks again you lot!

PS. Gravo - Congratulations mate. Seems like a good start to a long and fascinating relationship!

My bad. Forgot to add pics.

IMAG0321 copy2.jpg IMAG0321 copy.jpg

- - - Updated - - -

First couple of 'decent' photo's are now in the Bredli thread.
 
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