Striking - Feeding, noob questions.

[greenthingsjump]

Hello!

I been feeding my snake about every 10 days, I waited about 15 days for no particular reason. (I feel like a bad snake owner now.) I just had not had the chance to go buy the live mice. Well, when I open the cage door she slithered up to the rim and struck at my hand. Was she just super hungry or pissed? All I did was open the cage door. (To be fair, I was opening it to drop a mouse in.) Lately as soon as I enter the room she comes out of her hide and tends to slither about and stare at me. She didn't use to do that either.

Before ppl, get up in arms about feeding live, a bit of back story. I got her in about march, i've been feeding her live, and the snake store I bought it from feed them live. I've tried twice to feed her frozen, but she flat out refuses. It. My frozen feed process just in case. I've de-thawed it for a bout 12 hours in the fridge from the freezer, then let it soak in a hot water, with the mouse in a plastic bag to get it warm/room temp. I would drop the frozen in and leave it there over night. Nothing. I waited a couple of days tried again, nothing. I gave up and gaver her live. I've done that process twice.

She is never struck at me before. If i'm being honest, i was so uber broke and stressed about money I just felt like i didn't have the money for food. Which is a bad practice, I should have never let that happen. I plan not to let that happen again. I guess I have two questions, why do you think she struck at me? Should I try feeding frozen again?

PS- Her sheds are coming in pieces now. I feed her adult mice. I plan to switch to every 7 days.

[greenthingsjump]

pictures also. :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwEuREH9SxORa1p1SEZPVk9zT1BISDFOVXd0NmNDVWQ1b3hv/view

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwEuREH9SxORRnptRmVlNWV2emFfdjdnWFo0Zm5jSU92cTFJ/view

[Cclark4108]

From my personal experience feeding them in their enclosure causes some aggression when opening the lid to get them out or feed. We tested it and my husband was almost bit in the face by my ball after feeding her in her tank only two times. We were going on vacation then came back and we're just too exhausted to take them all out of their tanks. We got lazy. Now they are back to being fed in the tub and are fine again to get out. People will argue this until they are blue in the face. I'm not gonna argue, just stating my experience. Gypsy is the second most gentle snake we have and she has never even thought to try to bite before. Even when we first got her has a starved, abused rescue.

[greenthingsjump]

From my personal experience feeding them in their enclosure causes some aggression when opening the lid to get them out or feed. We tested it and my husband was almost bit in the face by my ball after feeding her in her tank only two times. We were going on vacation then came back and we're just too exhausted to take them all out of their tanks. We got lazy. Now they are back to being fed in the tub and are fine again to get out. People will argue this until they are blue in the face. I'm not gonna argue, just stating my experience. Gypsy is the second most gentle snake we have and she has never even thought to try to bite before. Even when we first got her has a starved, abused rescue.

A few years ago I had an greyband king, and an egyption sand boa. I fed them the same way I do now, I never had this problem, who knows, maybe i was lucky. I'm starting to feel like she is getting aggressive, I just went in trying to pet her and she got all puffy and struck at me and followed my hand around. I'm beginning to think maybe a snake isn't for me.

[Roman]

What kind of snake are we talking about? Is it an adult or a juvenile/semiadult snake?

I feed juvenile and not yet adult snakes once every week on average, if one of them refuses a meal, for instance because it is preparing to shed it will be fed the next week again (or the week after that). Generally it doesn’t matter if your snake misses a meal or two, they don’t get their next meal exactly on schedule in nature neither. Adult snakes (I am talking strictly on colubrids here) get fed once every two weeks.

I feed only frozen/thawed mice, rats or chicken, for some snakes it is enough to place them somewhere in the enclosure, for others you have to move the food around or even tease the snake until it bites into the food.

When your snake bit you it was most likely just hungry and since your hand smelled of mouse (and you had the mouse in your hand) it was just a feeding accident. Use some long tweezers or forceps to handle any food.

I would not feed my snakes outside their enclosure, in my opinion it causes just more stress to catch them, move them into an external bin, catch them again and move them back. Some of my snakes would certainly not eat if treated that way.

With the shed, we would need some information. Temperatures (min/max/ambient), humidity, is the water bowl big enough for the snake to take a bath etc.

[daisymaisy]

You might try dangling the thawed out mouse with a pair of tongs. The snake is used to food that moves around, so it might be more interested than if you just leave the mouse in there.

[greenthingsjump]

It's the biggest bowl I could find, around 12' in diameter. Ive seen it coiled up in the water bowl before. I'll have to get back to you on the temperature. Corn snake. Pictures below.



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[bigsnakegirl785]

10-15 days isn't generally that long without food, but if the species has a higher metabolism, I would try not to go that long every feeding. An adult corn does just fine on an adult mouse every 14 days.

Feeding in the enclosure does not cause aggression, snakes are not aggressive. I feed all of my snakes in their enclosures, and do not have that problem. If I am actively thawing food out, I will get some strikes, and my big jungle boa female will strike when the weather changes. I assume it correlates to breeding season.

As a reference, I have a retic as well as 6 boas. Retics are famed for their food responses, but I have no problems with mine on that front. If a snake is "aggressive" in the enclosure, there is likely another reason for it.


It's the biggest bowl I could find, around 12' in diameter. Ive seen it coiled up in the water bowl before. I'll have to get back to you on the temperature. Corn snake. Pictures below.



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Your enclosure is incredibly barren, with one open-ended hide. It's no wonder the poor thing is getting nervous. Get at least two enclosed hides with only one entrance (the hide shouldn't be clear). Put one on each end. I may also get some fake plants, vines, etc. and a tank background to wrap around 3 sides. Snakes don't like to be out in the open with nowhere to hide, it makes them nervous, and can make them defensive.

I may also move the tank away from the window if it gets direct sunlight, as a tank in direct sunlight can quickly cook the inside of the tank to unbearable temps.

Handling techniques, and how you pick them up can also play a role in how your snake reacts. If they see you as a potential predator, they will defend themselves.