PopGoesAli, Jay is notorious for being picky about the true names of red tails. People will often mislabel or sell BCI (boa constrictor imperator) as true red tails, when they aren't.
She has a gorgeous red tail, however. We're not trying to tell you the color of your snakes tail! hehe
As for the rat eating chunks out of your past Ball python, yes that can be very scary, but that can happen if you don't watch the snake when live prey is in with it. You should NEVER leave live prey in with a snake if you are not there to watch! If the snake doesn't eat it within a few minutes it would be best to try again next week, rather than risk your snake getting bit. Yes, nips can happen within those few minutes but if you are there watching you can intervene before it gets too bad.
People are just trying to inform you of what would be best for your little girl there - it can be difficult to switch a snake from mice to rats because some snakes can get very picky. When your girl gets bigger it will take a lot of mice to provide a substantial meal. Even now, she probably could eat a second or third mouse (don't quote me, I'm just going off of what i know, listen to the experts not me, if they say something that contradicts me, follow their advice not mine.).
To respond to Grim, yes while we would like to believe our snakes recognize our smell and dont want to bite 'us', it might be that our smell is covering up the prey's smell and they're not quite sure of how to react when it doesn't smell like prey.
As for the microwave method burning the snake, I hope not. So long as the prey item is only warm to the touch it should be safe, if it is too hot when you take it out then let it chill a little before you feed the snake, like you would with your own food.
If you only take one thing from this post however, I hope it is this; People on this forum are NOT out to get you! While some of us are more blunt, it is because they have cared for snakes for a very long time and know what needs to be done, and they don't feel like sugar coating every single response they give to new people who come asking for help. They answer a lot of questions, give them a little slack (only a little! flat out name calling is just rude...). We have great admins on here who will intervene and reprimand people who are flat out disrespectful or purposefully trying to make another person miserable. If you feel like you are being harassed, message one of them and see if they can help, rather than making the issue worse.
that was just a bit of personal advice. I will say again.
She does have a lovely red tail :P
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