If anybody needed any more proof that the snake experts are at *this* forum, here's a message recently posted on one of the other "big" snake forums:
Quote:
Posted by: longtang at Sun Jul 27 08:38:06 2003 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]
Hi all:
I am not an expert in herps, but I do try new things and such. I just found a new way that I can elicit feeding response in pitted snakes (like the pit vipers and ball pythons) who use heat as a way to find food.
I was frustrated with my ball pythons who would only eat live food. Everytime I want to feed f/t food, I have to give them a live food first and then place the f/t in the snake's mouth as the butt of the first prey is swallowed.
The other day I was taking out a dead food out of my BP's cage. She bit my middle finger knuckle. I realized that she smelled the food but was looking for something warm (like my knuckle) to bite on. So I started to heat up f/t food. Now she strikes at dead food! Turns out that the reason I had always needed to feed live food was that: live food is warm! So, she wasn't necessarily looking for live food--just warm food.
An easy way of heating up food is with hot water. However, this is only recommended if you have newspaper as substrate. Aspen will be too stuck onto wet food! (I learned to be very careful because MsTT warned about aspen..By the way, MsTT how have you been? You haven't posted in long time).
I now have all my snakes on Newspaper. My copperhead and my ballpython will strike at warmed wet f/t food. (The Pigmy rattle snake that I have will strike even cold food, thankfully).
Think about it: They are, after all, pit animals that use heat. It makes perfect sense that heated food will be better taken than cold food. I wonder why I didn't think of it sooner. It would've saved me a lot of frustration. I guess I am sharing this info, hoping that I can maybe save some frustration out there in the BP and in the Pit-viper community.
cheers.
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Can you imagine this guy giving you feeding advice? Gee, bozo, I'm glad you thought to heat up the frozen food. Really. Congrats. Now your snake won't have to pick icicles out of its teeth.
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