Hand fed reptiles...

infernalis · 03-19-10, 07:14 PM

Anyone else hand feed?? (I know it's risky with the big guys)

Freebody · 03-19-10, 07:48 PM

hehe nope my retic goes into a frenzy during feeding time. i wont hold her for at least a day after feeding, even hours after her last rat in her feeding tank when i open the lid i got to be carefull she will just fly out the opening bitting like a dog. no strike at all,shes just bitting the lid the top of the cage anything she can get in her mouth,last week i opened the tank to drop her back into her cage, after about 2 hours since i dropped her last rat in, and she flew out and cage let go and and turn tried to just bite the light frame didnt fit in her mouth then turned and bit the heat dish i use as her heat source lucky for her i had just turned it back on and it had not gotten hot yet. maniac to say the least, classic retic feeding responce from what i read.

i love that green snake.is that a garter as well?some day im going to build a snake shelf and get a collection of garters.maybe breed them. i dont think there is any canadian breeders.cant believe the colors on them all , so many different patterns and they look so sweet and small enouph to get a collection that wont need a whole house to keep them in and cheep on food... and i like there head so small and cute looking.

Will0W783 · 03-19-10, 08:04 PM

Lol, yeah retics are nuts around feeding time. My sd female, Baby, is insane in the membrane as soon as she smells food; other than that she's a sweetie. But don't let her smell food....
I don't hand feed because I don't trust any of my snakes that much. I do have one snake I would trust, but he eats large rats and they're kind of nasty and messy to hand feed..lol.

infernalis · 03-19-10, 09:24 PM

Dorothy got really mad at me for showing Chomper food while she was holding him...

shaunyboy · 03-20-10, 06:40 AM

my jag goes into a bit of a frenzy at feeding time.he's my most trusted snake,yet when he smells food he totally transforms into crazy snake.anything that passes his tank with a heat signature makes him strike the glass.only the once (thankfully) he came right past the rat and feeding tongs and decided my finger tips tasted better.with it being a feeding response he wasnt keen on letting go.i had to enlist the help of my wife and 2 oldest sons to unravel him off me.all the time i was acting like a little girl,pulling faces and yellping as he decided to walk up my fingers with those teeth of his.needless to say i bought an even longer set of feeding tongs.
cheers shaun
p.s. can only imagine how scary it would be if it was a retic doing it.

infernalis · 03-20-10, 07:44 AM

I never try this with my python, but almost all of our colubrid snakes will eat right out of my hands.

My corn snake missed the target once and started eating my finger, but that was no biggie.

Chomper gets all excited and his claws scare me more than his mouth.

**Aaron_S** · 03-20-10, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebody

hehe nope my retic goes into a frenzy during feeding time. i wont hold her for at least a day after feeding, even hours after her last rat in her feeding tank when i open the lid i got to be carefull she will just fly out the opening bitting like a dog. no strike at all,shes just bitting the lid the top of the cage anything she can get in her mouth,last week i opened the tank to drop her back into her cage, after about 2 hours since i dropped her last rat in, and she flew out and cage let go and and turn tried to just bite the light frame didnt fit in her mouth then turned and bit the heat dish i use as her heat source lucky for her i had just turned it back on and it had not gotten hot yet. maniac to say the least, classic retic feeding responce from what i read....

From my understanding you're feeding a retic in another enclosure than her regular one? If you are, try feeding it in it's enclosure so you don't have to worry about an increasingly large snake attacking you each week.

Also, I don't hand feed. I use tongs and that's as close as I like to get during feeding.

Will0W783 · 03-20-10, 12:29 PM

Quote:

I use tongs and that's as close as I like to get during feeding.

I have to agree with you there Aaron; I don't want them to mistake my fingers for their next meal...ouch!

infernalis · 03-20-10, 12:44 PM

The litle ones don't hurt too bad when they miss.

Freebody · 03-20-10, 01:54 PM

ya i take her out and feed her in a different container because i figure if food never comes in her home tank she might not attack me during a spot cleaning or wheni go to get her out. she is real alert no matter what she is doing ie sleeping or chilling under the heat light she will come straight for me real fast as soon as she hear the cage opening.not agressivly just to see what going on and sometime its so fast you dont know if she had time to figure out im not food :P

**Aaron_S** · 03-20-10, 02:43 PM

Freebody, I use a snake hook for all my snakes. I simply tap them or touch them on top of their heads (not violently or anywhere near hard) or behind their heads. It tells them that it's not time for food and they don't give me a feeding response. Besides, you have a retic, moving a 16 foot 150 pound snake into a bathroom and then removing isn't any safer than feeding in her enclosure.

Also, I don't get this theory of "the snake won't associate the opening of it's cage with feeding if I feed it somewhere else". Really, think about that, you open the cage to remove the snake for feeding. What's to say the snake doesn't associate the removal from it's home enclosure as time to feed? So as soon as you take her out, she starts striking. Same logic.

Freebody · 03-21-10, 01:11 AM

true, i have considered using a hook for some now.
ya im going to start feeding her in her enclosure, i wont have much of a choice soon as shes pretty much outgrown her rubbermaid feeding tank anyways. ya like you said when i come up shes really currious and active i hold my hand out flat to her face as i aprouch her and as soon as i touch her she relaxes , i think ill get myself a hook made sooner than later. shes getting to the point where if she wants to she could hurt me now. shes about 5-6 feet long but still skinny not the same as an adult retic but i feed her the proper amount if not i feed her 2 much but she remains skinny.i read somewhere that they usually fill out later in life so im not worried about it.she is getting fatter now im told i dont really notice it much because im around her all the time. i cant wait till shes full grown and has some girth.nothing like being in the mercy of such a powerfull animal.

shaunyboy · 03-21-10, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Freebody, I use a snake hook for all my snakes. I simply tap them or touch them on top of their heads (not violently or anywhere near hard) or behind their heads. It tells them that it's not time for food and they don't give me a feeding response. Besides, you have a retic, moving a 16 foot 150 pound snake into a bathroom and then removing isn't any safer than feeding in her enclosure.

Also, I don't get this theory of "the snake won't associate the opening of it's cage with feeding if I feed it somewhere else". Really, think about that, you open the cage to remove the snake for feeding. What's to say the snake doesn't associate the removal from it's home enclosure as time to feed? So as soon as you take her out, she starts striking. Same logic.

my mate had a case exactley like that aaron.he used to pick his python up put it into a different tub then feed it.after a while it seemed to associate getting took out with feeding.if it didnt get fed when it was lifted out as say my mate just fancied taking it out to handle it to show friends.the very next time he went in to take it out for whatever reason it hit him with a feeding response.it was like heh i'm not going back in without my food,wheres my food,you forgot last time.i personally feed all mine in their tanks with the exception of the bredl's i keep in the same tank.i split them up at feeding time.
cheers shaun

infernalis · 03-21-10, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebody

I love that green snake.is that a garter as well?some day im going to build a snake shelf and get a collection of garters.maybe breed them. i dont think there is any canadian breeders.cant believe the colors on them all , so many different patterns and they look so sweet and small enouph to get a collection that wont need a whole house to keep them in and cheep on food... and i like there head so small and cute looking.

The green snake is a Cyclophiops Major, Chinese green snake.

Chu'Wuti · 03-21-10, 01:17 PM

How different in habitat & feeding is Cyclophiops from Opheodrys? I've kept O. aestivus for a time (WC, then released). I haven't seen the Cyclophiops before.

Sandy