Feeding Tongs & Snake Hooks for a BP?

[LadyParvati]

I was recently told I should be using feeding tongs for offering FT prey to my BP and that I need to "hook train" him. I've been holding the rat by the tail to offer the prey with no problems, but my friend, who does have a much larger number of snakes than I, assures me I will get bit if I continue to do this. He also says that when my BP is bigger, the snake hook will be essential.

So I have two questions:

1) Do I really need these tools?

2) If I do,
a) what kind of feeding tongs (plastic or metal, size, even brand name would be welcome) and
b) what kind of snake hook (same info as above requested)?

Thanks!

[PDXErik]

I was grabbed one time by my (then) 8' BCI red tail boa.

It's not a 4 or 5' BP, but it's still stressful for all involved. I'm certain I took some of her teeth with me when I coaxed her off. Much better to have not gotten lazy and used the stupid tongs.

As for hook training a BP, I don't know. My BCI certainly knows what a hook is, though.

[C#@$e]

i think its better to use the tongs to avoid any confustion. Sence your feeding him with your hand you mait get tagged by confustion because you feed him with your hand and he/ she can smell it and when you put your hand in there he/she mait be like "FOOD" and tag you by accident. Also when you take your BP out by hand he mait get into feeding mode and thats why you should try to hook train him. got that lol

[Aaron_S]

Chase, I believe it's spelt 'might' and not 'mait'.

To answer the question regarding hook training, my adult ball python isn't hooked trained. I got him as an adult and I just haven't bothered. He's good for now though and hook training snakes from the beginning would make it easier for handling purposes. I'm currently in the process of hook training my baby borneo short tail python though.

It's already been stated, that hemostats, are a very useful tool for when feeding ANY size snake.

[gonesnakee]

Tongs are recommended for feeding ANY snake. It is the PROPER way to feed them. It is far safer for both you & your snake (no busting off of its teeth in your knuckles) & is more sainitary as well (unless you really like handling dead animals). As for a hook for a BP unless it is not your average BP I would not worry about it at all. "Hook Training" is for REAL pythons LOL Mark
P.S. tongs don't have to be all fancy either, you can likely grab something in the cooking untensil section of a dollar store that will suffice. I'm a fan of the big tweezers myself, I hate hemostats or whatever they are called
Edit - if you really want a hook more often than not I just use long paint roller handles they work just fine except for larger heavier snakes. As for BPs & most Colubrids they work great & are cheaper than real hooks. Buy one meant for a screw in handle & make it any length you choose.

[Aaron_S]

I prefer hemostats Mark. Tongs, when dealing with large rats, you need to have a mean grip on that tail! With the hemostats I can just lock them up!

[gonesnakee]

I'd actually suggest not picking them up by the tails but rather the back leg. Otherwise the rats gone & the tail stays in the hemostats. I have had many ails pull off by picking them up that way in the past. Tongs that one would use say for baked potatoes work good for big rats. Nothing beats a good pair made for the job though when dealing with larger prey items. Midwest is a good brand name for such, Mark

[Aaron_S]

I've had some of the tail come off before too. I've used the back legs before but I never really did it all the time. Thanks for the tip!

[gonesnakee]

Ya I hate being left with only the tail as the rat drops onto my foot LOL Mark

[C#@$e]

Hey, you guys talk about the leg and the tail but what about the very back of the rat or mouse (whate ever lol) because that way you have a good grip on it and im pretty sure your snake isnt going to have the whole rat inside his mouth when he striks. get what im saying?

[Aaron_S]

Grabbing from the back end allows the snake to grab the prey item without potentially grabbing metal. I've had snakes grab the middle of a rat. It also gives a couple more inches between you and the snake

[mykee]

Question for all you "tail holders": Which of you have ever seen a live rat do a handstand? Because that's the heat signature that you're presenting to your ball python, not a very natural one on my opinion. I use hemostats at the haunches for the simple reason that the heat signature is much smaller (basically just a head) where the heat signature with a rat hanging by it's tail is it's full body length, straight up. Kind of intimidating and definitely worthy of "spooking" a snake into not eating.

[Aaron_S]

Hmm, maybe that is the cause of some of my snakes being shy. I never looked that in depth into it. Thanks Michael.

I have in the past dragged a prey item on the ground of the enclosure in front of the snake. I suppose though that it still has a large heat signature.

[LadyParvati]

Wow. I'm so glad I asked--what a lot of information! I was told to hold the prey by the scruff of the neck for presentation to the snake, but I worried about the same problem Aaron mentions of the snake grabbing metal. I was afraid it might get injured & then refuse to eat.

The tail-holding discussion is interesting, too. I've been holding the prey by the tail (no, I don't particularly _enjoy_ handling dead rats, but I do wash my hands VERY thoroughly afterwards!) and doing the dangle thing. Our BP almost always grabs the head though occasionally the shoulder. He doesn't seem to care that the rat is dangling.

The advantage I can see of my fingers is that when the snake grabs & wraps, I let go, and no tails are lost. It sounds like I can have the same advantage with tweezers or tongs, but not hemostats, but hemostats give a better grip, which I foresee becoming a "bigger" problem as the size of the prey animal I'm using gets bigger. Hmmm . . . lots to think about.

Thanks so much, all of you!

[PDXErik]

Chuck Norris feeds his spitting cobras with his teeth.