Retic Feeding question - thoughts please :) - Page 2

shaunyboy · 04-23-12, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

We never let the kids touch/hold the snakes at the talks, in our home we always make them wash their hands first - but i would never let them hold Doc anyways as he is too powerful for a child

i knew you would have the safety side covered mate

i was just thinking out loud

the tongs my mate uses for his burm's,are made of half inch square steel.just over 3ft in length

i'll try and find out where he got them from,as they are really good for big agressive feeders mate

cheers shaun

KORBIN5895 · 04-23-12, 01:06 PM

Instal a piece of PVC pipe into the top of his cage. Put a clean out cap on the outside . When feeding time comes around just unscrew the cap and drop the rat down the pipe.. he won't be able to see when the cap is opened. You may also be able to find a one way valve for the bottom of the pipe.

jaleely · 04-23-12, 01:08 PM

i haven't had a snake that big. my biggest is my 4.25 foot male ball python...he has a huge head...but we're able to feed him outside of his enclosure. He's pretty docile though, unless he's truly hungry and his strike is right on.
My dumeril's boa female is supposed to get about 8 feet or so...she's still a baby now though.
I guess i'm trying to figure out in my mind how much bigger your snake is, to know if it's possible to hook him out and place him somewhere else...THEN get the food thawed or whatever ready to present it to him.
Or, turn off the heat stuff for about a half hour before feeding, so when the warm food goes in, he may only strike at the warm spot?
maybe that would help? I would worry he's going to hurt himself, too!

jaleely · 04-23-12, 01:10 PM

i wondered something like that korbin, but i wasn't sure how the set up is and it may not work that way. Maybe they can figure something out like that. like a food slide. he'd probably hang out under the opening all the time waiting for food *lol*

UwabamiReptiles · 04-23-12, 01:28 PM

I have a female carpet that has started striking at me through the door everytime she thinks its feeding time. I just open her cage with a hook and feed with long tongs. She's not as crazy as your retic sounds but this works for me.

marvelfreak · 04-23-12, 01:51 PM

Rob i am having the same issue with my Yellow Anaconda. Have a question when you open the cage door does it go up, down, or to the side?

Terranaut · 04-23-12, 01:58 PM

My take.
I have a super aggressive feeder in my house here. My king is brutal. When we feed him we thaw his food in another room. Bring the thawed food into his room ,open his viv and stick it right in his face. By the time the scent hits him and he goes wild the only thing to strike at is the rat. So the above takes 20 seconds from hot water to in snakes mouth. No time to be in feed mode before prey is introduced. Before this he has jumped right out the viv door to get at prey. Now picking up a hungry king is much safer than a hungry retic but I still don't wanna do that again. Good luck.

Lankyrob · 04-23-12, 02:57 PM

Will try to answer a string of questions in one post

The viv doors slide sideways. He goes into feeding mode LITERALLY as soon as the prey comes out of the freezer - i walk past his viv to head to the kitchen and he is docile, get rats out of the freezer and leave them in the kitchen, walk back into the living room and he is at the glass waiting

Feeding out of his viv is in no way possible, opening the door wide enough to slip a rat through the gap has him with his mouth wide open striking through the gap

- i would never attempt to touch a retic in feed mode, and it takes him roughly 72 hours to come out of feed mode after he has eaten.

Keep the ideas coming please

KORBIN5895 · 04-23-12, 03:02 PM

Mount the pipe on the side of the viv.

Lankyrob · 04-23-12, 03:04 PM

He is in the middle of a three viv stack and i have ZERO diy skills, no idea where i would even start

MoreliAddict · 04-23-12, 03:10 PM

Rob, have you seen viperkeeper feed his Palestine Viper called "the weasel"? He stands to the side as he slides the door open with a pair of tongs to keep extra distance, then, still standing to the side (rather than directly in front) offers the rat.

At least your retic is a good eater!

KORBIN5895 · 04-23-12, 03:48 PM

Post a picture of the set up.

Lankyrob · 04-23-12, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

Post a picture of the set up.

He is in the middle of the centre stack

jaleely · 04-23-12, 04:31 PM

hmm so we need to think about it all differently here. He's reacting to the smell...but maybe we can also get him to learn to react to not only the smell, but something else.

when we were silly with snakes...back when we only had our first baby ball python, we used to take her out and let her slither through some pvc pipes...at the end of the pipes would be the food item on a plate. She learned really quickly about this and it was totally cute. She'd be out, and chill...but when we brought out the pipes she'd get all excited and eventually soar through them flicking her tongue to get to the food at the end.

I know it may be hard to feed him in a sperate environment. I also haven't had a snake continue with feeding mode after it's eaten, but that's also because i try to change conditions so that they know when "feeding time" has been completed. Just a story...maybe someone else could think of how to make something happen for you.

KORBIN5895 · 04-23-12, 04:43 PM

Are those doors glass or acrylic?