Interesting hunters?

BoidsUnlimited · 07-13-05, 12:43 AM

Well now that my male BP is eating for me...I am able to actually watch him. I am so happy that hes doing this well!

Just now I fed him a rat pup...it was live by the way. He was really cautious....he would come out...but if the rat faced away from him, no deal. Then its like he almost got tired of waiting......snuck out along the side of the cage.....turned up and to the left to face him then WHACK!

I dont know I just found it really interesting to watch him be this cautious and see his approach of the rat.

Anyone else notice strange feeding ways of their snakes//ball pythons?

robitza · 07-13-05, 06:45 AM

You want to get him used to eating pre-killed or thawed rats. For the safety of your snake.

Rikki · 07-13-05, 10:51 AM

Yeah, try to get him on pre killed, its always the safe way to go. I know what you mean about the hunting action, its always fun to watch the personality of a snake, especially around feeding time

lanceinhispance · 07-13-05, 09:58 PM

i agree that its cool but why does it need to hunt if its in a cage all day my snake got bit by a mouse not fully knocked and i dont want urs to get hurt either

i would get it to f/t rats asap

Ciddian · 07-13-05, 10:46 PM

I offered my corn a stunned mouse and she would nose it slightly before hitting it hard. She didnt bother to constrict it. Just held it against the glass for a while.. lol
The way she eeked over to it was interesting.. Inch by inch.

I love watching them try to figure out ways to break out of the tank... Smartie

BoidsUnlimited · 07-13-05, 10:52 PM

Dont worry about the f/t subject....I'm aware of it and I'm working on it. These are his first few meals...as he didnt eat his first month with the breeder.

Thanks anyways though.

Serpens · 07-13-05, 11:02 PM

Cool man...I'd be interested to see some hunting, but I'm unsure about my snake, only because he's now large enough to eat mice and rats that could do some damage when they fought back. For now, though, he almost invariably strikes hard and constricts as soon as I show him the mouse. Crazy to watch...he spends like, fifteen minutes just flicking his tongue around and 'warming up' as I call it. Thanks for the thread too...interesting topic...looking forward to see what stories other people might have.

Serpens

BoidsUnlimited · 07-14-05, 12:02 AM

Hey serpens.....own a pair of hemostats? maybe you could grab the mouse by the neck and wriggle it around

Serpens · 07-14-05, 12:33 AM

Hey boids

I'm gonna get a pair soon, as I want to start my collection of boas. I currently just dangle the mice by the tail (they are f/t, if anyone's wondering) and Morpheus, my corn, almost always just grabs them wihtout hesitation. I just dunno if I want a boa, at any stage, to have my hand and food within a close range, as I don't want them to associate my smell with feeding time.

Serpens

BoidsUnlimited · 07-14-05, 12:39 AM

Yeah I know what your saying. I dont know if it was just my boa...but she was EXTREMELY protective during feeding. If you got too close to the cage she'd hiss like crazy!

Lrptls · 07-14-05, 03:44 AM

colombian red tail boas have CRAZY feeding responses. iv never seen a chilled out boa when its hungry, they'll strike and hiss like nuts, not every single one of them, but alot of them. my big female hisses alot and my little male strikes alot. both of mine, along with almost all my snakes, will take FT mice/rats right off the ground, not moving at all. the female just eats it, the male always constricts. before both of them would only eat food that was hung up by tongs but i guess after a while they learn that their food is dead and they dont care any more.
Serpens- if you get a boa DONT hold its food with your hand, you WILL get bit.

Don- glad your male is eating, my ball pythons, just like almost all of them were a bit picky about food once a or twice. after geting them to eat 2 or so times they realise i guess "ok i like eating" and just dont care much any more. when i got my female she would constrict a mouse but not eat it. after i gave her a live mouse and she ate it her next meal was a dead mouse, she ate it and continued eating dead and now takes dead rats. iv heard some dont like switching over but she takes the rats, even her first rat faster than she has EVER taken a mouse.

as for interesting food stories..well i have about a million but one weird thing alot of my snakes do is when they aproach their dead prey, they will bite it and oh so slowly start wraping around it, like there constricting in slow motion. i dont know what there doing exactly but its amusing.