Pythons - Feeding time fright

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#1757306

Shaunio78
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Feeding time fright

hello there, we have just aquired a blotched childrens python - 1 year old from a family who has told us that he doesnt bite, today after 3 weeks of not feeding after being moved homes our boy after we put a mouse in his house for him to eat striked at us before striking at the dead mouse and then eating it, my question is, is this normal behaviour?? was he simpoly saying i have this mouse find your own?? or was him strinking at the glass towards my face more sinister..... was he simply hungry?? or angry?? please advice needed :)

06/10/08 08:19pm

#1757371

Farout
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Message To: Shaunio78 In reference to Message Id: 1757306

Feeding time fright

Well, he could have been afraid of you and was just protecting himself. He definitely was not angry. Most likely he smelled the mouse, saw your movement (which is what they look for when seeking a prey item) and thought your hands or whatever was moving was the mouse. Snakes are sensitive to movement. They don’t have the best vision and are attracted to the heat of the object and movement. He smelled the mouse and the only movement he saw was you so he assumed your hand or whatever was the mouse.

Be encouraged. The fact that he ate the mouse is a wonderful sign that he feels secure in his environment. Next time you feed him just remember to be still and keep any hands far away.

06/10/08 09:20pm

#1757732

Shaunio78
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Message To: Farout In reference to Message Id: 1757371

Feeding time fright

thank you for that :) he seems a much happier little man since his dinner :)

06/11/08 08:25am

#1758477

JackAsp
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Message To: Shaunio78 In reference to Message Id: 1757732

Feeding time fright

Snakes do have very clear vision, but unfortunately for us it’s not binocular. They see to the sides better than see straight forward, so they strike toward where they think a mouse is about to be, and if your hand is in their blind spot they may not notice and just keep lunging. I’ve had several constrictors (on different occasions, obviously) actually wrap around and try to squeeze my wrist into submission. Usually it happens when you think they’re not going to eat, and you reach in to take the mouse out, and then they change their mind. And then you run water on them until they let go, and then you put them back while worrying that they’re now way too stressed to be hungry, and then they happily eat the mouse as if nothing unusual ever happened.

06/11/08 11:39pm

#1758609

Shaunio78
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Message To: JackAsp In reference to Message Id: 1758477

Feeding time fright

Lol yes that was what he did, after lunging at the glass towards me he just got on and ate the mouse like everything was all good :P

06/12/08 05:32am

#1759158

Farout
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Message To: Shaunio78 In reference to Message Id: 1758609

Feeding time fright

Another thing you really have to be careful about is not encouraging him to strike at anything other than his food. Snakes have become badly injured by missing their target and hitting the side of the cage or other objects in their enclosure. This is another reason I won’t feed live rodents to my snakes.

06/12/08 07:33pm

#1759584

Shaunio78
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Message To: Farout In reference to Message Id: 1759158

Feeding time fright

Thanks for letting us know that, i was worried as he hit the cage hard wshen he striked, since then wehave decided to feed him frozen mice from now on..., is there anything else we should know about feeding him???

06/13/08 08:58am

#1760153

Farout
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Message To: Shaunio78 In reference to Message Id: 1759584

Feeding time fright

Well, since he did hit the cage on his strike, keep an eye on his head and mouth area to be sure no swelling occurs. I always just allow the rodents to thaw at room temperature, then warm them for a minute under some warm water, then just place them in the cage in a plastic bowl. The snakes always find it and its fun to watch them search.

06/13/08 07:41pm