Absolutely, I agree

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Posted by Scott Garrett on February 22, 2002 at 08:38:04:

In Reply to: yeah, great post scott, but.... posted by dave f on February 21, 2002 at 20:52:49:

I've never had a blackmilk turn down a prekilled mouse.

I got into snakes to begin with because I saw an indigo at a local nature center. I had caught a lot of snakes as a kid in Michigan, but lost the interest until I saw that indigo. Seeing that wonderful animal, that we were allowed to handle, rekindled my interest and laid the seed of the idea of keeping snakes in captivity. So I set out trying to find out what the captivity requirements were for an indigo, and where I could get one, and discovered the bad news that, being a FL resident, I could not keep one.

So I set out to see what there was that is similar, and came upon black milks. Both of mine just shed and the sheen, glossiness, and refractory qualities of their new skin definitely rivals the beauty of an indigo. I can't wait for these guys to get 6'+; they will be truly impressive. I saw a couple adults at Daytona last year, and they are spectacular.

The jist of my disorganized ramblings in my post above was beginners need to really understand the need for feeding prekilled, especially with snakes like blackmilks that are generalized predators, and not specialized at predating on rodents like corns. I think this is one reason people may recommend corns as a good beginner snake. I will tell you after keeping corns and seeing how well they handled live mice, I didn't think twice about feeding live mice to my beautiful blackmilks. Imagine my heartbreak when I discovered a bite wound on these snakes. I've heard horror stories about snakes getting their tounges bitten out by rodents, and I have books showing snakes with terrible wounds inflicted by rodents. So I quickly ordered a 100 frozen from mice on ice. Then I learned how to euthanize them myself.

My candid post above was intended to help someone else who might be a beginner and find themselves in possession of a blackmilk or similar snake avoid the mistakes I made.

Why settle for experience as a teacher when the experience of others is available. That's one purpose of these forums.

Follow Ups:

great point and... Dean Alessandrinid 02/22/02 (0)

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: I've never had a blackmilk turn down a prekilled mouse. : I got into snakes to begin with because I saw an indigo at a local nature center. I had caught a lot of snakes as a kid in Michigan, but lost the interest until I saw that indigo. Seeing that wonderful animal, that we were allowed to handle, rekindled my interest and laid the seed of the idea of keeping snakes in captivity. So I set out trying to find out what the captivity requirements were for an indigo, and where I could get one, and discovered the bad news that, being a FL resident, I could not keep one. : So I set out to see what there was that is similar, and came upon black milks. Both of mine just shed and the sheen, glossiness, and refractory qualities of their new skin definitely rivals the beauty of an indigo. I can't wait for these guys to get 6'+; they will be truly impressive. I saw a couple adults at Daytona last year, and they are spectacular. : The jist of my disorganized ramblings in my post above was beginners need to really understand the need for feeding prekilled, especially with snakes like blackmilks that are generalized predators, and not specialized at predating on rodents like corns. I think this is one reason people may recommend corns as a good beginner snake. I will tell you after keeping corns and seeing how well they handled live mice, I didn't think twice about feeding live mice to my beautiful blackmilks. Imagine my heartbreak when I discovered a bite wound on these snakes. I've heard horror stories about snakes getting their tounges bitten out by rodents, and I have books showing snakes with terrible wounds inflicted by rodents. So I quickly ordered a 100 frozen from mice on ice. Then I learned how to euthanize them myself. : My candid post above was intended to help someone else who might be a beginner and find themselves in possession of a blackmilk or similar snake avoid the mistakes I made. : Why settle for experience as a teacher when the experience of others is available. That's one purpose of these forums.

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Absolutely, I agree

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