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Posted by patricia sherman on September 23, 2002 at 16:41:37:
In Reply to: I think my new rat snake is evil posted by Cidly on September 23, 2002 at 10:02:20:
In the first place, why on earth would you be trying to get a snake to take live prey when that snake is already conditioned to accept pre-killed?
:I tried to fead my rat snake a live mouse and he bit him 5 times and didnt eat him, the next day the mouse died from his wound.
You didn't have the common humanity to finish the job? Just let it suffer for a few more hours! I don't understand this. Isn't a mouse deserving of a quick and painless death?
:I took Loki (my everglades rat snake) out of his cage and started to handle him and he bit me. He latched on to me and wouldnt let go,
Because he was in a "feeding frenzy". He's hungry.
:... He finaly let go and now im gona have a small scar.
Poor you! Forgive if I tell you that my symapathy lies with the animal.
:And he tried to swallow the mouse but he spit him out alive,
Maybe the mouse was too big, and maybe the snake was just distressed by having you for an audience. I've consistently found that most snakes prefer to dine in privacy, and do best if they're placed together with the prey in a closed and opaque container.
I'm amost sure that the mouse bit him in the back part of his mouth.
If you believe this, then this should be sufficient reason to cause you to never again try feeding live prey to snakey.
because now I cant even get him to eat a f/t mouse.
Try starting again with just a pinkie, and working back up to larger prey. To extract him from his cage and place him in the feeding container, you may need to use a stick to hold his neck down (gently), and then grasp him behind the head so that you can control the location of his mouth with one hand, and lift his body with the other.
:He was raised on those and he wont eat em,
Of course he will, once he's gotten over the distress.
:maby he didnt get bit in the mouth, but didnt snakes evolve mouths that are vertually impossible to get dammaged when eating mice?
No. Wild-living snakes get injured by prey all the time, and sometimes killed by prey.
How come he wont eat, ive had him almost a week now. Should I wait another week before feeding him so he can get adjusted to his cage?
He's already hungry, as he's shown you by the manner in which he hung on to your hand. Give him 24 hours, then offer him a pre-killed pinkie in a privacy container. Check in about 20 minutes, and if the pinkie is gone, drop in him another one or two.
Since he isn't a baby, pinkies won't fill his belly, so you'll need to offer him a larger meal two or three days later. Then put him back onto his regular weekly schedule. After he's fed, it is wisest to leave him for a while in the container, to get comfortable with his filled tummy before moving him back to his home. If the meal was adequate, he'll be nice and mellow to handle about two hours after feeding, but you need to leave alone in his home for a couple of days to digest it if you don't want him to possibly regurgitate.
did he only bite me because it was only the second day I had him?
No, he bit you becouse he mistook you for prey.
hes pretty big but not full grown and hes never eaten a live mouse before, does he have the instinct to eat a live mouse ...
He has the instinct to strike at prey, live or pre-killed. If the prey hurt him, then he may be leery of eating for a short time, but will get over it very quickly if you'll only offer pre-killed.
is his mouth probly biten from the time he atempted to swallow the mouse?
Possibly.
will he bite me again?
Probably, if he's hungry, or if you grab him when he's not expecting it. When you want to handle him, it is best to approach him gently, and let him see your hand approaching. It is also essential that he be well-fed a couple of days before you handle him extensively.
Tricia
