Clay, do any of yours "feed" on you? More..l

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Posted by Dan Gardner on July 23, 2001 at 11:12:50:

In Reply to: Re: Uncharateristic Biting from my Taiwan Beauty - Any Advice? posted by Clay (A.R.B.) on July 23, 2001 at 04:37:30:

As I indicated, this snake has been the one I always let people handle because he is active and Never would bite. Should I expect to get him back to this point again? Do yours bite like this? I am more trusting of my chondros at this point. Between my new experience and the pictures posted in response to my first post, I am concerned that my tame snake has changed to the point that I won't be able to trust him.

: The snake is most likely hungry. Two large mice per week is not enough food for a 5' Taiwan.
: These guys have nearly insatiable appetites. Mine are nearly 7 feet right now and will eat 4 large rat pups (quite a bit larger than adult mice) and still be looking for more. I generally cut them off at that point, but within 3-4 days they have already evacuated the remains and are actively hunting again.
: I have to date been unable to overfeed any of my E. taenuria ssp. They have much higher metabolisms than North American colubrids, and process much larger quantities of food relative to their size. This may change as they approach their maximum length, but so far they get to a certain girth and the rest of the food is just added to their length. Mine were 6 feet at two years of age and not fat, just very muscular.
: Double his food intake, and if he's still actively hunting a few days before the next feeding, change his schedule to being fed every 5 days instead of 7.

: Hope this helps
: Clay

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Re: Clay, do any of yours "feed" on you? More..l Clay 07/23/01 (0)

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: As I indicated, this snake has been the one I always let people handle because he is active and Never would bite. Should I expect to get him back to this point again? Do yours bite like this? I am more trusting of my chondros at this point. Between my new experience and the pictures posted in response to my first post, I am concerned that my tame snake has changed to the point that I won't be able to trust him. : : The snake is most likely hungry. Two large mice per week is not enough food for a 5' Taiwan. : : These guys have nearly insatiable appetites. Mine are nearly 7 feet right now and will eat 4 large rat pups (quite a bit larger than adult mice) and still be looking for more. I generally cut them off at that point, but within 3-4 days they have already evacuated the remains and are actively hunting again. : : I have to date been unable to overfeed any of my E. taenuria ssp. They have much higher metabolisms than North American colubrids, and process much larger quantities of food relative to their size. This may change as they approach their maximum length, but so far they get to a certain girth and the rest of the food is just added to their length. Mine were 6 feet at two years of age and not fat, just very muscular. : : Double his food intake, and if he's still actively hunting a few days before the next feeding, change his schedule to being fed every 5 days instead of 7. : : Hope this helps : : Clay

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