on tease feeding...

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Posted by Dwight Good on September 19, 2001 at 22:37:00:

In Reply to: Thanks for the help...more... posted by Nyx on September 19, 2001 at 14:22:29:

: I have tried tease-feeding. I tried it for an hour straight, once. He grabs it, holds it for a bit, then spits it out.

Even though you have tried tease feeding, here are a few tips that might help.

First of all, the demeanor of the animal will greatly affect your success with teasing. If the snake begins to bite or nip as soon as you grasp him and have him in the tease feeding position, it is an excellent sign. Snakes that readily strike out at the pink when teased are almost always successfully tease fed. If your snake doesnt bite or open its mouth, etc, then there is a problem. Tease feeding techniques will probably not be effective if the animal is that passive.

Another point is that there seems to be an aboreal type feeding response among babies from the obsoleta complex. What I usually do when teasefeeding is to "drop" the snake after he grabs the pink, but allow his tail to hang on my fingers. The result is a baby rat snake hanging upside down with a pink in its mouth. Sometimes the feeding instinct will kick in while in this position. Be sure to remain completely still, any movement and the snake will probably let go of the mouse.

Another tip is to "hang" the snake over the edge of a 5 gallon bucket after he grabs the mouse. The bucket serves as a shield to prevent any distractions (for example, you scratching your nose or ear, etc) Usually the little guy will happily dangle inside the bucket with the pink in its mouth and begin swallowing. If he spits it out, keep trying. A variation is to place him in the bottom of the bucket. The bucket technique allows me to do other things in the snake room without disturbing the snake.

Hope this helps.
dg

Elaphe obsoleta

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: : I have tried tease-feeding. I tried it for an hour straight, once. He grabs it, holds it for a bit, then spits it out. : Even though you have tried tease feeding, here are a few tips that might help. : First of all, the demeanor of the animal will greatly affect your success with teasing. If the snake begins to bite or nip as soon as you grasp him and have him in the tease feeding position, it is an excellent sign. Snakes that readily strike out at the pink when teased are almost always successfully tease fed. If your snake doesnt bite or open its mouth, etc, then there is a problem. Tease feeding techniques will probably not be effective if the animal is that passive. : Another point is that there seems to be an aboreal type feeding response among babies from the obsoleta complex. What I usually do when teasefeeding is to "drop" the snake after he grabs the pink, but allow his tail to hang on my fingers. The result is a baby rat snake hanging upside down with a pink in its mouth. Sometimes the feeding instinct will kick in while in this position. Be sure to remain completely still, any movement and the snake will probably let go of the mouse. : Another tip is to "hang" the snake over the edge of a 5 gallon bucket after he grabs the mouse. The bucket serves as a shield to prevent any distractions (for example, you scratching your nose or ear, etc) Usually the little guy will happily dangle inside the bucket with the pink in its mouth and begin swallowing. If he spits it out, keep trying. A variation is to place him in the bottom of the bucket. The bucket technique allows me to do other things in the snake room without disturbing the snake. : Hope this helps. : dg

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