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Also,.............


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Posted by Kerby... on April 29, 2003 at 10:09:38:

In Reply to: New to the Forum posted by DeadFrog on April 29, 2003 at 01:27:30:

Like it has already been mentioned, these are guidelines, not absolutes. Just like humans, we can tolerate a variety of conditions, as with snakes.

**They stress feeding dead prey of size 1.5X snake girth max**

Just a guideline. Cal Kings in the wild are very opportunistic and can in fact eat meals of enormous size. But they can also thermo-regulate their body temp (sunlight, hot surface, etc...). I prefer to not stress out my snakes and feed smaller items.

**I have fed mine live prey, and she's never been bitten**

I too feed live (about 5,000 times a year) and in all of the years of doing this I have never had an accident, BUT I do not leave a live mouse in the cage with the snake. Thumping as mentioned is a good idea. I watch EVERY feed to ensure that the snakes grab and wrap the mouse. I would not recommend leaving a live mouse in the cage with a snake.


**She's even eaten while in the shedding process**

True, I've had some of mine do that as well, but I also have had some regurge becuase they were in the "blue", so I prefer to wait until after they shed. It is easier to manage with 100 snakes than with a few.

**They say to avoid crowds**

Never heard that one before. Every individual snake has their own unique personality. When I used to do presentations at schools I picked my snakes that behaved when handles LOL

**and the smell of prey on your hands**

That is actually good advice. I can't tell you how many times I've been nailed because of handling/cleaning snakes with rodent smells on my hands.


**I keep her on T-Rex gravel and if some gets in her mouth, she just spits it out.**

Impaction can occur with just about any substrate (except newspaper). I use aspen and it hasn't happened yet, but it can.

Caresheets are guidelines, not bibles....

Kerby...



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