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Oh, I'm SO mad.
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by CrotalusBites on June 30, 2002
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Ok, let me catch my breath. I have a WC Crotalus ruber who is somewhat of a fickle eater. Anyways-- today I put in a gray juvenile rat and walked out of the room. (MY MISTAKE!) Seriously, I was gone NO LONGER than 5 minutes. I came back into the room and heard a crunching sound in the corner. Yea, like a nightmare! A scary, scaarrry nightmare! Guess?! That STUPID rat was chewing on the snakes rattle. The bad part is, the rattle was already completely chewed off of the snake. My beautiful Ruber is now completely rattless. I'm so mad at myself. Anyways, if theres a lesson to be learned here from MY mistake---- NEVER EVER LEAVE A SNAKE UNATTENDED WHILE FEEDING IT LIVE PREY, NOT EVEN FOR 5 MINUTES!!
Happy herping,
Tim
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RE: Live & Learn
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by GREGLONGHURST on July 1, 2002
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That was a cheap lesson. Could have turned out a lot worse. At least the rattle will grow back. Why do you not feed dead rats? Freshly killed, still warm prey is very often accepted as readily as live prey. Once the snake is accustomed to eating dead rats, getting it to eat dead thawed out rats is not that difficult. And they NEVER bite the snake.
~~Greg~~
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RE: Oh, I'm SO mad.
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by ReptileLair on July 1, 2002
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I have a Boa Constrictor Rescue that has about 2 inches of his tail bitten off by a rat.
I always feed dead.
Will
Sorry to hear that. It will grow back.
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RE: Live & Learn
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by CrotalusBites on July 1, 2002
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Yea, I know it'll grow back.... but still-- it sucks! As for feeding pre-killed? I'd LOVE to, but from what I've experienced-- it seems that captive bred snakes feed a little better on pre-killed. Am I right? My Ruber was wild caught and I've had him for about 1 month. When I 1st got him he ate a large white feeder mouse... and he was fairly aggressive in obtaining it. Since then I've tried to feed him 2 or 3 times, and he doesnt seem to want to eat now. I guess my question is, how to you get a fickle wild caught snake to eat pre-killed prey? ANY advice would be super helpful. I'm gonna give him another week or so-- if I cant get him to eat, I'm gonna release him. Gosh, his poor rattle... I still feel terrible.
Happy herping,
Tim
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RE: Oh, I'm SO mad.
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by TomT on July 2, 2002
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I have had a great deal of success feeding thawed rats and mice to wild collected snakes over the years. ost of the species I have kept readily accept dead animals. Rattlesnakes are no exception.... Sorry to hear about that rattle, but as has been already said, you got a CHEAP lesson. Learn from it and the lesson has value. There are many ways to get a freshly collected snake to take dead. First, I try "superheated" mice/rats by thawing them in hot water and drying them off with a towel and then presenting them to the snake in such a way that the rodent "looks" alive. As soon as the snake bites the prey, I sort of drag it off a ways and drop it. It has worked VERY well for me over the years.... then of course there's the snake that will eat anything, and those which choose to eat nothing... the latter generally have other stressors in their life (heat, light, humidity or some other variable) that prevents them fro mfeeling comfortable enough to feed....
Best regards.
Tom
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RE: Live & Learn
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by crotalusman on July 2, 2002
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Tim,
Wild caught rubers do tend to be fickle eaters. You may want to check that the temp. and humidity levels are the same as when he first ate. Another good trick is to leave him in a dark room or closet for a few days so he is not so stressed from your presence. Then as quietly as possible dangle a pre-killed gerbil with long hemostats or tongs in front of him. I have two wild caught rubers and the only way I could get him to feed was on gerbils. They are pretty exspensive compared to rats or mice, so if you try them and they work you may want to keep a frozen gerbil so you can scent your mice or rats by rubbing the gerbil on the rat or mouse. Or you may want to breed gerbils like I do they reproduce quickly and are easy to maintain.
Paul
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