differnt eating styles

[raquelv]

I was just feeding my two corns and i have always wondered about the different way they eat. They both eat rat pinkies, but one constricts it and one doesn't at all. I didn't think corns were constrictors, but i don't really know. The one corn who does constrict does so in almost the same fashion as my old constrictor, an African house snake. He is very effective at doing so and the pinkie is dead very quickly. The other one just eats it live and its basically kicking the whole way down. Is one of them being weird or are both ways normal? :shrugs:

[loise]

corns are constrictors.. and I suggest that you give them dead food.. cuz the one that dont constricts its food is an agressiv eater and he can get hurt, when the live mouse is skratching on the inside of the snake! and if he still does it when given an adultmouse... well.. I think that you can guess what can happen..

[Roy Munson]

corns are constrictors.. and I suggest that you give them dead food.. cuz the one that dont constricts its food is an agressiv eater and he can get hurt, when the live mouse is skratching on the inside of the snake! and if he still does it when given an adultmouse... well.. I think that you can guess what can happen..

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a corn that did not fully constrict a live mouse if it was large enough to present any kind of danger to the snake.

In other words, this really isn't a valid reason to use f/t exclusively. :)

[loise]

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a corn that did not fully constrict a live mouse if it was large enough to present any kind of danger to the snake.

In other words, this really isn't a valid reason to use f/t exclusively. :)

well I dont whant to risk anything, cus I have never seen any of my 7 corns try to constrict :shrugs: ... I started with live pinkies but stopped when they were eating them alive.. :eats02:

but thats the way I choose to do it.. :)

[raquelv]

thank alot. i didn't know that. I guess i'll see about the live or dead mouse thing when jack gets big enough. I hope he does decide to contrict it because i find live mice are easier, but i don't want to danger the sanke either

[Cycal]

Just outa curiousity, since i have never fed live, how is live "easier"? Are you refering to the actual feeding process, or the availability?

[raquelv]

i just find it is easier to buy live mice and dump them in the cage, then no more worries. a long time ago i fed my old snake dead pinkies b/c the pet didn't have live ones. i hated thawing the pinkies and then i would have to entice the snake for awhile before she would eat it. when i started feeding her live mice, she ate alot more aggressively. it was kinda funny how she would eat. I always got the mice in little boxes that looked like chinese take out boxes. I would just open the top and Slithery would rise up and grab the mouse quick as lightning out of the box. it was always very easy to feed her. The pet store i go to now always has rat pinkies or mouse fuzzies, so i just find it easier, i suppose. (Also my mom really hated the dead mice and she was very happy when we started buying live ones. whatever. :shrugs: she lets her five year old buy a snake, but doesn't like the dead baby mice. oh well :shrugs:

[loise]

it also depends on the snake..some are more picky..
most of the time my snakes just take the f/t mouse rightaway when offerd,maybe not in shedding..
and another reason is the cost.. to buy f/t by mail cost about 1/4 of the cost to buy live in the store.. and now when I have a number of snakes it just isnt possible..

[Roy Munson]

well I dont whant to risk anything, cus I have never seen any of my 7 corns try to constrict :shrugs: ... I started with live pinkies but stopped when they were eating them alive.. :eats02:

but thats the way I choose to do it.. :)

I was really only addressing your claim that a corn could get injured from a mouse scratching around on the INSIDE of the snake. The chances of that happening are somewhere near zero. I don't think that even an aggressively feeding corn will attempt to swallow a live hopper or larger without killing it first. I have had corns/emoryis that would not accept f/t. On a few occasions, they've refused live too, and I've had to give the hopper to a snake that had never constricted. Guess what? On every occasion, the hopper was constricted anyway. Instinct is powerful in these guys. I don't know about your experience, but I've fed hundreds (maybe thousands) of live mice to corns, and I've never seen a live mouse larger than a fuzzy that was eaten alive. Except for one stubborn emoryi, I give all of my 36 mouse-eating snakes f/t now. It's convenient, safe, and cheaper than live.

Ok, Ms. Snippy? :grin01: ;)

[JenC]

I was really only addressing your claim that a corn could get injured from a mouse scratching around on the INSIDE of the snake. The chances of that happening are somewhere near zero. I don't think that even an aggressively feeding corn will attempt to swallow a live hopper or larger without killing it first. I have had corns/emoryis that would not accept f/t. On a few occasions, they've refused live too, and I've had to give the hopper to a snake that had never constricted. Guess what? On every occasion, the hopper was constricted anyway. Instinct is powerful in these guys. I don't know about your experience, but I've fed hundreds (maybe thousands) of live mice to corns, and I've never seen a live mouse larger than a fuzzy that was eaten alive. Except for one stubborn emoryi, I give all of my 36 mouse-eating snakes f/t now. It's convenient, safe, and cheaper than live.

Ok, Ms. Snippy? :grin01: ;)

Oooh so you got your blizzards switched?!

[Roy Munson]

Oooh so you got your blizzards switched?!
Yeah, neither has been on live for a couple of months now. But just as the female decided f/t was ok, my emoryi male decided that he was done with it. :awcrap: :shrugs:

[schilsound]

Dean you know we're not buying it.

we know you feed your snakes a radioactive blend of old pinball machine parts, some weird iranian sausages, and massive quantities of steroids laced with growth hormones.

How else could they get so huge so fast?

Not on f/t, that's for sure . . . nope, noop, nope.

[Roy Munson]

we know you feed your snakes a radioactive blend of old pinball machine parts, some weird iranian sausages, and massive quantities of steroids laced with growth hormones.
This is ridiculous. I would never jeopardize the fertility of my future, exhausted breeding slaves by exposing them to radioactivity. Many Asian herpers swear by Iranian sausages. Try them for six months, and then I can say: "Ayatollah you so!" :grin01:

[Lennycorn]

i just find it is easier to buy live mice and dump them in the cage, then no more worries. a long time ago i fed my old snake dead pinkies b/c the pet didn't have live ones.

Were they f/t pinky??

I would like to find a local pet store that sold f/t, without being ripped off at Petsmart prices and quility of f/t.

[Lennycorn]

i just find it is easier to buy live mice and dump them in the cage, then no more worries. a long time ago i fed my old snake dead pinkies b/c the pet didn't have live ones.

Were they f/t pinky??

I would like to find a local pet store that sold f/t, without being ripped off at Petsmart prices and quality of f/t.

[loise]

I was really only addressing your claim that a corn could get injured from a mouse scratching around on the INSIDE of the snake. The chances of that happening are somewhere near zero. I don't think that even an aggressively feeding corn will attempt to swallow a live hopper or larger without killing it first. I have had corns/emoryis that would not accept f/t. On a few occasions, they've refused live too, and I've had to give the hopper to a snake that had never constricted. Guess what? On every occasion, the hopper was constricted anyway. Instinct is powerful in these guys. I don't know about your experience, but I've fed hundreds (maybe thousands) of live mice to corns, and I've never seen a live mouse larger than a fuzzy that was eaten alive. Except for one stubborn emoryi, I give all of my 36 mouse-eating snakes f/t now. It's convenient, safe, and cheaper than live.

Ok, Ms. Snippy? :grin01: ;)

what is "snippy"? :shrugs:

[Roy Munson]

what is "snippy"? :shrugs:
Hmmm. It means snappy. :grin01:

In other words, I was joking with you about the tone of your post. It may have been the bolded "I"s. But I was only kidding, and I liked your post. :)

[loise]

Hmmm. It means snappy. :grin01:

In other words, I was joking with you about the tone of your post. It may have been the bolded "I"s. But I was only kidding, and I liked your post. :)


hehe.. the kommunikation over the internet is alittle "flat" hehe.. I got the joke!! :cheers:

[Susan]

Now back to raquelv's original question...no, your corns are not weird. Each one will do it's own thing. Some like to constrict anything that even remotely resembles food, whether it is dead or alive, others take the lazy approach and simply start to swallow (more commonly seen when fed F/T...they seem to know it's already dead), and some will switch back and forth depending upon their mood and hunger-status. And before you ask, they'll swallow their dinner head first, butt first, and some like the challenge of middle first.