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"don't play with your food!"

A

antoshka

New member
So I have a lovely little cornsnake and for some reason, he doesn't constrict his prey, he just eats it alive. Normally he eats pinkies but I tried a fuzzy and he still didn't constrict it. I know it shouldn't matter as long as he eats it, but I'm jut wondering;
Why isn't he killing his food before eating it? :3

oh, and for those who helped me think of names, I've decided on Roxas from Kingdom Hearts. again, thanks for the suggestions. :D
 
Awesome name, I love Kingdom Hearts. <3

Anyway, not all captive snakes kill their food before eating it, which can/will cause a problem as the food gets larger. I suggest stunning the food before giving it to him next time?

You should definitely see if he will take pre-killed food, it's the safest way to feed your snake.
 
Mine do not start trying to constrict their prey until they get up to hoppers. I have even given my adult female some fuzzies after she laid eggs and all she did was gulp them down! I think they know that if they can get away with not using much energy to eat, they will just swallow it alive.
 
Not trying to be a kill joy here but feeding live it dangerous...there is the potential for the prey to injure the hunter...esp because both animals are captive and neither can run away if need be.

One example is a boa that was left in its cage with a rat. The boa did not eat the rat, instead the rat started to eat the boa. It ate the tail almost completely up to the vent, exposing bone. Here is the link to the thread on here about it http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85805

Yes, even mice will do such things. I have seen it first hand. The very first snake we have over 3 years ago was a wild caught garter and at first only liked live prey. A few times I brought it home small mice and when it did not eat them fast enough, they would go in behind the head and attack various parts of the snakes body and tail.

It really is not worth the risk to your pet and the possible vet bills it may bring....switch to frozen thawed now, before the snake has a definite preference and the prey gets bigger and more dangerous.
 
A live pinky/fuzzy is going to do no harm. I never had any problem switching to f/t. Yes, when the mice get to be about hoppers they could possibly do some damage. I guess I have been lucky with the f/t switch. I raise my own rodents and if I have had a batch of pinkies that have just been born and my babies need to eat, they eat live. It is a good idea to switch them to f/t for the future though. I too have seen other people's snakes get their skin chewed off because they left live prey with their snake, but if someone insists on feeding live, they should NEVER leave it unsupervised.
 
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