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Feeding in seperate container

I was wondering why I read different posts that people feed their snakes in separate containers and I wondered why. I was having the problem of Gaia biting me when I went to handle her. Seeing that she is about 5 months old and I only have her a month I though it was because she was not use to being handled. Even the girl in the pet store said Gaia bit her a few times. After thinking about it I figured Gaia was associating my hand with her food so I started feeding her with long bamboo skewers (pointy end cut off) used like chop sticks. I feed her yesterday - I was able to handle her for about five minutes without one strike; my husband played with her while I cleaned her tank without any strikes and then I put her back in and feed her. She has calmed down a lot since I started feeding her with bamboo skewer chop sticks. :crazy02:
 
Like Sunny Delight, I also stack my tubs/vivs and use newpaper as substrate. Therefore, since I don't have to worry about ingestion of substrate, I feed all of my snakes in their tub vivs. I do take them out to weigh them, cleaning their tubs while they sit in the snake bag after weighing, and then they go back to a clean tub with dinner waiting for them. I used to get bitten before I got my scale because the snakes that weren't first had time to know that dinner was coming soon and some would get over-eager when I lifted the lid. But now they know they have to go in the bag first and I rarely get bitten anymore. I even have a couple that are now looking for the bag when I open the lid and help me by voluntarily starting into the bag on their own. This just proves that snakes do have the ability to learn things through repetitive conditioning and it's not all pure instinct. bill38112's use of a snake "dinner plate" is a good idea, just as long as the snake doesn't carry the mouse off before swallowing. I know I have a few that will grab their mouse and then take it to the other side of their tub during their exaggerated coiling and constricting before they get down to eating. In their cases, they would definitely run their mouse through a substrate if one was present.
 
[/QUOTE] I used to get bitten before I got my scale because the snakes that weren't first had time to know that dinner was coming soon and some would get over-eager when I lifted the lid. But now they know they have to go in the bag first and I rarely get bitten anymore. ... they would definitely run their mouse through a substrate if one was present.[/QUOTE]

That is what the adults do - curl and drag. We just watch them to make sure they don't pick up anything extra. There has been a time or two when my husband had to pick chunks of mulch off a mouse before it went down the hatch.

What type of scale do you use and what type of bag? Even tho the baby is settling down I would like to get her into a routine.

I'm glad someone thinks that snakes can learn. It annoys me to no end when people treat animals as mindless unintellegent objects :blowhead: They think that if it is not homo sapien it's dumb. I've met more smarter animal than humans lately that I think homo sapiens are dumbing down. :grin01:

:crazy02:
 
jazzgeek said:
So you've met my ex-wife, eh?

Thanks, I'll be here all week. Be sure to tip your waitstaff. :sidestep:

regards,
jazz
Click to expand...
Is it me, or did it just get colder in here?
 
We use a "dinner plate" to feed our corn. He's on pinkies, so we bought an inexpensive 5"x5" white square plate which doubles as a thawing plate for Twist's dinner. I usually have him out before I feed him, since I won't be able to handle him after he's eaten.

I place the plate into his aquarium and then put him in with his head about half an inch from the pinkie and quickly but gently set him down. He'll usually push it with his nose and 'smell' it with his tongue, and then open wide! The majority of the time Twist will consume it right on the plate and allow the rest of this body to trail off into the substrate.

We also have a pair of tongs that are only used for feeding the snake in case I have to pick up the pinkie and show it to Twist. He sometimes doesn't realize its there and slithers right past it. But I can usually lure him back to the plate and drop it.

I always watch him eat, wait for him to finish and slither under his hide before removing the plate and exiting the room.
 
Oh yeah, I forgot to add -- he's never bitten us, ever. :) I don't know if I'm just really lucky, or if he is just the most docile corn snake on the planet, but that's fine with me. Besides, if he ever did bite, I recognize and respect the fact that it would be my fault.
 
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