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Hand feeding ???
- Thread starter Plums
- Start date
wild neonate
the wild neonate
Ive always fed my snakes by hand, I've got the marks to prove it ;P
Since youre gonna supervise the feeding anyway, why not participate? I'll answer my own question, you don't want to condition your snake to associate your hands with food, so if you are going to hand feed them, make sure you are also doing plenty of handling on other days so they won't assume theyre getting food everytime they see hands. A friend of mine had to make a 2nd door in his cage for feeding time b/c his burmeise would be expecting a chicken or w/e everytime he cleaned the cage. Now I know a lot of you feel that snakes may be near deaf, and near blind, and rely 100% on their smell/taste senses, but this isn't the case! How often do you see a snake miss his prey when striking? Its pretty rare, I'd say they rely on their vision at least somewhat during feeding. A shedding snake will have very cloudy/milky eyesight, and if you are going to hand feed one thats in the shedding process I must advice you to be more cautious..those hemostats or forceps will come in handy unless you don't mind snake teeth in your hand.
Generally though, when snakes get closer to their adult size, hand feeding is totally unnecessary and I personally will stop hand feeding snakes when i feel they are getting a lil threatening in size. Don't forget to supervise the feeding though, snakes don't have baseball bats or tasers handy(no pun intended)..a mouse can do a hell of a lot of damage to your snake, and nothing sucks more than having a beautiful snake with horrible battle scars around its head and neck from some unenthusiastic prey. If you are going to leave a mouse in a snake's cage, make sure that snake has a nice size advantage, or the mouse is semi-unconscious/dead.
Since youre gonna supervise the feeding anyway, why not participate? I'll answer my own question, you don't want to condition your snake to associate your hands with food, so if you are going to hand feed them, make sure you are also doing plenty of handling on other days so they won't assume theyre getting food everytime they see hands. A friend of mine had to make a 2nd door in his cage for feeding time b/c his burmeise would be expecting a chicken or w/e everytime he cleaned the cage. Now I know a lot of you feel that snakes may be near deaf, and near blind, and rely 100% on their smell/taste senses, but this isn't the case! How often do you see a snake miss his prey when striking? Its pretty rare, I'd say they rely on their vision at least somewhat during feeding. A shedding snake will have very cloudy/milky eyesight, and if you are going to hand feed one thats in the shedding process I must advice you to be more cautious..those hemostats or forceps will come in handy unless you don't mind snake teeth in your hand.
Generally though, when snakes get closer to their adult size, hand feeding is totally unnecessary and I personally will stop hand feeding snakes when i feel they are getting a lil threatening in size. Don't forget to supervise the feeding though, snakes don't have baseball bats or tasers handy(no pun intended)..a mouse can do a hell of a lot of damage to your snake, and nothing sucks more than having a beautiful snake with horrible battle scars around its head and neck from some unenthusiastic prey. If you are going to leave a mouse in a snake's cage, make sure that snake has a nice size advantage, or the mouse is semi-unconscious/dead.
SnakeAround
Formerly Blutengel
We don't think snakes are nearly deaf, cause they don't even have ears or any system to hear with.... So they are not deaf at all, they just't are not able to hear. They do feel vibrations of sound though I have no idea in which area of frequencies.
I have never tried hand feeding my hatchling - i don't think i will though. Normally, what i do is just move the hide he is under, and put the pinkies in front of him. He normally eats them within 5 or so minutes, then i just put the hide back 
As for hearing, they don't hear, they detect vibrations from their lower jaw...at least thats what i think.
I think they have bad eyesight too...i don't know about corns, but some snakes can detect heat, and use that when eating - these snakes generally don't rely on eyesight.
As for hearing, they don't hear, they detect vibrations from their lower jaw...at least thats what i think.
I think they have bad eyesight too...i don't know about corns, but some snakes can detect heat, and use that when eating - these snakes generally don't rely on eyesight.
marty.warwick
Original & Best
Like Vipers with those heat pits near their noses, Which allow them to strike with a near-100% success rate
wild neonate
the wild neonate
jacobson's organ
marty.warwick
Original & Best
No thats the organ that the sends signals to the brain when particles are collected by the tongue.
hand feeding
Hi Everyone
I must admit i have never hand fed my adult snakes or hatchlings. I have thought about it but i really didn't want them to associate my hands with food.
I bred a lot of corns last year and one person i sold one too was quite discusted that the baby wouldn't take the pinkie out of her hand!
Well am i right in saying i am doing the right thing?
I don't think she would be very happy if everytime it got to feeding time the corn would bite her instead.
I have all the posts on here and thought that was the best idea, it seems to be what a a lot of you lovely people do.
I must admit it must be great to have your corn eat out of your hand.
isobel
Hi Everyone
I must admit i have never hand fed my adult snakes or hatchlings. I have thought about it but i really didn't want them to associate my hands with food.
I bred a lot of corns last year and one person i sold one too was quite discusted that the baby wouldn't take the pinkie out of her hand!
Well am i right in saying i am doing the right thing?
I don't think she would be very happy if everytime it got to feeding time the corn would bite her instead.
I have all the posts on here and thought that was the best idea, it seems to be what a a lot of you lovely people do.
I must admit it must be great to have your corn eat out of your hand.
isobel
fire daemon
i am the hydra...
Hhmmm. a few things i'd like to comment on. not all boids have heat pits. that's simply not true. i'd not even say most. maybe most pythons, but not boas. i'm not sure of a single boa that does have it actually. anyway, feeding snakes by hand i think is a dangerous thing to do. espically if you plan on handling it a lot when it gets older, if you have children around, or will be letting children handle it in the future. kids often don't wash thier hands, and they can smell like sandwiches, or fried chicken or anyting that a snake would go for. now a corn isn't going to eat anyone, but having it strike someone, espically someone who is slightly afraid or someone who it young, would NOT be a good thing. it's just plain sence to avoid a snake assoicating human skin with food. at all! if a snake was going to bite someone, anyone, i highly doubt it that anyone could stop it. it won't kill, or even hurt that much, but it can be tramatic for everyone/thing involved.
i either drop the food into a seperate container, and then put the snake in (always use the same container so they assoicate it with feeding) or i use forecepts. i really would like to stress the importance of not having your snake assoicate human skin with feeding. it's not a good thing when they get older, and much much bigger. ESPICALLY boas and pythons.
thanks,
firesnake
i either drop the food into a seperate container, and then put the snake in (always use the same container so they assoicate it with feeding) or i use forecepts. i really would like to stress the importance of not having your snake assoicate human skin with feeding. it's not a good thing when they get older, and much much bigger. ESPICALLY boas and pythons.
thanks
,firesnake
nerys
Nerys
both emerald tree boas, and amazon tree boas have pits yes, as do i think the rainbow boas from memory... pythons such as the blackheaded python and woma, don't have pits though...
the main difference between the pits in boas and pthons is the placing of them.. pythons have pits within the scale and boas have them between the scales..
lack of pits does not indicate lack of thermosensory ability. A study on vipers some years ago showed that pitless vipers show exactly the same preference for striking at warm objects as do pitvipers, irrespective of the object (e.g., both will strike a warm balloon rather than a cold mouse when given the choice):
Breidenbach, C.H. (1990) Thermal cues influence strikes in pitless vipers. Journal of Herpetology, 24: 448 450. (http://venomdoc.com/forums)
its suggested that the evolution of heat sensitive pits occured independently three times, once in the boas, once the pythons, and thirdly in the pitvipers... the latter have one heat pit either side of the face, whilst the boas and pythons have multiple pits, its suggested that as each angles differently, it helps the snake to judge direction and distance of the prey
boas, such as BCC, BCI, although do not show external heat pits, do have the same nerve endings that pitted boas have in the areas of where the pits would lie. It's the lateral descending branch of the trigeminal nerve I believe. (again http://venomdoc.com/forums)
anyway....
one of my treeboas - note pits below the eye, harder to see in second pic though..
N
the main difference between the pits in boas and pthons is the placing of them.. pythons have pits within the scale and boas have them between the scales..
lack of pits does not indicate lack of thermosensory ability. A study on vipers some years ago showed that pitless vipers show exactly the same preference for striking at warm objects as do pitvipers, irrespective of the object (e.g., both will strike a warm balloon rather than a cold mouse when given the choice):
Breidenbach, C.H. (1990) Thermal cues influence strikes in pitless vipers. Journal of Herpetology, 24: 448 450. (http://venomdoc.com/forums)
its suggested that the evolution of heat sensitive pits occured independently three times, once in the boas, once the pythons, and thirdly in the pitvipers... the latter have one heat pit either side of the face, whilst the boas and pythons have multiple pits, its suggested that as each angles differently, it helps the snake to judge direction and distance of the prey
boas, such as BCC, BCI, although do not show external heat pits, do have the same nerve endings that pitted boas have in the areas of where the pits would lie. It's the lateral descending branch of the trigeminal nerve I believe. (again http://venomdoc.com/forums)
anyway....
one of my treeboas - note pits below the eye, harder to see in second pic though..
N
nerys
Nerys
oh, and most of my corns will take from hand, and kings... anything with pits gets it via a tong..
i prefer my snakes to know that if they are out the viv/tub and being handled, its NOT feed time....
all most of mine take is a tap on the front of the box or viv, and they come to the door for dinner.. most stuff in top opening tubs take the mouse on the drop from roof to floor.. almost all are encourage to constrict if i can..
i have one baby here, amel het butter stripe.. who will only eat if i hold her on one hand and the pink in my other hand.. i have to hold it as she swallows.. she uses MY grip on the pink to help push it down..
thankfully she has got over live feeding now, holding a live in one hand whilst she dispatched whilst held in the other hand it is not the most pleasurable experience, but what can you do, it was that or let it die, and she is amel stripe het butter..
N
i prefer my snakes to know that if they are out the viv/tub and being handled, its NOT feed time....
all most of mine take is a tap on the front of the box or viv, and they come to the door for dinner.. most stuff in top opening tubs take the mouse on the drop from roof to floor.. almost all are encourage to constrict if i can..
i have one baby here, amel het butter stripe.. who will only eat if i hold her on one hand and the pink in my other hand.. i have to hold it as she swallows.. she uses MY grip on the pink to help push it down..
thankfully she has got over live feeding now, holding a live in one hand whilst she dispatched whilst held in the other hand it is not the most pleasurable experience, but what can you do, it was that or let it die, and she is amel stripe het butter..
N
I've had my corns 2 years and have always hand fed them. I was told when i got my 1st one that you should take them out the viv when feeding them so A) they don't fight over food
B) you can monitor who has eaten and how much
C) by putting food into viv the will learn to think that when you put your hands in the viv they are getting food and will start to strikike at you.
when they were still little and on pinkies we held the pinkies in our hands. (i have a thing of washing my hands at least twice both before and after feeding them, otherwise i feel anxious they will smell things on me and want to eat me) But now they are bigger we still hold them but hld the mice in tongs.
Our snakes have never struck anyone of us including my 3yr old son who loves to handle them under supervision.
And i refer to the previous comment:
"if you have children around, or will be letting children handle it in the future. kids often don't wash thier hands, and they can smell like sandwiches, or fried chicken or anyting that a snake would go for."
Surely this is down to the parents to teach them that they must wash their hands before and after handling a snake (or food, human or snake) to prevent germs/contamination etc --- It's a common sense thing.
My friend who has 3 corns feeds them in the viv and told me it is dangerous to handle them whilst feeding them because they can not digest the food properly. Surely being held is the same as them being all wrapped round themselves as they constrict and eat? am i wrong? It's not like we hold them for ages after feeding them.
Am i wrong to hold them whilst feeding?
B) you can monitor who has eaten and how much
C) by putting food into viv the will learn to think that when you put your hands in the viv they are getting food and will start to strikike at you.
when they were still little and on pinkies we held the pinkies in our hands. (i have a thing of washing my hands at least twice both before and after feeding them, otherwise i feel anxious they will smell things on me and want to eat me) But now they are bigger we still hold them but hld the mice in tongs.
Our snakes have never struck anyone of us including my 3yr old son who loves to handle them under supervision.
And i refer to the previous comment:
"if you have children around, or will be letting children handle it in the future. kids often don't wash thier hands, and they can smell like sandwiches, or fried chicken or anyting that a snake would go for."
Surely this is down to the parents to teach them that they must wash their hands before and after handling a snake (or food, human or snake) to prevent germs/contamination etc --- It's a common sense thing.
My friend who has 3 corns feeds them in the viv and told me it is dangerous to handle them whilst feeding them because they can not digest the food properly. Surely being held is the same as them being all wrapped round themselves as they constrict and eat? am i wrong? It's not like we hold them for ages after feeding them.
Am i wrong to hold them whilst feeding?
kentuckycorns
New member
fire daemon said:Hhmmm. a few things i'd like to comment on. not all boids have heat pits. that's simply not true. i'd not even say most. maybe most pythons, but not boas. i'm not sure of a single boa that does have it actually. anyway, feeding snakes by hand i think is a dangerous thing to do. espically if you plan on handling it a lot when it gets older, if you have children around, or will be letting children handle it in the future. kids often don't wash thier hands, and they can smell like sandwiches, or fried chicken or anyting that a snake would go for. now a corn isn't going to eat anyone, but having it strike someone, espically someone who is slightly afraid or someone who it young, would NOT be a good thing. it's just plain sence to avoid a snake assoicating human skin with food. at all! if a snake was going to bite someone, anyone, i highly doubt it that anyone could stop it. it won't kill, or even hurt that much, but it can be tramatic for everyone/thing involved.
i either drop the food into a seperate container, and then put the snake in (always use the same container so they assoicate it with feeding) or i use forecepts. i really would like to stress the importance of not having your snake assoicate human skin with feeding. it's not a good thing when they get older, and much much bigger. ESPICALLY boas and pythons.
thanks
firesnake
Since when did cornsnakes look at fried chicken an sandwiches as a food source? i have never eaten a piece of fried chicken that smelled like a live or freshly killed chicken, and i dont even know where the sandwich came from unless you put mice on your toast
uke01: i have hand fed both of my corns i simply set the f/t mouse in the palm of my hand and they pick it up an eat it right there i have always done it, its amazing to think that that animal is comfortable enough to eat in your hand a snake is often times most vulnerable when they eat, it takes away there ability to bite immediately and there ability to flee when a mouse is halfway down the hatch, it says alot about how comfortable they are in your hands. as for being seen as feeding time i have never had any snake bite due to associating my hand with feeding time unless it was my own mistake ( not washing after handling feeders) so i wouldnt know about that. but the fried chicken an sandwiches thing is still cracking me up :grin01: