Went to feed and this happened..

[daddio207]

I had 4 snakes blow the guts out of their FT's today because they squeeze SOoo hard ! uke02:

Others just take the FT gently and almost look embarrassed to eat it in front of me so I just softly close their tubs and move on

 

[smigon]

I am a "teaser". I dangle the mouse by the tail in front of them and do the "zombie mouse dance" and as soon as they strike and start to constrict I tug gently a few times so they think it is live prey. I use my hands, I have never been bit doing this, and it gives the bigger ones a little workout. I used to just put them on a deli lid and put it in the viv, and they would gently eat it, but I don't know if I am right but they seem to enjoy the chase. My babies just get a pinky on a deli lid, they haven't caught on yet and there is VERY little tail to work with on a pinky!

 

[Chip]

You don't have to "feed" it to her with tongs or tweezers. My snakes would be horrified if I did that.

I have several that would be as well. Some seem to death roll even though they've only ever been fed f/t, others would probably sooner starve than snatch a mouse from me. Individuals have their own behaviors. Similarly, a few take little disturbance to rattle and defensively strike, and others I'm not sure you could even get them to. And there is no real correlation between the two behaviors in my collection, at least.

 

[MegF.]

I would be eaten if I didn't use tongs...my chondros literally come out of the cage for food...no zombie dance needed.....same with the cornsnakes. They grab whatever is warm and constrict the crap out of it. The only snakes that don't constrict are the cottonmouth...who is too lazy to even strike...he just grabs it and carries it away, the racer and coachwhip that just beat the crap out of their prey and my watersnake.

 

[Nanci]

I _do_ feed Janine the Florida king with tongs, because I don't take her out to feed, unless the momentum of her strike carries her all the way out of her cage, in which case she can eat on the kitchen floor. I fed her a leftover fuzzy the other night, and as soon as I touched her door, she bit her water bowl and then herself. She's a little hungry...One time she struck so hard she ripped the mouse in half, and continued down to the floor.

 

[daddio207]

It's funny you mentioned that about your FL king. I was just remembering how Janine eats on the floor while I was feeding my adults yesterday. I have a few snakes I have to use tongs with also. When I opened the tub to my 1300g+ brooks king "Fingers" he shot out and grabbed the mouse out of the tongs and hit the floor. He squeezed it so hard that the mouses guts exploded out and covered the side of the rack! He doesn't like rats. He's come ALONG way though. He got the name Fingers because when a young boy at a show passed him to me so I could check him out (a vender was selling him) he immediately grabbed my pointer finger and swallowed it to my knuckle. Now, unless it's feeding day, I can open his tub and he will stick his head out and I can pat him like a dog with no reaction. He is so gentle now unless it's feeding day. He knows cause he can smell the pile of defrosted mice.
Anyways I always chuckle thinking of your king, Nanci, when I feed my king.

 

[MegF.]

I was spraying my amazons with water last night and one of my females decided that I was bringing food, struck at the water, bit herself and then constricted....her teeth got stuck in her skin so she couldn't let loose. She was thrashing around in her water bowl...finally had to put on a pair of gloves and get her loose from herself....crazy critter!

 

[Ecim]

I'm curious, do captive corn snakes sometimes develop maladaptive behaviors that would hinder survival?.

 

[Chip]

I would say associating humans with food might be the most maladaptive behavior of all.

 

[MegF.]

I doubt it....they seem to hold their instinct on hunting etc.....how many people have recovered lost cornsnakes out near their home that seemed perfectly fine. I don't know that a snake would develop the drive to approach a human for food the way a gator or something would.

 

[Chip]

I'm not saying they'd approach a human, but they can sure lose their fight or flight programming. I have a few that I feel sure would be toast if escaped (and not because of mutations/standing out visually).
But yeah, a lot of snakes have escaped for a long, long time and been recovered. I found a Cal king over a year later back in the 90's. It had survived an Asheville blizzard winter, too. That snake was bitey and wild-natured though, which I'm sure didn't hurt.

 

[Jereme]

I have a female amel that will not eat in front of me no matter if it is alive or F/T. She got out about a year ago and I found her a week later trying to get into my mice. She knew what they were and was striking at the glass trying to get them as they ran by. Before that I would have said she would never make on her own.

 

[MegF.]

I imagine most of mine would flight just fine given the opportunity....it's instinctive....they are still wild animals and not truly domesticated. They retain their wild instincts.....