Hand Feeding!!

[SaKSTa]

I always here about people saying not to hand feed your snakes cause they might think your hand is food or whatever. I have been fedding my fullgrown corn since i got her12 years ago and i have never had a problem, and my year old corn since i got him.

I would just like to hear your opinions on this topic, cause for me, handfeeding has had no problems, i have never been bit from either of my corns, and it is amazing how good of a shot my adult is.

What do you all think?

[SnakeLuvr]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

???


not me I wouldn't hand feed

[s-king]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

actually I'd like to do it however i don't think i will call me a biget but a corn snake i would but a full grown (8ft) red tailed boa i don't think I'd want him to miss and mistake my hand and have my arm as a struggling rat..ooohhhh that could get messy in my house>

[SaKSTa]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

yea you got a point there

[SnakeLuvr]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

Let's say, no one's out there hand feeding these babes in the wild, so they can just keep on getting naturally. . . I think too that maybe if you hand feed, they may come to associate your hand w/food! While, I know not everyone agrees on that whole "opening the cage door means time to eat" a lot of people feel that way. . . I agree w/this. I feed mine outta cage, in a box, bucket, whatever, w/tongs:}
Tara

[Red]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

All the thing's that you see on the care guides are just the best way to do different thing's...(according to lot's of people...)
Like the other person said that a corn snake full grown can do just about nothing to you... That fact is that your hand is a lot bigger then the food item... At the very least the same size..
But when you are feeding rabit's it can get a lil' scary...
you see a full grown corn snake will see your hand and say I can't eat that... But a full grown boa will see your hand and say well that is not that big... I could swollow that...
Well that is my .02
Eric aka...Red

[ClayEnglish]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

It is a matter of chance, a matter of playing the odds.

First let me say that there are two kinds of strikes with constricting snakes. There is a defensive "leave me alone" strike, known as strike and release, and there is the Feeding strike, known as strike and coil.

The smell of prey is what causes the strike and coil version. If the snake smells rat and strikes it is going to grab and hold on. Whether it is your hand or the rat.

If you were to come to my place and see my big female boas, you would never consider holding a rat by the tail in front of one of these. A 7 to 10 foot boa can grab and twist your hand so fast that you are hurt before you know what hit you, and attempting to get the boa to release has proven quite interesting for the stories I have heard and read about.

I understand with the corn snakes, that you feel pretty safe, and I agree that there is little danger from them, even IF you were to be tagged, BUT if an adult boa constrictor hits your hand, you will know it, and you will NEVER attempt something like that again.

Cornsnakes, milksnakes, sand boas, are not likely to do any harm, but adult boas and pythons, can inflict serious bites, and the odds are that you will be tagged sooner or later.

I just wonder why? That's all, to me it's just not worth the risk. You can do as much harm to the snake as they could do to you, because no matter how experinced you are in keeping snakes, you WILL have a "jerk away" reaction if bitten. They can hurt or damage the snakes mouth, teeth or jaw. Some people have actually reacted to a strike and thrown the snake across the room.

Again, I don't want people to think that holding a pinkie mouse in front of a baby corn snake is wrong. I just want people to know the risks when dealing with larger snakes.

We used to have a member that had a favorite saying, it was

"Crikey, I've been tagged"

He always said it would happen sooner or later.

Re: Hand Feeding!!

I don't hand feed my Boa named Rocky becuase its pretty accurate at hitting at what it strikes at so I can just drop the food in live and not worry. But I do hand feed my Ball Python named Crusher. I used to pre kill the mice myself but Crusher didn't seem as interested in feeding as Rocky is. So I have for the last few months been feeding Crusher live food and so far she is much more interested in eating when it comes time to eat. My snakes have never tried to strike at me or anyone else. But I do suggest that if you decide to hand feed, that you get the snakes to associate feeding with the package that the food comes in. I kind of wave the box that has the rat in front of her view before I go reaching into the enclosure that way she knows it's feeding time.

[SaKSTa]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

Thanks for all you thoughts. I will probably keep on handfeeding my Red tell she gets to big. Cause I dont want to have to poor alcohol down her throat to let go when she does get my hand.

Now on to handfeeding my Viper, you think its a good idea, ...

lol j/k

Peace

[SaKSTa]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

Ha I feed me baby Boa today and she bit me, lol, She even drew a little blood. Guess no handfeeding to my Boa.

[Ryan]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

HA, HA . Just kidding ;D. at least it happened when your boa was small.

Re: Hand Feeding!!

Talk about bad luck. I guess it just depends on the snake. I know a lady who owns and hand feeds a Burmesse Python and it hasn't ever bit her. Just your bad luck I guess.

Oh well at least now you know I guess it depends on the snake.

[SaKSTa]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

I think the problem was that i was holding it buy the tail with my thumb and index, but my middle finger ( Tha Bird ) was hanging down, so she bit at it, thinking it was the mouse.

[SaKSTa]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

Ohh What I ment above was I was holding the fuzzy buy the tail, not the snake. Just wanted to clear that up.

[Lover_Boid]

Re: Hand Feeding!!

We hand feed ours only because the prey is dead and ours won't go near it if it's not moving. We hand feed rabbitts and rats from big to small. So far I am lucky but Mia on the other hand got tagged from Alby (the albino burm) 2 days ago but that is what happens when you are watching animal planet at the same time. He grabbed the rat, dangled it, she had a slow response and so he looked up at the t.v. and bam, got em good, and drew blood. See, I PAY ATTENTION. Oh and yes I used to feed Tiny the 13ft albino burmese by hand dead rabbitts.