[Feeding Issue] Is this weird?.....

[shelleyr123]

Whenever I toss a dead rat (very carefully) into my 7' female's cage the following occurs: Attracted by the movement she moves towards the rat; once she makes visual contact she stops dead--"Aha" she clearly thinks "a rat has fallen asleep right in the middle of my cage; what an idiot" She then proceeds to stalk it in extreme slow motion, moving literally millimeters at a time....when she finally arrives at the rat she freezes, holding completely still for several minutes with her nose practically touching it...then, suddenly, WHAM---she hits it so hard the entire cage shakes, the dog runs out of the room, and bits of plaster fall off the ceiling....She then throws several coils around the rat and constricts it, hard, for several more minutes before it's FINALLY time to eat...total time from tossing the rat into the cage until it's swallowed--- what with stalking, staring, and constricting----easily an hour.

My several other snakes, when fed, approach the rat, think "Aha, a dead rat has fallen into my cage---I'm so lucky", nose around it until they locate the head, and then swallow it....total elapsed time, 10-15 minutes....

It just seems strange to me that we have this whole Snake Drama every time I feed....and I have to say that every time I feed my big female I think to myself "what an idiot"....

[bcr_229]

Re: Is this weird?.....

Well, it's how she eats.

Now, mine are usually waiting up at the front of the enclosure at feeding time. So, I slide open the door, keeping my fingers out of the way, and the feeder "zombie dances" about halfway into the enclosure before the boa rips it off the tongs.

[Noelle7206]

Re: Is this weird?.....

No, not weird...rats bite HARD and she's just making sure she doesn't get hurt when having dinner. And she has nothing better to do...she's on "snake-time", not "human time". Some snakes seem to get used to taking
f/t & just readily eat, but many others went to the same boot-camp as yours, lol...

[shelleyr123]

Re: Is this weird?.....

Thanks Noelle--I think you probably hit the nail on the head....it still just fascinates me that this whole complex chain of behaviors can be released by the sight and smell of a dead rat, and yet not one of those behaviors has anything to do with what I like to call "reality"....

I did get this particular snake when she was several months old and from an iffy source---although she's had nothing but frozen/thawed with me, her breeder may well have fed live...so maybe if she started out on live that particular feeding sequence just got imprinted in her little snake brain and that's how she's going to approach feeding for the rest of her life....Lucky me

[Noelle7206]

Re: Is this weird?.....

I really don't think her first meals made any difference...snakes rely on instincts, finely-tuned by the survival of the fittest. Snakes that have the "right stuff" go on to reproduce, that's all. What you're seeing
now is her ancestors legacy. Those that made feeding mistakes were much more likely to die of infections & injuries, and were less likely to pass on their genes.

[Joba1972]

Re: Is this weird?.....

Funny story. It's funny how they each have their individual characteristics.

[theartbook35]

Re: Is this weird?.....

This is exactly what my boa does. Sometimes she'll drag it by the head, in her mouth, for several moments before coiling around it too. I swear it's like she's saying, "I got it, I got it! I dunno what to do with it but I got it!"

[TammyJam]

Re: Is this weird?.....

I think your boa is the smartest one to go through the whole constriction thing with the dead rat. She is keeping well toned! Check out her abs compared with the others.

[Pandorasdad]

Re: Is this weird?.....

Interestingly enough, my biggest boa went years without constricting her prey. Literally years. Lately she has begun hitting her food like a freight train again. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the changes. My little CA boa squeezes his "kill" so tightly, I was worried he might pop last night's dinner. And year another of mine will guard that "kill" for almost half an hour before he eats it.
They're all different. They all have they're own personality and do what they do. That's one of the things that keeps me fascinated by my snakes.

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