Why...

[jitami]

Silly question, but whenever I'm a little concerned about the size of a prey item WHY does Sly have to eat them backward? :confused: Totally hypothetical, but it drives me nuts. Seriously every time I'm worried that an item may be too large they always go down backward! I lay them on a tray(plastic lid) in the enclosure with the head facing the side where I know the snake will come from and still...

btw, this was the second, larger, of two fuzzies and he had no problem getting it down as you can see by the "all done" pic!

[jeanette]

lol i have the same problem with my female, she eats pinky's while the male eats normally, i cant work it out either. :D

[adamanteus]

I just slice all my prey animals lengthways. The snakes aren't put off by it.

[drache]

I have some snakes with a backward eating preference
it's just what works for them

[Stefan-A]

My parietalis does the same. No matter which end is closer, she starts from the butt end of the mouse. Oddly enough, she swallows fish the right way. I'm not concerned.

I think it has something to do with smell. I heard somewhere that opening the mouth of the mouse and pulling the tongue out a bit could help the snake find the right end.

[jitami]

At least I'm not the only one! lol He eats most things head first, but if it's something larger than normal it's guaranteed to go down backward. I think it's just to stress me out!

[jitami]

I just slice all my prey animals lengthways. The snakes aren't put off by it.

I have done this in the past, and I'm really not a wimpy girl, but I'd rather avoid it if at all possible! eeeewwww... At least slicing pinkies isn't as bad as cutting up squirting nightcrawlers! :(

[dashnu]

I have done this in the past, and I'm really not a wimpy girl, but I'd rather avoid it if at all possible! eeeewwww... At least slicing pinkies isn't as bad as cutting up squirting nightcrawlers! :(

Cutting them frozen gets rid of some of the "EWWW" factor for me. All though mine wont take pinkys yet!

[gregmonsta]

Lol ... here's 'J' ... he likes to eat his pinkies backwards ... but only if they can fly .... and then only one!!!

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/DSC03466.JPG

[jitami]

This feeding has brought up another question. Do you guys think the two fuzzies were too much? He always eats one and then hunts for another and settles down after the second, but I just snapped this picture and he now looks like a gravid she. Really, is this too much? Thanks guys!

btw, J is a cutie!

[adamanteus]

I don't think so Tami... how often do you feed him?

[jitami]

Every 5-7 days. I usually watch for him to start hunting which this spring tends to be about every 5 days, but I don't let him go more than a week. He slows himself way down come fall/winter, so I try to let him eat as much as he wants in the spring/summer.

[adamanteus]

I can't see a problem then, Tami. He looks like a lovely, healthy snake to me.:)

[jitami]

Thanks James!

[EdgyExoticReptiles]

i think 2 fuzzies every 5 days is fine
and remember (in case your worried about him eating them backwards) he can probably handle something 2x the thickest part of his body but he should be fed something 1.5x the thickest part of his body

Every 5-7 days. I usually watch for him to start hunting which this spring tends to be about every 5 days, but I don't let him go more than a week. He slows himself way down come fall/winter, so I try to let him eat as much as he wants in the spring/summer.

[adamanteus]

Reed has made a very good point here...... compare the size of the average frog to the size of a Garter Snakes' head!
Personally though, I never make my snakes struggle, I feed them multiple smaller items. But that's just me.
I can get my fist in my mouth, but I don't want to do it every mealtime!:D

[jitami]

Thanks Reed. Until this year I've always given him two pinks, but I decided to try a fuzzy to cut down on cost and he seems to still want two of them so I went for it. I did find a less expensive supplier so I'm still saving some $ :)

[jitami]

James, what would you consider struggling? I looked at the time stamp on my camera for that big backward fuzzy and from start to finish was about 5 minutes. Struggled a little but honestly not as much as I expected, especially bottom first!

[adamanteus]

Tami, I'm not criticising at all. You're doing everything right. I just offer smaller, easy to swallow food items. Rapid swalowing helps to prevent food fights when you have multiple snakes in one enclosure.... as all mine are.

[jitami]

Tami, I'm not criticising at all.

I really didn't take it that way. Sorry if it sounded like I did! :) I was just curious if you thought it was too much of a struggle. I would guess most usually take a minute or two.

[Zephyr]

Well, also, remember the prey isn't flailing around if you're feeding F/T. I have a video of a medium female garter snake who swallowed a live toad that was about 3x the size of her head, and remember that it was alive! :O

[adamanteus]

No, I don't think it's too much of a struggle. I guess if it was, the snake would try it and disgard it.
I think if you had multiple snakes in one tank you would have problems with food fights, using larger items... but as it is it's fine.

[jitami]

Yep, F/T. I've seen you tube videos of some eating huge frogs/toads(maybe yours?). I figured we were ok, but maybe not ideal.

[jitami]

Cool, thanks again James :)

[adamanteus]

Well, also, remember the prey isn't flailing around if you're feeding F/T. I have a video of a medium female garter snake who swallowed a live toad that was about 3x the size of her head, and remember that it was alive! :O

It's true. Their capability for swallowing relatively massive meals is amazing.
Have you guys seen 'Life in Cold Blood' yet? The episode where the Python sebae swallows a deer!!! OMG!

[drache]

It's true. Their capability for swallowing relatively massive meals is amazing.
Have you guys seen 'Life in Cold Blood' yet? The episode where the Python sebae swallows a deer!!! OMG!
yes I saw that - totally amazing
I actually like feeding my snakes that are cohousing prey items that they can't just suck down, because I feel less rushed that way
the trick is having prey ready to shove it at them all at close to the same time
once their mouths are full there isn't much danger of a food fight, so I like to prolong that

[Snake lover 3-25]

:(:(:( i like deer:(:(:(

[adamanteus]

:(:( i like deer:(:(

Sure you do, but could you swallow whole?;)

[Snake lover 3-25]

:(:( lol:D i always wished that i could raise a baby dear and keep it in my room....... then again..... i wished the same for a cow......:D but babies are SOOOOOO cute!!!!:D

[Lori P]

Shanley, I've raised two baby goat kids in the house in the past (over the winter) and yes, they did sleep on the bed with us!!! But even I think a calf might hog too much of the bed... :D

Oh I've got a couple of pics you'll like, I'll go find them... will post them in the nature thread. :)

[Snake lover 3-25]

ooooo how cute!!!!! YAY i<3 baby animals!!!!:D